低碳经济视野下环境信息公开的运用与发展

环境信息公开对于政府转变环境保护职能,强化企业环境社会责任,提高环境公众参与作用明显。低碳经济视野下的制度、技术创新以及生活方式的转变都须以公众的接受为前提。因此,环境信息公开对于提高公众低碳经济认知,激发公众参与低碳经济发展具有重要意义,必将广泛运用于低碳经济的各个领域。当然,这种运用也为环境信息公开的发展提出了新的要求与因应路径。     

关于公众参与环境影响评价中的信息公开制度研究分析

环境问题已成为公众最关注的焦点。阐述建立完善的环境信息公开制度,保障公众参与环境影响评价的权利,能有效监督环境保护工作的进行。指出我国环境影响评价信息公开制度初步建立,有待进一步完善。     

我国核电公众态度和参与现状及对策

叙述了江门核燃料项目从筹备到取消立项的事件经过,探讨了事情发生的原因.通过调研,介绍了我国核电公众态度和核电项目公众参与现状,认为当前我国公众核科学常识较为匮乏,核科学普及滞后,公众参与程度较低,信息公开透明程度不够,有效的信息反馈机制缺失.最后给出一些针对性的建议:摸清现状,加快立法,持续提高核安全水平,整合资源加大核科普力度,创新核科普方式,真正做好公众参与、信息公开及信息反馈等.     

试论公众参与环境影响评价中的信息公开制度

在环境保护工作中,环境影响评价是其重要的手段。在现阶段,随着人们生活质量的提高,人们对生活环境的要求也越来越高,参与意识也逐渐增强。公众参与环境影响评价逐渐被各界所重视。阐述公众参与环境影响评价的必要性,并提出健全公众参与环境影响评价信息公开制度的措施。     

协商民主新视域下环境公众参与机制的创新思考

环境保护中的公众参与能克服市场和政府调节的缺陷,但目前存在参与主体错位、信息公开不畅、反馈机制滞后等诸多弊端,需要进行更为科学合理的设计。协商民主理论为环境公众参与开拓了新的平台渠道,环境公众参与为协商民主理论充实了新的时代内涵。探讨协商民主视域下环境公众参与的理论突破与实践选择,具有重要的现实意义。     

环境信息公开中知情权与保密权的冲突与协调

环境知情权保障的任务之一在于明确界定不公开信息,所以知情权与保密权之间的界定显得至关重要。实践中2者之间的冲突已成为一个不可回避的问题,知情权义务主体因不公开信息界定不明,行政机关以保密为由不予公开,严重阻碍了公众获知环境信息的知情权的实现。通过对专门信息法规范中环境信息公开的现状与不足的分析,分析知情权与保密权的冲突原因,以协调知情权与保密权的利益。     

环境信息公开势不可挡

<正>环境信息公开,是环境治理的重要一环,它既能教育公众丰富公众环境知识,提高公众的环境意识,又是支持公众参与环境治理的基础,如果没有信息公开,谈何参与?公众及时知晓污染排放和其他环境信息,不仅能够帮助他们更好地行使对环境的监督权,而且还可以避免谣言的传播,同时政府在大力推进污染监管、治理措施的推进能够更容易获得公众的理解、支持,甚至帮助。     

环境影响评价中公众参与机制的探讨

公众参与机制是环境影响评价工作中的重要内容,结合实际工作经验从公众参与的适用范围、参与时段、参与主体、采取形式、信息公开等几个方面指出目前实行的公众参与机制存在的问题,并提出相应的完善措施。     

信息

2006年2月23日,国家环保总局发布了环保领域第1部公众参与的规范性文件——《环境影响评价公众参与暂行办法》(以下简称《办法》),于3月18日起施行。《办法》鼓励公众参与环境影响评价活动,以公开、平等、广泛和便利为原则。该办法明确规定了建设单位和环保部门公开环境信息和征求公众意见的义务。公众参与的具体形式有调查公众意见、咨询专家意见、座谈会、论证会、听证会5种。同时,为方便公众及时了解信息,建设单位或其委托的环评机构须公开环评报告书简本。在选择征求意见的对象时,应当综合考虑地域、职业、专业知识背景等因素,合理选择…     

基于突变级数的不同规模城市再生水评估模型及其应用

为评估不同规模城市非常规水资源中再生水利用的可行性,考虑到再生水综合发展能力中的压力指标、条件指标、影响指标等16项因素的作用,构建了基于突变级数法的不同规模城市再生水评估模型。将该模型应用于N、H、S、Y 4座城市中,具体评估了4座城市中再生水利用的先后顺序,发现N、Y、H、S市再生水综合发展能力等级依次为Ⅳ、Ⅱ、Ⅱ、Ⅰ级,表明N市急需利用再生水,Y、H市次之,S市不需再生水。实例应用表明,该模型评价结果与实际情况相符,评价结果合理、可行。     

Do driving restriction policies effectively motivate commuters to use public transportation?

