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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Energy Res.
Sec. Sustainable Energy Systems
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenrg.2025.1519184
This article is part of the Research Topic Societal and Economic Impacts of CCUS View all articles

Between Financial, Environmental and Health Concerns: The Role of Risk Perceptions in Modeling Efuel Acceptance

Provisionally accepted
Katrin Arning Katrin Arning 1,2*Linda Engelmann Linda Engelmann 1,3Julia Offermann Julia Offermann 1,3Regina Gimpel Regina Gimpel 1,2Martina Ziefle Martina Ziefle 1,3
  • 1 RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
  • 2 Junior Professorship for Risk Perception and Communication, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
  • 3 Chair for Communication Science, Aachen, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The transition towards sustainable and defossilized mobility systems relies on public perception and acceptance of innovations like efuels. Understanding the role of risk perceptions and their different dimensions in shaping public acceptance is therefore critical for facilitating the introduction of efuels into mobility systems. A quantitative survey was conducted among a representative sample of 517 German participants to assess their risk perceptions and acceptance of efuels. A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach was employed to analyze the relationships between cognitive, affective, and domain-specific risk perceptions (health, environmental, and financial) and public acceptance of efuels. The analysis revealed low levels of both cognitive and affective risk perceptions as well as positive acceptance levels for efuels.Financial risk perception was more pronounced than health or environmental risk perceptions.Affective and cognitive risk perceptions were found to negatively impact acceptance, with cognitive risk perception showing a stronger influence. Environmental risk perception was negatively associated with acceptance, while health and financial risks showed no significant association.The findings suggest that while efuels are generally accepted, financial and environmental concerns might hinder widespread adoption. Addressing these concerns through targeted communication strategies that combine cognitive (economic, environmental) and affective (health) dimensions is essential for a socially accepted design of sustainable mobility systems.

    Keywords: Risk Perception, acceptance, structural equation model, affective, cognitive, environment, finance, Survey

    Received: 30 Oct 2024; Accepted: 17 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Arning, Engelmann, Offermann, Gimpel and Ziefle. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Katrin Arning, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.