An investigation into the public acceptance in China of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is one of the main technologies that can achieve fossil energy emission reduction, so the realization of the dual-carbon goal may require the promotion of CCS technology. For any country in the world, public support is one of the prerequisites for the commercial development of CCS technology. In order to identify the current acceptance of CCS technology in China, this paper conducts a questionnaire survey on the Internet from September to December 2021, recovering 302 valid questionnaires, as well as statistical analysis and hypothesis verification. We utilize the structural equation to quantify the impact of public awareness, benefit perception, risk perception, public trust, climate change awareness, and environmental awareness on CCS acceptance. We found the following facts: (i) In terms of cognition, 58% of the respondents have heard of CCS, and 10% know it better. (ii) As for acceptance, the total number of respondents who basically agreed, agreed and strongly agreed was 53%. (iii) Climate change awareness, public awareness, public trust, and interest perception have a significant positive impact on the degree of acceptance. Risk perception has a significant negative impact on acceptance. Public trust can adjust the relationship between interest and risk perception and acceptance. Public awareness affects the acceptance of CCS with interest and risk perception as intermediary variable. (iv) Lack of risk disclosure and research on CCS projects may lead to blind acceptance by the public. Given this, this study proposes that the government and researchers should strengthen their exploration of the benefits and risks of CCS to identify its advantages and disadvantages as a relatively new emission reduction technology, so as to provide support to the achievement of China's carbon neutrality goal.