Public Perceptions of Carbon Capture and Storage (PERCCSEPTIONS)

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a technology with the potential to reduce carbon emissions and to help achieve global climate targets as defined in the Paris Agreement. Onshore storage has faced limited public acceptance because of fears about leakage and resistance to continued fossil fuel use. The Norwegian government has initiated substantial efforts to develop offshore storage solutions, in particular, on the Norwegian shelf in the North Sea. The plan is to import CO2 from foreign emitters to fill storage sites on Norwegian territory. It is presumed that offshore storage will increase public acceptance of CCS projects, but there exists to date little research supporting this assumption. There is also insufficient knowledge on how the prospect of exporting CO2 to other jurisdictions might affect acceptance of CCS in European countries, and how the prospect of importing CO2 affects acceptance in Norway. More knowledge on these issues is important because public opposition constitutes a major barrier for the implementation of CCS. The PERCCSEPTIONS research project has analysed these questions by conducting a series of survey experiments in Norway and Germany. Open-ended questions was used to assess the various lines of reasoning behind acceptance and rejection. The project utilized existing survey infrastructure in Norway and Germany for data collection. The Norwegian Citizen Panel and corresponding German panels provided high-quality survey data. The project provided new knowledge on the drivers of acceptance of and resistance to large-scale CCS as well as international transport of CO2. Summary of final results from the project (2022): - Over 70% of Norwegian respondents state that they have heard of «carbon capture and storage», the corresponding figure from Germany is around 35%. - A large majority of Norwegian respondents are positive to CCS, figures from Germany show lower acceptance of the technology. - The support for CCS is significantly reduced among Norwegian respondents if they are informed that CO2 stored on the Norwegian shelf is imported to Norway. - Whether the storage takes place offshore or onshore does not seem to affect the acceptance of CCS, especially for Norwegian respondents. However, CCS seems to be so closely associated with offshore storage that this is difficult to explore with the data and methods we use in this project . - Analysis of freely formulated text answers show that there are various topics associated with support and scepticism of the technology. Respondents who are sceptical typically address the risk of leaks from storage, costs, the risk of CCS could slow down or prevent necessary social change or transformation. In addition, there are some who express concern about risks and discharges related to capture and transport. Respondents who are positive about the technology emphasize in contrast the potential for rapid emissions cuts, jobs for Norway, technology exports and ?green? change in the oil sector. An interesting preliminary result is that many of those who are positive set conditions for their sentiments towards the technology. This means that they express to be positive given that / conditioned by certain factors. The factors mentioned are more or less the same as those mentioned by those who express a negative evaluation of CSS. This is interesting because it shows which dimensions are particularly important when this technology is considered by most people. The overall environmental consequences for climate and the environment seem to be decisive for many respondents. The research shows that in both countries it is important to (continue to) inform the public about the role CCS can have in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring the lowest possible global warming. It is particularly important to provide good information about the plans to establish a European infrastructure for transport and storage, and why it is necessary. It seems relevant to point out that the technology is the only known option for removing emissions from some types of process industry, from cement production and from waste incineration. In Germany, it would be important to talk publicly about CCS in the first place and to make clear that it is not about maintaining coal-fired power plants, but about being able to continue producing cement or operating waste incineration plants. In Norway, it should especially be communicated that the research and development investments, which are to a large extent state-funded, are only worthwhile if in the future CO2 is imported from other countries as well. In the design of and communication about concrete capture, transport and storage solutions, emphasis should be placed on ensuring the lowest possible environmental consequences. There is a particular need for good and clear information about what happens to CO2 when stored in geological formations and the probability and consequences of leaks both during storage and transport.

The project has provided new insights that are useful for public communication on CCS in Norway, Europe, and globally. Current scenarios for keeping global mean temperatures below 2°C typically depend on the use of CCS/BECCS. For this to be successful, sub-seabed storage and international value chains are likely necessary components. Our results indicate substantial variation in the attitudes towards CCS in Norway and Germany, in particular there are differences in how familiar the public are with the technology in the two countries that in part also help explain variation in attitudes and patterns between countries. This illustrate the importance of a public debate on the use of the technology before implementation. Our experiments have revealed that Norwegians react very negatively to a concrete proposal to import CO2, both when we refer to imports from Germany or from Europe in general. In Germany, the proposal to export own emissions to Norway or other European countries has no measurable effect on support for CCS, but here at the same time the level of support is significantly lower. A new project with funding from CLIMIT will in the next few years provide a better understanding of attitudes towards the import and export of CO2 in northern European countries.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a technology with the potential to reduce carbon emissions and to help achieve the global climate targets as defined in the Paris Agreement. Storage onshore has faced limited public acceptance because of the risk for leakage. The Norwegian government has initiated substantial efforts to develop offshore storage solutions, in particular, on the Norwegian shelf in the North Sea. The storage potential is higher than the emissions from the Norwegian energy sector. Thus, CO2 is planned be imported from foreign emitters to fill storage sites on Norwegian territory. It is presumed that offshore storage will increase the public acceptance of CCS projects, but there exists to date little research supporting this assumption. There is also insufficient knowledge on how the prospect of exporting CO2 to other jurisdictions might affect support for CCS in European countries, and how the prospect of importing CO2 affects support for CCS in Norway. More knowledge on these issues is important because public opposition constitutes a major barrier for the implementation of CCS. The project PERCCSEPTIONS will answer these questions by conducting a series of survey experiments in Norway and Germany. Open-ended questions will be used to assess the various lines of reasoning behind acceptance and opposition. The project will utilize existing survey infrastructure in Norway and Germany for data collection. The Norwegian Citizen Panel and corresponding German panels, which provide high quality survey data corrected for weights based on national register data. The project will provide new knowledge on the drivers of support and opposition to large-scale CCS and to international transport of CO2.