Citizen concerns and acceptance for novel energy technologies

The authors would like to thank the Helmholtz project “Energy System 2050” for the financial support. A special thanks belongs to the whole group of the research topic 4 which has supported the work in several ways. For the development of the survey we would like to thank Prof. Dr. Michael Braun from GESIS and for hosting the survey the platform SoSci-survey (www.soscisurvey.de).The introduction of new energy technologies in the context of the transformation of energy systems has repeatedly led to acceptance problems. These can have a decisive impact on the success of individual projects or the introduction of entire technologies. Therefore, three new energy technologies have been selected for an acceptance examination of the population: hydrogen filling stations, stationary battery storage systems, and production facilities for biofuels, which will contribute to the decarbonisation of the energy sector in the future. Based on interviews with experts, a survey was developed to: analyse the acceptance based on the citizen concerns for the selected technologies, the attitude towards financial support, the perceived influence on the implementation process, and the current state of knowledge regarding the respective technology. The first analysis points to a certain acceptance of the selected energy technologies among the population in Germany. The work provides a first cornerstone for a more detailed explanation of the acceptance genesis for new energy technologies.Michael Braun