Consumer Attitudes Towards Renewable Energy

Abstract

This chapter attempts to study the view of Turkish consumers towards various types of renewable energy production methods and to assess whether consumers will pay premium prices for different types of renewable sources. The chapter makes use of an online survey for data collection. 927 responses were collected in total during 2015. 92% of the respondents state that they believe in global warming. The results indicate that one-fourth of the consumers are not willing to pay anything extra if electricity is obtained from renewable sources. However, almost half thinks that they could pay 5% to 10% more. In terms of the importance placed by the consumers on different means of electricity generation by renewable sources, the highest importance is placed on solar energy, followed by wind, biomass, and hydroelectric. Policy makers in the public and private sectors can consider these results when making changes to the current energy generation and distribution infrastructure.