"Do que Você Lembra quando Pensa em Energia do Vento?" Um Estudo sobre o Conhecimento da Energia Eólica

Abstract

This study has investigated the knowledge about wind energy of 191 university students, classified in two groups according to the presence or the absence of environmental commitment in their daily activities. The natural semantic networks technique was used, in order to aggregate under the criteria of frequency, hierarchy and consent, the participants' free associations relative to wind energy. By means of a general semantic network, a consistent, positive and useful knowledge was identified to the benefits of the wind energy. Subtle differences were also registered in the knowledge of those that expressed environmental commitment in comparison to the group of non-committed ones. The implications of the results are discussed in regard to the promotion of such energy source, yet scarcely present within the Latin American context.