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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 September 2021) | Viewed by 11148

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Prof. Dr. Tsunemi Watanabe

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Society & Design, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland 4226, Australia
Interests: project management; risk management; environmental management; construction management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Lingling Wang

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Guest Editor

School of Regional Design, Civil Engineering Department, Utsunomiya University, Tochigi, Japan
Interests: economic statistical analysis; risk perception; risk management; renewable energy development; construction management; i-construction; international comparison

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue comprises selected papers on development of renewable energy from the perspectives of social science. In between development of renewable energy and that of conventional, fossil energy, there seems to be one clear difference in terms of stakeholder management: active involvement of new and versatile types of actors, including citizens and lay people, who often receive costs associated with fossil energy through, for example, air pollution. In order to develop renewable energy, thus, it is important to design and manage an institutional environment where each party would be willing to accept their responsibility. To do so, economic studies including incentive mechanism design, analyses of external costs and life cycle costs, and institutional analysis and managerial studies, including stakeholder management, risk perception, risk management, and motivation are invited. Papers selected for this Special Issue will be subject to a rigorous peer review procedure with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications.

Prof. Tsunemi Watanabe
Dr. Lingling Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Incentive mechanism design
External cost
Life cycle cost
Institutional analysis
Stakeholder management
Risk perception
Risk management
Motivation

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

0 pages, 1707 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Acceptance of Main Power Generation Sources among Japan’s Undergraduate Students: The Roles of Knowledge, Experience, Trust, and Perceived Risk and Benefit

by Reeko Watanabe, Tsunemi Watanabe and Kyohei Wakui

Sustainability 2021, 13(22), 12416; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132212416 - 10 Nov 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1846

Abstract

In Japan, graduates who become independent professionals in society have the right to choose energy providers given the liberalization of the electricity market in the country. This issue renders student perceptions regarding various types of energy generation a critical factor for decision making. Accordingly, we explored the risk and benefit perceptions of undergraduates regarding Japan’s main energy resources, namely, liquid natural gas (LNG), coal, hydropower, solar and nuclear resources, and petroleum. We also assessed energy acceptance among the target population and its influencing factors, such as student age and gender, school department, hometown, knowledge and experience of main power sources in Japan, and trust in government and power plant operation. These objectives were accomplished through field surveys and empirical characterizations of energy acceptance determinants. Compared with risk perception, benefit perception regarding all kinds of power generation was significantly predicted by knowledge. Experience explained only the perception of benefit from coal power generation, and benefit perception more strongly predicted energy acceptance than did risk perception. The findings suggested the necessity of university energy education programs for increased student knowledge of energy sources. Energy companies should increase energy benefits from economic, environmental, and energy security and safety perspectives to enhance energy acceptance among students. On the basis of the results, we classified energy sources in Japan into obscure (LNG and petroleum), well-known (coal and nuclear), and exploratory (hydropower and solar) resources—a first in the energy field and contributory to energy education design. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Renewable Energy from Perspectives of Social Science)

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18 pages, 1699 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Do University Students Base Decisions to Engage in Sustainable Energy Behaviors on Affective or Cognitive Attitudes?

by Piyapong Janmaimool and Jaruwan Chontanawat

Sustainability 2021, 13(19), 10883; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su131910883 - 30 Sep 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2487

Abstract

It is essential to understand the determinants of university students’ decisions to engage in sustainable energy behaviors, as this understanding has implications for the development of communication and education strategies to promote sustainable energy behaviors. The present study aims to investigate the impacts of affective and cognitive factors on sustainable energy behaviors among university students. It will explore the affective factors of self-responsibility and social norms and the cognitive factors of environmental concerns, perceived self-efficacy, perceived self-benefits, and action knowledge about sustainable energy behaviors. A simple random technique was used to select participants from undergraduate students at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) in Bangkok, Thailand. Questionnaire surveys were completed by 426 participants in May and June 2020. Multiple regression analyses were used to test the ability of affective and cognitive variables to predict university students’ participation in sustainable energy behaviors. The results revealed that participation in sustainable energy behaviors was significantly impacted by the perceived benefit of sustainable energy behaviors, students’ concerns about climate change, perceived self-efficacy, and social norms; self-responsibility and action knowledge had no significant impact. These findings indicate that communication that focuses on climate change and approaches that enhance students’ self-efficacy and the perceived benefits of sustainable energy behaviors could help promote such behaviors among university students. The sustainable energy behaviors of other social groups, including students’ family members and colleagues and the general public, are also influential as they can motivate students to change their behavior. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Renewable Energy from Perspectives of Social Science)

