THE EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN ON RENEWABLE ENERGY AWARENESS, PERCEIVED BENEFIT AND INTENTION TO USE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4314/jfas.v13i2.20Keywords:
Renewable Energy (RE), Environmental Concern, Awareness, Benefit, Structural Equation Model (SEM).Abstract
Energy use-related environmental and social concerns and problems have led to the development of renewable (RE) energy types such as wind, solar, hydraulic, and geothermal energy. Increasing environmental concerns, as well as public awareness and positive attitudes towards sustainable energy types, have played an important role in this development. The present study investigated the effects of the mentioned environmental concerns on the attitudes towards renewable energy and renewable energy usage intention with a proposed structural model. In the first part of the proposed model, the effect of environmental concerns on the awareness and perceived benefits of RE, and in the second part, the effect of awareness and perceived benefits of RE on the RE usage intention was examined. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to test the model. Regarding the fitness of the model, the chi-square value was calculated as 141.77, and the (χ2/df) value as 2.36. Analysis results demonstrated that one unit increase in environmental concerns would increase awareness of RE by 0.63 and perceived benefits by 0.51 unit. It was also found that awareness of RE would increase the perceived benefits of RE and that especially the increase in awareness positively would affect RE usage intention.
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References
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[3]Alam, S., Ali, Y., Jani, M. An empirical study of factors affecting electronic commerce adoption among SMEs in Malaysia. J. Business. Economics and Management, 2001 12, 375-399.
[4] Alam, S., Hashim, N., Rashid, M., Omar, N., Ahsan, N. M. Small-scale households' renewable energy usage intention: theoretical development and empirical settings. Renewable Energy, 2014, 68, 255-263.
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[12] Fornara, F., Pattitoni, P., Mura, M., Strazzera, E. Predicting intention to improve household energy efficiency: the role of value-belief- norm theory, normative and informational influence, and specific attitude. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2016, 45, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.11.001.
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[15] Kardooni, R., Binti Yusoff, S., Binti Kari, F. Renewable energy technology acceptance in peninsular Malaysia. Energy Policy, 2016, 88, 1 -10.
[16] López-Navarro, M.Á., Llorens-Monzonís, J., Tortosa-Edo, V. (2013). The Effect of Social Trust on Citizens’ Health Risk Perception in the Context of a Petrochemical Industrial Complex. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2013, 10, 399-416.
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[18] Ntanos, S., Kyriakopoulos, G., Chalikias, M., Arabatzis, G., Skordoulis, M. Public perceptions and willingness to pay for renewable energy: A Case Study from Greece. Sustainability, 2019, 10,687. doi:10.3390/su10030687.
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[22] Rezaei, R., Ghofranfarid, R. Rural households' renewable energy usage intention in Iran: Extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. Renewable Energy, 2018, 122, 382-391.
[23]S Arslan, T., Yilmaz, V. and Aksoy, H. K (2012). Structural equation model for environmentally conscious purchasing behavior. Int. J. Environ. Res., 2012, 32(1), 323-334. DOI: 10.22059/IJER.2011.498
[24] Siegrist, M. A causal model explaining the perception and acceptance of gene technology. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 29, 1999, 2093–2106.
[25] Siegrist, M. The influence of trust and perceptions of risks and benefits on the acceptance of gene technology. Risk Analysis, 2000, 20, 195–203.
[26] Siegrist, M., Cousin, M.-E., Kastenholz, H., Wiek, A. Public acceptance of nanotechnology foods and food packaging: the influence of affect and trust. Appetite, 2007, 49, 459–466.
[27] Spence, A., Poortinga, W., Pidgeon, N., Lorenzoni, I. Public perceptions of energy choices: the influence of beliefs about climate change and the environment. Energy & Environment, 21 (5), 2010, 385-407.
[28]Tanaka, Y. Major psychological factors determining public acceptance of the siting of nuclear facilities. Journal of Applied Social Psychology,2004, 34, 1147–1165.
[29]Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. Access adress: https://www.enerji.gov.tr/tr-TR/Sayfalar/Elektrik. Access date: 01.07.2019.
[30]Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. Access adress : https://www.enerji.gov.tr/tr-TR/Sayfalar/Jeotermal https://www.enerji.gov.tr/tr-TR/Sayfalar/Gunes. Access date: 02.07.2019
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[32]Ankara Governorship Access adress: https://ankara.meb.gov.tr/www/turkiyenin-ilk-yenilenebilir-enerji-lisesi-acildi/icerik/1062. Access date:02.07.2019.
[33]Tepebaşı Municipality. Access address: http://www.tepebasi.bel.tr/hd.asp?hid=8491. Access date: 3.07.2019.
[34] Tekirdağ Metropolitan Municipality. The first solar power plant in thrace was established in Tekirdağ. Access address: http://www.tekirdag.bel.tr/haber/15400. Access date: 04.07.2019.
[35] Woldeyohannes, A., Woldemichae, D. A., Baheta, A. T. Sustainable renewable energy resources utilization in rural areas. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2016, 66, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.07.013.
[36]Van der Werff, E., Steg, L. One model to predict them all: predicting energy behaviours with the norm activation model. Energy Research & Social Science,2015, 6, 8-14.
[37]Van Gent, H.A., Rietveld, P. Road transport and the environment in Europe. Science of The Total Environment, 1993, 129, 205–218.
[38] Visschers, V.H.M., Keller, C., Siegrist, M. Climate change benefits and energy supply benefits as determinants of acceptance of nuclear power stations: Investigating an explanatory model. Energy Policy, 2011, 39, 3621–3629.
[39]Yang, H.-Y., Chiu, H.-F., Tsai, S.-S., Chang, C.-C., Chuang, H.-Y. Increased risk of pretermdelivery in areas with cancer mortality problems from petrochemical complexes. Environ. Res. Section A, 2002, 89, 195–200.
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Published
2021-04-23
How to Cite
ARI, E.; YILMAZ, V. THE EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN ON RENEWABLE ENERGY AWARENESS, PERCEIVED BENEFIT AND INTENTION TO USE. Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences, [S. l.], v. 13, n. 2, p. 995–1013, 2021. DOI: 10.4314/jfas.v13i2.20. Disponível em: https://jfas.info/index.php/JFAS/article/view/1106. Acesso em: 30 jan. 2025.
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