Antecedents of risk and benefit perception of CCS

Public perception may have a strong impact on the progress of Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS). Benefit perception and risk perception are known to be important determinants of public acceptance of CCS. In our study, we examined antecedents of risk and benefit perception of CCS by means of a representative survey and an experimental survey. Our results suggest that a variety of intuitive concepts about CCS influence risk perception and benefit perception. An attempt in fostering laypeople's knowledge about CCS and thereby correcting their misconceptions by providing expert information tailored to intuitive concepts of the respondents succeed in decreasing perceived risks and in increasing perceived benefits. However, in some knowledge domains the provision of information created confusion. We conclude that the effect of knowledge is likely to depend on the area of CCS for which it is used for and that the provision of expert information may not always enable laypeople to take better informed decisions. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.