Does Size Matter? Investigating Laypeoples' Preferences for Roll-out Scenarios of Alternative Fuel Production Plants

The substitution of fossil fuels by alternative fuels (AF) is a promising approach to achieve climate protection goals. Since the production of AF places considerable demands on the existing power system, planning processes also have to consider the energy demand and supply of AF production plants. Apart from these technical requirements, the acceptability of new AF production plants and their power supply infrastructure also needs to be considered. An empirical study (n = 313, carried out 2018 in Germany) based on the conjoint measurement approach was conducted, which investigated the impact of acceptance-relevant criteria on preferences for infrastructure scenarios for AF production plants. Emissions of an AF production plant had the highest impact on preferences, followed by the electricity mix, where surplus and renewables were preferred as energy sources. Compensatory measures, especially price reductions for AF, and the application field of AF were of minor relevance for preference decisions. The size of AF production plants was also not relevant for scenario preferences, at least on an abstract meta-level of planning scenarios. Based on the results, the integration of acceptance as soft factor into power system planning processes is discussed and recommendations for future planning processes and -deployment activities for acceptable AF production infrastructure are derived.