Communication Strategy for a public information campaign on CO2 geological storage and on CCS as a whole: the case history in Italy from 2003 to 2008

Abstract

In the frame of the INGV activities of the Group 5 of the European Platform on Zero Emissions Fossil Fuels Power Plants (Eu ZEP) INGV resumes 8 years of experience in public communication on CCS aimed to the public acceptance of this strategic group of technologies. This paper follows from the beginning (2000-2008) the history of the communication and public acceptance campaign in Italy, discriminating in details the bad/sound messages appeared on newspaper, TV, video and conference, mostly as regard the possible natural risks associated to a newly exploited technology: CO2 Capture & Storage (CCS), namely degassing/leakage to surface and triggering of micro-seismicity typically associated to industrial fluids injection. The most important messages, the mediatic errors and the obstacles encountered during this long communication campaign, mostly exploited by INGV in Italy, are described critically, tentatively avoiding that the involved stakeholders make the same mistakes in future and do not adopt the herewith suggested protocols of communication. This is strategic mostly in densely populated countries, like the European ones, often affected by the NIMBY syndrome (Not In My Back Yard) for new plants which could foreseen the CO2 storage sites in the vicinity. In the frame of the European Directivity on CCS, the above mentioned risks are mainly supported and charged on the “storage operator”: and this load is not soundly taken in considerations in the directivity itself: these risks must be spread on the “capture” community and on the “Competent Authority”, otherwise the “storage operators” are not encouraged to enter in the CCS market. INGV describes its experience in creating good communication in public populated events like the “Science Festival” held in Lecce (May 2008) and the “Science Festival” held on Genova (October 2008), also by facilities as plastic interactive CCS scaled box reproducing the CO2 storage techniques, for a complete and simple communication with general public and stakeholders. The most important messages to be highlighted on CCS are mentioned and critically reviewed in the newspaper articles since the USA-Italia bilateral agreements on the climate change, including CCS at that time.