Driving restriction policies have been implemented in some large Chinese cities to cope with severe urban smog pollution. We explored the roles of policy acceptance and other factors in commuters' transport mode decisions, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. A questionnaire survey was conducted in Tianjin, China. A structural equation model was developed to test eight hypotheses, two of which were rejected. The results indicate that a driving restriction policy alone cannot effectively motivate commuters to use public transport if the policymakers fail to improve public transport, enhance commuters' awareness of consequences, increase commuters' perceived behavior control, and encourage car owners to change driving behavior. Comparisons between car owners and non-owners indicated that car owners view driving restriction policy and public transport more negatively. These negative views could be a barrier for the promotion of public transport among car owners. In addition, attitude toward public transport was found to have positive correlation with commuting time.     

Intention to respond to local wind turbines: the role of attitudes and visual perception

Wind power projects frequently face public opposition during the siting process. A deeper understanding of social factors has therefore been called for. Based on psychological theories, the present research was initiated in order to study the relative importance of individual aspects related to visual perception and attitudinal factors in public intention to oppose local wind turbines. In an empirical study, 80 people assessed the visual characteristics of wind turbines on site and rated their emotional state. They also completed a questionnaire covering attitudes towards the turbines, perception of significant others' opinions of local wind turbines, and perceived possibilities to oppose as well as intention to oppose local turbines. Moreover, socio‐demographics, factors related to the place of residence and general attitude towards wind power, were investigated. In a multiple regression analysis explaining 50% of the variance, it was found that intention to oppose was related to only a few perceptual and attitudinal factors, i.e. the perceived unity of the environment, the personal attitude towards the effects of wind turbines on landscape aesthetics and recreation, and the general attitude towards wind power. Of minor importance was the attitude towards the effects of wind turbines on people's daily quality of life. It seems important to involve the public in the discussion of how wind power installations can be integrated into the landscape without threatening the visual beauty and the recreational value of the natural and cultural environment. Moreover, social intervention is required to promote positive attitudes towards wind turbines. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The public perspective of carbon capture and storage for CO2 emission reductions in China

To explore public awareness of carbon capture and storage (CCS), attitudes towards the use of CCS and the determinants of CCS acceptance in China, a study was conducted in July 2009 based on face-to-face interviews with participants across the country. The result showed that the awareness of CCS was low among the surveyed public in China, compared to other clean energy technologies. Respondents indicated a slightly supportive attitude towards the use of CCS as an alternative technology to CO₂ emission reductions. The regression model revealed that in addition to CCS knowledge, respondents’ understanding of the characteristics of CCS, such as the maturity of the technology, risks, capability of CO2 emission reductions, and CCS policy were all significant factors in predicting the acceptance of CCS. The findings suggest that integrating public education and communication into CCS development policy would be an effective strategy to overcome the barrier of low public acceptance.     

Psychological factors influencing sustainable energy technology acceptance: A review-based comprehensive framework

Environmental and societal problems related to energy use have spurred the development of sustainable energy technologies, such as wind mills, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen vehicles. Public acceptance of these technologies is crucial for their successful introduction into society. Although various studies have investigated technology acceptance, most technology acceptance studies focused on a limited set of factors that can influence public acceptance, and were not based on a comprehensive framework including key factors influencing technology acceptance. This paper puts forward a comprehensive framework of energy technology acceptance, based on a review of psychological theories and on empirical technology acceptance studies. The framework aims to explain the intention to act in favor or against new sustainable energy technologies, which is assumed to be influenced by attitude, social norms, perceived behavioral control, and personal norm. In the framework, attitude is influenced by the perceived costs, risks and benefits, positive and negative feelings in response to the technology, trust, procedural fairness and distributive fairness. Personal norm is influenced by perceived costs, risks and benefits, outcome efficacy and awareness of adverse consequences of not accepting the new technology. The paper concludes with discussing the applicability of the framework.     

Public acceptance of hydrogen buses through policy instrument: Local government perceptions in Changwon city

The climate crisis demands a transition in transport policy. Eco-friendly mobility is rising as an alternative to combustion engine vehicles. This study has two critical novelties: First, hydrogen buses have rarely appeared in previous studies, despite their potential; this interdisciplinary research suggests a guideline for hydrogen driven transportation policy at a local level. Second, this study demonstrates priorities in actual policy implementation to promote public acceptance toward hydrogen buses Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for 35 policy practitioners in the local government, socio-political acceptance is deemed a priority, in order to implement the use of hydrogen buses. Additionally, supporting hydrogen infrastructure and facilitating and reinforcing greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation regulation was prioritized along with the bus fee reduction with hydrogen buses. Carrot and stick style policy instruments were perceived as effective for promoting public acceptance. The results offer practical transport policy guidelines for other local governments in foreign countries.     

