The Project focuses on Acceptance of Carbon Capture and Storage.
In the past, planning and implementation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects had regularly been accompanied by massive public opposition. This public resistance had an substantial impact on political decision makers in so far as some CCS projects were planned, but stopped before implementation could start (e.g. project COAST in Schleswig-Holstein), while others were not used for carbon storage (e.g. project CLEAN in Saxony-Anhalt). On the other hand, there has been little public resistance to the CO2MAN project at the research site in Ketzin in Brandenburg, where carbon dioxide has been stored underground since 2008.
Several different projects regarding the social acceptance of carbon capture and storage technologies have already been carried out. Thereby, researchers found that most Germans have a quite limited knowledge about CCS. This fact impedes a reliable assessment of CCS acceptance. The regionally differing public reactions concerning planned storage projects and issues of marine CO2 storage have not yet been subject of investigation.
The joint project aims at evaluating the opportunities and limitations of CCS acceptance in Germany. In order to fill existing gaps in acceptance research, the evaluation will use a combination of data from already completed projects and new research approaches. Investigations are planned with respect to the varying public perceptions of specific CO2 storage projects as well as regarding the acceptance of different storage options (mainland, seabed) and sources of CO2. Furthermore, in the framework of the project an analysis of factors triggering and impeding CCS acceptance and an assessment of participatory processes are intended. Participating in the joint project are the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research Karlsruhe, the Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy.