Public risk perceptions, climate change and reframing of UK energy policy

Completed

Renewable Energy Sources(Solar Energy)
Renewable Energy Sources(Wind Energy)
Renewable Energy Sources(Ocean Energy)
Renewable Energy Sources(Bio-Energy)
Renewable Energy Sources(Hydropower)
Nuclear Fission and Fusion(Nuclear Fission, Nuclear supporting technologies)
Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Environmental, social and economic impacts)

Basic and strategic applied research

SOCIAL SCIENCES (Psychology)
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences)

Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Consumer attitudes and behaviour)

Professor Pidgeon
Psychology
Cardiff University

Standard

ESRC

05 August 2005

04 June 2006

10 months

£47,537

No relevance to Underpinning Sectors

Wales

ESRC Energy

Professor Pidgeon, Psychology, Cardiff University

Professor M Hulme, Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia
Professor T O'Riordan, Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia
Dr W Poortinga, Psychology, Cardiff University

Objectives not supplied

The international community has become increasingly aware that action is needed to address climate change. Against this policy background it can be argued that the UK is currently witnessing a reframing of political debate around the construction of new nuclear energy generation capacity as one element of the means of delivering on climate change mitigation. However, citizen perceptions and viewsare also likely to be critical to future public acceptance of any energy policy which includes a new nuclear element. The objective of this project is to understand how citizens respond to this reframing of energy policy. This will be achieved through a major quantitative survey administered by the market research company MORI in 2005, using a representative sample of 1500 respondents drawn fromacross the UK. The survey will explore: perceived risks and benefits of climate change and nuclear energy; attitudes to other forms of energy generation; and the acceptability or otherwise ofnuclearenergy and different energy futures when contextualized in terms of the issue of climate change. The survey is being conducted in collaboration with the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.

02/11/09