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30 pages, 1885 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Willingness to Pay and Participate in Improved Water Quality by Lay People and Factory Workers: A Case Study of River Sosiani, Eldoret Municipality, Kenya

by Anne Wambui Mumbi and Tsunemi Watanabe

Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 1934; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13041934 - 11 Feb 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2353

Abstract

This paper examines the willingness to pay for and participate in volunteer activities for the restoration of the Sosiani River in Eldoret, Kenya. The willingness to pay is examined through two scenarios which differ in the organizations conducting the proposed project. The study focuses on factory workers situated in textile industries and lay people living in the area, who are divided into two groups: respondents living downstream, who are situated mostly in town centers and at the mid/lower parts of the river and the respondents living upstream, mainly found at the upper parts of the River Sosiani. The study employs the double-hurdle model to identify the factors that influence the willingness to pay (WTP) for improved water quality in the area. An ordinal regression model is used to analyze the willingness to participate and its influencing factors. The results of the study show that an average of 74.4% of the 279 respondents studied were willing to pay for river restoration in the area. The mean willingness to pay for the government proposed scenario was KSh 182.51 (1.66$) per household/month and KSh 169.28 (1.54$) per household/month for a non-governmental proposed project. Within the groups upstream and downstream, inhabitants had higher mean scores for a non-government project as compared to a government project, while the reverse was observed in the factory group. The empirical results of this study show that risk perception, trust and socio-demographic variables were significant factors on the stated amount and the decision to participate of the respondents. The characteristics of respondents with zero WTP, who comprised a significant amount of the respondents (25.6%), are also analyzed in depth shaping the recommendations of this study. The empirical results show that the number of years lived in the community is a major determinant on willingness to participate and pay for environmental restoration projects in the area. The results of this study could influence decision makers in general and have potential implications that can be applied in other sectors not necessarily related to water issues. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Renewable Energy from Perspectives of Social Science)

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0 pages, 2199 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Does Haze Drive Pro-Environmental and Energy Conservation Behaviors? Evidence from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area in China

by Reeko Watanabe and Tsunemi Watanabe

Sustainability 2020, 12(23), 9972; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12239972 - 28 Nov 2020

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1790

Abstract

Humans conduct themselves in relation to energy use; energy use has degraded air quality, as reflected by haze occurrence in countries such as China. Improving the population’s involvement in environmental and energy conservation necessitates understanding their motivation to behave under haze. Considering the social problems caused by haze conditions in China, this study used people’s risk perception as a basis to determine their motivations to perform pro-environmental and energy-saving behaviors. We analyzed motivation from privately and publicly oriented perspectives as well as adaptive and mitigative behavioral viewpoints. Motivation-related data were collected through face-to-face discussion and a survey of 506 respondents in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, which is one of the most heavily polluted regions in China. We conducted multiple regression analysis to determine the extent to which socio-demographic characteristics and risk perception concerning haze predict motivation and actual behavior. Results showed that these factors explain 36.8% and 30.5% of privately and publicly oriented motivations, respectively, but more strongly explain more adaptive (i.e., privately oriented; 55.0%) than mitigating (i.e., publicly oriented; 8.8%) behaviors. Although the residents are motivated to behave equally for private and public purposes in initial conservation efforts, they tend to exhibit adaptive behavior more frequently than mitigating behaviors. These results serve as a reference in encouraging China’s residents to act pro-environmentally and use energy conservatively, thereby contributing to environmental and energy saving education for the society. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Renewable Energy from Perspectives of Social Science)

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16 pages, 522 KiB

Open AccessArticle

On the Economic Effects of a Res Local Industry Deployment in Morocco: A Case of Study Defining Scenarios from a Survey to Stakeholders

by Ramon Mahia and Rafael de Arce

Sustainability 2020, 12(17), 6811; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12176811 - 21 Aug 2020

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2068

Abstract

The aim of this article is to simulate the economic impact on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment of renewable energy sources investment in Morocco over the next 40 years. In this sense, several potential scenarios of energy component evolution have been used based on the results of a specific survey to sector stakeholders. We obtain accurate results, avoiding speculative/theoretical assumptions in terms of scenario design. As usual in the sector, a Dynamic Input–Output Model (DI–O) is used to estimate the direct and indirect effects of such a large investment and, avoiding the criticism of this type of model in the context of long-term simulations, the alternative of de Arce et al. (2012) is used. In this framework, substantial results derive from the three scenarios considered: the increase in Moroccan GDP as a result of this investment could be around 1.2–1.7 points and, on average, 42,000 new jobs could be created. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Renewable Energy from Perspectives of Social Science)

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