The effect of environmental concern on renewable energy attitude and 1 usage intention: a case of Turkey

13 Energy use-related environmental and social concerns and problems have led to the development of renewable 14 (RE) energy types such as wind, solar, hydraulic, and geothermal energy. Increasing environmental concerns, as 15 well as public awareness and positive attitudes towards sustainable energy types, have played an important role 16 in this development. The present study investigated the effects of the mentioned environmental concerns on the 17 attitudes towards renewable energy and renewable energy usage intention with a proposed structural model. In 18 the first part of the proposed model, the effect of environmental concerns on the awareness and perceived 19 benefits of RE, and in the second part, the effect of awareness and perceived benefits of RE on the RE usage 20 intention was examined. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to test the model. Regarding the fitness 21 of the model, the chi- square value was calculated as 141.77, and the (χ 2 /df) value as 2.36. Analysis results 22 demonstrated that one unit increase in environmental concerns would increase awareness of RE by 0.63 and 23 perceived benefits by 0.51 unit. It was also found that awareness of RE would increase the perceived benefits of 24 RE and that especially the increase in awareness positively would affect RE usage intention.

enormous increase in demand for fossil fuels, environmental degradation and the impact of this degradation on human health is increasing day by day (Van Gent and Rietveld, 1993).
Air and environmental pollution caused by fossil fuels have many adverse effects on human life. To It is possible to define RE as "energy generated from natural resources and continuously replenished by shaping public opinion about RE resources and public awareness of RE resources. In the study, it was 72 determined that the Greek public had positive attitudes towards RE systems. In addition, it was determined that 73 there was a correlation between the perceived benefits of RE usage and the willingness to pay for RE. Kardooni

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RE usage in Turkey has been increasing in recent years. As of the end of 2018, 37.3% of Turkey's total 89 electricity generation was from coal, 29.8% from natural gas, 19.8% from hydraulic energy, 6.6% from wind 90 energy, 2.6% from solar energy, 2.5% from geothermal energy, and 1.4% from other resources. The vast 91 majority of generated RE is obtained from hydroelectric energy. On the other hand, although the proportion of 92 modern RE resources such as wind and solar in total RE generation has increased over the years, they have yet to achieved corresponds to 1.30% of Turkey's total surface area. According to Turkey's Atlas for Solar Energy annual solar radiation is 1.527 kWh/m2.year (with a daily average of 4.18 kWh/m².day) (Republic of Turkey, tourism, industrial mineral mining, fishing, and drying. The first electricity generation with geothermal energy was begun by Kızıldere Power Plant with a power of 0.5 MW, which was established by the General Directorate

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Renewable energy resources are sustainable clean energy resources which are alternative to fossil fuels.

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Successful energy planning requires public involvement in the planning process because people play a 120 fundamental role in environmental protection, climate change mitigation, and RE usage. This study aimed to 121 investigate the factors affecting the intention of the people living in three Turkish provinces, namely Ankara,

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Tekirdağ, and Eskişehir, to use renewable energy. Located in the Central Anatolia region, Ankara is the capital environmentally friendly high school generates 80% of its annual energy consumption with its solar energy 125 panels and wind turbine. The high school does not only generate most of its energy needs but also trains experts 126 in solar energy and wind energy systems (Republic of Turkey, Governorship of Ankara, 2017). the electricity consumption costs will be covered, CO2 emission will be reduced by 56.5 tons, and 4,700 trees 147 will be saved annually (Republic of Turkey, Tekirdağ Metropolitan Municipality, 2017).

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As a result of the literature review, it was found that although studies have been conducted in Turkey to 149 reveal public attitudes towards the usage of basic energy resources, not many studies have been conducted to 150 explore public attitudes and intention towards renewable energy usage. In addition, a data collection tool on the 151 attitudes towards renewable energy usage was developed in the study.

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This part of the study contains information about the research model, hypotheses, sampling, development of data 155 collection tool, data collection, and some analyses. The research process is explained in the paragraphs below.  Typically, people seek innovations that are relatively inexpensive, easy to use, and will provide more advantages    The symbols in Figure 1 are defined below.

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Matrix representation and structural equations of the structural model are shown in detail in equation 1-6.

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Structural equation      Table 2 that all hypotheses are supported. As can be inferred from R 2 values, environmental concern explains 40% of the variance in the awareness of RE. Likewise, 84% of the variance in 286 the perceived benefits of RE is explained by the variables of environmental concern and the awareness of RE.

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Finally, 62% of the variance in RE usage intention is explained by the variables of the awareness of RE and the 288 perceived benefits of RE. the research model, environmental concern was used as the exogenous latent variable and the awareness of RE,

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perceived benefits of RE, and RE usage intention were used as endogenous latent variables.

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In the study, a positive relationship was found between environmental concern and the awareness of RE, 299 and the relevant hypothesis was supported. Accordingly, as people's environmental concerns increase, their 300 awareness of RE (as indicated by the statements of "Renewable energy reduces greenhouse gas," "I am aware of the benefits of renewable energy," and "I can easily define renewable energy") increases.
the relevant hypothesis was supported. Accordingly, as people's environmental concerns increase, perceived

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The said study also found a positive relationship between the perceived benefits of RE and renewable energy At the beginning of the questionnaire, the participant was asked if he / she participated in the study voluntarily.

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The voluntary participation form was marked.

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The article titled "The effect of environmental concern on renewable energy attitude and usage intention : a 477 case of Turkey" has not been published in any journal, and all rights of publication belong to Environmental