PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS AS OBSTACLES TO DECOUPLING A FUTURE ENERGY SYSTEM FROM 100 % RENEWABLES

In addition to technical measures, the conversion of energy supply away from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energies also requires behavioural changes in society. However, various studies show that psychological barriers block a change in behaviour toward climate protection. Reasons for this include the abandonment of personal comfort (comfort-interpretation), reference to the general public, for example, others also do nothing (tragedy-of-the-commons-interpretation), assumptions that a higher authority, such as the government, will take care of it (managerial-fix-interpretation), and distrust of the government (governance-distrust-interpretation). The psychological barriers related to energy consumption and production from renewables are questioned in the project "Future discourses in environmental communication." This occurs through the qualitative evaluation of workshops in which the tool 100prosim visualizes a future of 100% renewables as envisioned by different stakeholders and, subsequently, the barriers to this future are discussed. Results show that psychological barriers also appear in the workshops. It is often said that a higher authority has to oversee the expansion of renewable energies (managerial-fix-interpretation), and the north-south divide of onshore wind turbines in Germany is often referred to (tragedy-of-the-commons-interpretation). Stakeholders mention measures such as the home office, which does not necessarily worsen workers' comfort, to reduce user demand in air and passenger travel (comfort-interpretation). The reduction in vacation air travel is more likely to be justified by ticket price increases (managerial-fix-interpretation). Regarding passenger transport, lobbying, inter alia, is cited as a reason for less electrification (governance-distrust-interpretation). Stakeholders mention various aspects, such as citizen participation in onshore wind parks, and propose solutions for shaping the energy system to overcome the psychological barriers to behaviour change. Further workshops could be goal-oriented. Future workshops could address psychological barriers in more detail and develop solution strategies with the participants.