Beyond costs: Mapping Norwegian youth preferences for a more inclusive energy transition

TL;DR

This study explores Norwegian youth's preferences for an inclusive energy transition, revealing regional differences and highlighting their prioritization of environmental and social factors over cost minimization.

Contribution

It provides novel insights into youth perspectives on energy transition, emphasizing regional variations and disconnects with traditional modeling priorities.

Findings

Over 68% of students favored offshore wind or combined offshore wind and solar.

Significant regional differences in preferred energy sources.

Youth prioritize environmental and social factors over cost minimization.

Abstract

Environmental movements and climate strikes have made it apparent that youth feel excluded from the ongoing energy transformation process, highlighting the crucial need for their engagement to achieve a socially accepted transition. This interdisciplinary study focuses on the Norwegian electricity system and involves conducting educational workshops with high school students aged 15 to 16 to ascertain their perspectives towards a net-zero energy system. The workshops were structured into three segments, starting with the dissemination of common knowledge about energy and climate, followed by interactive activities designed to explore and develop an understanding of various aspects of energy transition. Three rounds of questionnaires, administered at distinct time intervals, assessed changes in students' attitudes and socio-techno-economic preferences. Our findings show that 33\% of pupils favored exclusively offshore wind as a main energy source, while 35\% opted to combine it with solar energy, indicating that over 68\% viewed offshore wind as favorable. Although 32\% supported some form of land-based wind turbines, there was strong disagreement about wind parks in agricultural, forested, and residential areas. Preferences also exhibited considerable regional variation; solar installations were favored in southern and southeastern Norway, while wind farms were suggested for central and northern regions. Pupils emphasized energy independence, showed reluctance towards demand response, prioritized reducing emissions and preserving biodiversity over minimizing electricity costs. Despite cost-minimization being core to most energy system models, youth deemed it the least important factor, highlighting a disconnect between modeling priorities and their perspectives.