PUBLIC COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION FOR CARBON CAPTURE, UTILIZATION, AND STORAGE TECHNOLOGY: ACCEPTANCE, EDUCATION, AND OUTREACH

摘要

The international awareness of global warming concerns creates unique issues of societal acceptance ofrntechnologies that promote environmental sustainability. This creates unique opportunities for partnershipsrnbetween higher education, business/industry, and communities to positively sculpt public perception of arnproject’s environmental impact and gain the public trust in its conduct. The need for collaborativernpartnerships is heightened with the potential confusion between multiple technologies perceived in societalrncircles as having potentially negative sustainability impacts (e.g., hydraulic fracturing and carbon capturernand storage).rnRichland Community College is currently engaged in the USA Department of Energy project “Illinois-rnIndustry Carbon Capture and Storage” (IL-ICCS), which is to demonstrate the viability and effectiveness ofrncommercial-scale carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). This project began in June 2010 torncapture and store more than 2.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO_2) over three years from therncompany’s ethanol facility in Decatur, Illinois. The IL-ICCS project is to demonstrate commercial-scalernCCUS by capturing CO_2 emissions from the Archer Daniels Midland Company, Decatur, Illinois, USA,rnethanol facility and storing them deep underground. In concert with this, the ongoing community educationrnand outreach activities conducted by the College have successfully engaged the public to a wide-spreadrnunderstanding that CCUS technologies safely reflect the best interests of the community.rnIn embarking on this project, a psychodynamic strategic perspective was taken to guide the College in itsrnapproach to communication, education, and outreach for the project. This involved understanding the localrnand regional stakeholder personalities to mold the way we would do things, what we would do, and where wernwould be heading. The scientific and technical nature of this project necessarily provided a need tornunderstand and leverage local and regional demographics, culture, and the existing college/community trustrnrelationship in establishing an aggressive outreach and education activity. A team, or group, effectivenessrntheoretical construct was applied to facilitate the development and implementation of “communication” andrn“outreach” tactical strategies to increase the likelihood of CCUS acceptance by community partners.rnTo facilitate CCUS education and outreach as part of Richland’s role in this partnership, Richlandrnestablished and constructed the iconic National Sequestration Education Center (NSEC) on Richland’srncampus in the Richland Agribusiness Applied Technology Park. The NSEC is a local, regional, national, andrninternational focal point for CCUS community outreach and education by providing an innovativernexperiential learning and knowledge transfer environment. The NSEC provides unique educational value tornresearchers and visitors from around the world by experiencing the sequestration technologies demonstratedrnon the Richland campus and in the surrounding region communities.rnThe uniqueness of this project to include a community college has resulted in: 1) the establishment of a globalrneducational center (i.e., the NSEC) with close proximity to two CCUS projects; 2) the creation of the world’srnfirst CCUS community college Associate of Science and Associate of Applied Science degrees; and 3) thern2rndelivery of CCUS educational outreach activities to over 3,400,000 people since 2011. The communityrnresponsibility demonstrated in this project has resulted in over 900 domestic jobs, including 250 local jobsrnand the creation of over 10 permanent jobs. The local economic impact is estimated to be over $30,000,000rnUSD. However, more importantly this project has transitioned research to commercial demonstrationrnadvancing national and global practices and policy regarding CCUS and it has become a global centerpiecernfor CCUS research, economic, and educational value.