Public acceptability of hydrogen

Most studies on public perceptions of hydrogen are based on questionnaire surveys, administered by telephone (as in the AcceptH2 project Mourato et al., 2004 Neves and Mourato, 2004 O Garra, 2005 O Garra et al, 2005, 

The increasing amount of social research that addresses public perceptions and understanding of various technological issues has led to a more sophisticated concept of the public , which recognises the variety, complexity 

Finally, attitudes towards a future hydrogen economy caimot be considered in isolation. If hydrogen were to be introduced as an energy carrier, it would necessarily be part of a wider energy system characterised by a multiplicity of primary energy sources, infrastructures and applications. Therefore, attitudes towards hydrogen have to be placed in the broader context of energy provision and consumption and their environmental implications. 

A review of the specialist and popular literature about the hydrogen economy reveals that hydrogen is usually associated with clean , carbon-free technologies, beneficial to the environment and linked with improved use of domestic energy sources. This is reflected in the findings from our interviews, which also show further motivations to support a local hydrogen economy. 

A key finding from our interviews, that is confirmed across other expert accounts (reviewed by Ricci, 2006 McDowell and Eames, 2006) is that hydrogen futures are assessed in very different ways by different stakeholders, so that the overall desirability of hydrogen as an energy carrier becomes problematic. The same can be said about public attitudes towards moving to a hydrogen-based economy. 

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To improve the public acceptance of hydrogen, it is important to understand the current perception of hydrogen by the broad public so that conclusions can be made by producers. Knowledge about the current state of social acceptance is a basis for detecting improvement points to increase it in future. 

This book has considered in detail the potential for and costs of technologies and measures to introduce hydrogen, recognising that this is subject to significant uncertainties. These include the difficulties of estimating the costs of technologies several decades into the future, as well as how fossil fuel prices will evolve in the future. It is also difficult to predict what the public acceptance of hydrogen will be. 

Altmann, M., Schmidt, P., Mourato, S. O Garra, T. 2003 Analysis and Comparison of Existing Studies, AcceptH2 Public Acceptance of Hydrogen Transport Technologies, Work Package 3, Final Report. Available online at http //www.accepth2.com... 

Bellaby, P., Dresner, S., Flynn, R., Ricci, M. Tomei, J. 2007 Public Acceptability of Hydrogen Lessons for Policies and Institutions, UKSHEC Social Science Working Paper No. 31, PSl, London. Available online at http //www.psi.org.uk/ukshec/ publications.htm... 

O Garra, T., Pearson, P. Mourato, S. 2007 Public acceptability of hydrogen fuel cell transport and associated refueling infrastructures . In Flynn, R. Bellaby, P. (eds). Risk and the Public Acceptance of New Technologies, Palgrave-Macmillan, Basingstoke, New York, Chapter 7. 

So far, only a few studies exist to analyse the acceptance of hydrogen by the general public, most of which were conducted in European countries. Most of them focus on the transport sector, especially on public transport, such as buses and taxis. Studies that take into account the whole production line of hydrogen do not yet exist. 

Finally, the successful sequestration of massive quantities of carbon may be essential for any hydrogen economy that makes more than transitional use of carbonaceous fuels. The history of radioactive waste disposal suggests that dedicated opposition can overcome general public acceptance of a technology and its waste disposal plan. Thus, even energy systems that now appear to enjoy widespread acceptance can become vulnerable to delays and costly false starts. The carbon sequestration issue falls into that category (see Chapter 7). 

In the case of 5,000 to 10,000 psi cylinders, the principal issues are concern for public acceptance of their safety, the cost to manufacture such containers (which today are made as multishelled structures that use fiber-wound composite technologies), the time and complexity of the filling operations, and the space that such tanks with the needed capacity would occupy on board the vehicle (see Table 4-2). For example, for more than a 200-mile driving range, today s natural gas vehicles usually require two tanks, which use up much of the trunk. A hydrogen-fueled vehicle with 5,000 psi tanks would probably require two tanks, or, if the tank was 10,000 psi, a small vehicle might need one tank. Several companies are trying to develop these tanks, but none has... 

Other applications include car rental, shared-car ownership or public transport -these transfer the risk of ownership of a vehicle with a new propulsion system away from the private person. Once established, these niche applications can help to raise the profile of the new technology, increase public acceptance and provide opportunities for feedback that can lead to technology improvement. Once their commercial viability in the niche market has been proved, the vehicles can expand into wider markets. Particularly suitable for introducing hydrogen (or other alternative fuels) are buses, fleet vehicles and rental vehicles (Smith, 2001). 

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