SRA-E Lisbon 2017

When it comes to strategic energy decisions, society needs to trade off benefits and environmental risks of alternative energy resources. Sub-surface resources, such as deep geothermal energy (DGE) or shale gas, offer the benefit of ubiquitous energy. However, harnessing sub-surface energy also poses risks to the environment such as induced seismicity. This risk of induced seismicity includes low-probability high-consequence (LPHC) events of damaging earthquakes. Inherent to forecasting such LPHC events are uncertainties and limited expert confidence. In our first study (N=590), we investigated how to communicate such LPHC seismic events, related uncertainty and expert confidence for a fictional DGE and a fictional shale gas project (between-subject design). Findings show that the public appreciates risk communication that includes quantitative information as well as risk comparisons more than purely qualitative information about LPHC events. When being informed about uncertainty and limited expert confidence the public finds risk communication less clear and more difficult to understand. The risk communication then also seems less trustworthy and increases concern. However, the technology for which environmental risks are communicated has a larger effect on the public’s response than the careful wording of the risk communication. That is, the public responds to identical environmental risk communication significantly more negative in the shale gas case than in the DGE condition. In our second study, risk communication is considered more broadly and aspects of technology acceptance are further explored. The second study investigates how the public trades off energy, environmental and community benefits against environmental risks for a DGE plant with special focus on its spatial dimension. Taken together, the two studies are able to inform risk communication and public engagement processes when siting sub-surface energy infrastructure but potentially as well other energy infrastructure with similar environmental risk characteristics.