Ricerc@Sapienza

Sustainable energy technology acceptability by laypeople is an extremely relevant topic both in terms of social impact and scientific attention especially in the European ¿ecological transition¿ scenario. Even though more and more research and technology aim at the reduction of the enormous environmental and social problems caused by the still widespread use of fossil fuels, transition to decarbonization and sustainability is of the utmost importance for contemporary society and future generations. In the ongoing process of society decarbonisation towards a more sustainable economic social development, biofuels are one of the major options. However, the research on sustainable energy technology acceptability is still underdeveloped regarding biolfuels. In fact, even though in the literature on the renewable technology acceptability and/or acceptance there are several models that integrate some psychological theories with economic and sociological ones, all the technological, contextual (market and economics on the one side, administration and policy on the other side), and personal variables involved in the decision to specifically adopt biofuels have not been investigated yet in a systematic way and within a single integrated and comprehensive model. Therefore, this study aims to establish the relative contribution of the main four clusters of factors (i.e., technological, market and economics, administrative and policy, social-psycholgical features) ¿ derived from the interdisciplinary literature ¿ in explaining biofuel acceptability by the EU laypeople. A survey across eight EU countries (about 1,000 citizens targeted across BE, DE, FR, GB, IT, NL, NO, SE) is analysed with multivariate statistics to establish mediation and moderation effects governing biofuel acceptability social processes. Such an overarching model designs a blueprint for applied implications favouring biofuel adoption in the framework of the broader ongoing European ecological transition.