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. 2021 Jan 15:11:612090.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.612090. eCollection 2020.

Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy Technologies in the Post-fukushima Era

Eunil Park  1
Affiliations

Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy Technologies in the Post-fukushima Era

Eunil Park. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

In 2011, the Fukushima nuclear accident occurred, and this had a strong effect on public perceptions of energy facilities and services that relate not only to nuclear energy, but also renewable energy resources. Moreover, the accident has also considerably affected national energy plans in both developing and developed countries. In South Korea, several studies have been conducted since the accident to investigate public perspectives toward particular energy technologies; however, few studies have investigated public perceptions of renewable-energy technologies and tracked the transitions. Therefore, this study examines the trend of South Korean public's perceptions of renewable-energy technologies. Based on data collected in 2016, we validated the structural connections and determined that trust, benefits, risks, and attitude were key determinants of the public's desire to adopt these technologies; specifically, public attitude was found to be the greatest determinant of this desire. Based on the results, both implications and limitations are examined.

Keywords: Fukushima; attitude; nuclear energy; renewable energy; social acceptance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The proposed research model used in this study.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Summary of the results from 2010, 2012, and 2016 (A > Attitude; D > Public desire to adopt; T > Perceived trust; B > Perceived benefits; R > Perceived risks; K > Public knowledge; C > Perceived cost).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Summary of the effects on desire to adopt.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Summary of the effects on attitude.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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