Europe becomes pro-nuclear? Drivers of public support for nuclear energy in six EU countries after the energy crisis of 2022

IF 9.3 2区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

Energy Policy Pub Date : 2025-02-22 DOI:10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114528

Zbigniew Bohdanowicz , Beata Łopaciuk-Gonczaryk , Jarosław Kowalski

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This article examines public support for nuclear energy in six European Union member states (France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Germany, and Poland) after the energy crisis of 2022. Based on a survey of 4800 respondents, our results indicate a marked increase in support for nuclear energy compared to previous years. Support is higher among men, people who consider themselves as right-wing (except in Poland), and people who have greater knowledge of nuclear energy.

Surprisingly, the negative relationship between ecological values and support for nuclear energy, observed in earlier studies, is no longer universal. In three of the six countries, ecological values were not a significant factor; in two countries, they were associated with lower support; in one country (Poland), the relationship was the opposite.

The belief that nuclear power plants contribute to climate change was found to reduce support for nuclear energy development significantly across all six countries. Our study highlights the importance of knowledge of nuclear energy and its roles in climate change mitigation and in shaping public attitudes. Our findings suggest a gradual change in perceptions of nuclear energy in the European Union, with potential implications for the energy transition and climate policy goals.

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来源期刊

Energy Policy 管理科学-环境科学

CiteScore

17.30

自引率

5.60%

发文量

540

审稿时长

7.9 months

期刊介绍： Energy policy is the manner in which a given entity (often governmental) has decided to address issues of energy development including energy conversion, distribution and use as well as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to contribute to climate change mitigation. The attributes of energy policy may include legislation, international treaties, incentives to investment, guidelines for energy conservation, taxation and other public policy techniques. Energy policy is closely related to climate change policy because totalled worldwide the energy sector emits more greenhouse gas than other sectors.