Public understanding of hydrogen energy: A theoretical approach

The aim of this paper was to investigate public understanding of hydrogen energy using a particular social–psychological theory, namely, the theory of social representations to explore how processes of understanding generated lay knowledge of hydrogen energy. Using a free association method for data collection and multidimensional scaling for analysis, the results enabled the identification of themes in the data such as energy, environment, community, science, and technology, and people and place, around which understanding was based. Processes of representation, such as anchoring to pre-existing knowledge, were seen as essential in guiding understanding. The results indicated that there were diverse influences involved in understanding and, although risk perception of hydrogen was acknowledged, community concerns were seen to override any negative effect of focussing on risk. The role of emotion in decision-making was highlighted as positive emotional responses to the Promoting Unst's Renewable Energy (PURE), a local hydrogen storage project, resulted in hydrogen energy generally being positively evaluated despite acknowledged risks posed by hydrogen such as its explosiveness and flammability. Recommendations for policy include recognising that the combination of expert and lay knowledge plays an important role in public acceptance or rejection of hydrogen energy.     

投影寻踪法在再生水利用风险评价中的应用

为全面反映再生水利用风险,以健康风险、经济风险和生态环境风险3个因素为准则层,选取12个相关评价指标作为评价再生水资源利用风险的指标确定评价标准,并以重庆市、四川省、贵州省和云南省为例,采用投影寻踪法对其再生水利用风险进行评价,利用遗传算法进行最佳投影方向向量的求解。结果表明,重庆市和四川省的再生水利用风险较高,贵州省的再生水利用风险较低,云南省的再生水利用风险低,评价结果与实际情况相符,可见投影寻踪法评价城市再生水利用风险可行、有效。     

Public acceptance of renewable energies: Results from case studies in Germany

This article addresses the public acceptance of certain renewable energies (grid-connected larger PV ground-installed systems, biomass plants and wind turbines) from a socio-scientific perspective. Using an environmental–psychological approach to investigate the social factors relevant to the formation of public acceptance towards renewable energies in four different regions, recommendations for the further implementation of renewable energy systems were to be derived. The present study has been conducted in a multi-modal research design combining a standardised questionnaire and qualitative interviews and focused on the residents’ views and perceptions. Especially within the quantitative analyses, the results indicate that economic consideration of the respective renewable energy system, understood as a positive cost–benefit calculation made by the individual, is the strongest predictor for a reported acceptance. Furthermore, the importance of landscape evaluation and a strong connection between procedural justice criteria, such as transparency, early and accurate information as well as possibilities to participate during the planning and installation process, and a reported public acceptance became evident. Qualitative data were analysed in reference to the grounded theory and showed the relevance of the operating company's commitment on the local level, participation of the general public and the choice of the location for the plant were among the relevant aspects for acceptance in the implementation process.     

Temporal change analysis of public attitude,knowledge and acceptance of hydrogen vehicles in Greater Stavanger, 2006–2009

This study examines the trends of public opinions concerning the introduction of hydrogen vehicles in Greater Stavanger as well as public attitudes towards the natural environment over the course of the three-year period. This study is based on two surveys of the hydrogen highway project (HyNor) which were collected in the Greater Stavanger region, the west coast of Norway, between 2006 and 2009 (n=2000). The results of the study highlight that – despite an increased awareness of hydrogen vehicles – the proportions of those with pro-environment attitudes who support hydrogen vehicles’ introduction decreased between 2006 and 2009. The results reveal that knowledge about sustainable environment can affect hydrogen energy's acceptance whereas the level of pro-environment attitudes can increase not only public acceptance of hydrogen vehicles, but also people's willingness to pay for hydrogen fuels. These results were consistently found throughout the observed periods, based on the Greater Stavanger's case. A set of recommendations was discussed to improve public acceptance of hydrogen vehicles, and the next avenue of research regarding analysis of public acceptance and awareness about hydrogen vehicles was proposed.     

Public attitudes to climate change and carbon mitigation—Implications for energy-associated behaviours

This work explores public opinions regarding climate change and mitigation options and examines how psychological factors, such as attitudes, norms, and willingness to pay, determine self-reported energy-efficient behaviour. The aim is to create knowledge for the design and implementation of policy measures. The results of an opinion poll conducted in 2005 and 2010 are compared. The number of respondents favouring new technologies as a way to reduce emissions was substantially lower in 2010 than in 2005, whereas there was an increase in the number of people who acknowledged that lifestyle changes are necessary to counteract climate changes. This indicates an increased awareness among the public of the need for lifestyle changes, which could facilitate implementation of policies promoting environmental behaviour. Renewable energy and energy saving measures were ranked as the top two measures for mitigating climate change in both polls. In determining which energy behaviours of the public are determined by psychological factors, an analysis of the 2010 survey revealed that respondents with pro-environmental attitudes towards global warming favour significantly increased use of renewable energy technologies and greater engagement in energy-efficient behaviours.