Public Acceptance and Support of Renewable Energy in the North-East Development Region of Romania

Dumitru-Tudor Jijie, Alexandru Maxim, Teodora Roman and Mihail Roșcovan
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Dumitru-Tudor Jijie: Management, Marketing and Business Administration Department, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi, 700506 Iaşi, Romania
Alexandru Maxim: Management, Marketing and Business Administration Department, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi, 700506 Iaşi, Romania
Teodora Roman: Management, Marketing and Business Administration Department, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi, 700506 Iaşi, Romania
Mihail Roșcovan: Transport Department, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Transport, Technical University of Moldova, MD-2001 Chișinău, Moldova

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-14

Abstract: Concern about energy in the European Union (EU) has been a recurrent issue from the very beginning. Though initially addressed at the state level, energy is now a shared competency as stressed by article 194 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. New challenges, added from time to time, need public support in order to be properly addressed. Such is the case of substituting traditional energy production with renewable energy sources. Our paper seeks to determine whether the Romanian public opinion favors such an evolution, which is traditionally associated with significant investment efforts. The study is focused on the north-east development region, which has the highest population and registered the fastest economic growth in 2019. The topic was explored through a survey applied to a sample of 649 household respondents. The results suggest strong support for introducing renewable energy sources, serious concerns about climate change, and a preoccupation for energy saving. Concerns regarding climate change or various economic factors, behaviors oriented towards reducing energy waste, as well as perceived knowledge on the matter are the factors with the biggest impact on supporting electricity production based on renewable energy sources. However, TV and online exposure have a negative impact on support. Demographics, along with social and political values remain mostly not significant.

Keywords: renewable energy; energy policy; public opinion; European Union; Romania; north-east development region of Romania (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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