Households’ Willingness to Pay for Renewable Energy Alternatives in Thailand

Surasak Jotaworn; Vilas Nitivattananon; Ornuma Teparakul; Thanakom Wongboontham; Masahiro Sugiyama; Masako Numata; Daniel del Barrio Alvarez

doi:10.3390/socsci12110634

Social Sciences (Nov 2023)

Households’ Willingness to Pay for Renewable Energy Alternatives in Thailand

Surasak Jotaworn,
Vilas Nitivattananon,
Ornuma Teparakul,
Thanakom Wongboontham,
Masahiro Sugiyama,
Masako Numata,
Daniel del Barrio Alvarez

Affiliations

Surasak Jotaworn: Department of Social Science, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, 39 Moo 1, Klong 6, Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani 12110, Thailand
Vilas Nitivattananon: Urban Innovation and Sustainability, Department of Development and Sustainability, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
Ornuma Teparakul: Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University, Rangsit Center, Khlong Nueng Subdistrict, Khlong Luang District, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
Thanakom Wongboontham: Urban Innovation and Sustainability, Department of Development and Sustainability, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
Masahiro Sugiyama: Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Masako Numata: Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Daniel del Barrio Alvarez: Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12110634
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 12, no. 11
p. 634

Abstract

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While the problems about the environmental effects of traditional energy use are growing, Thailand has a rapid response by increasing its renewable energy (RE) policy. Even though Thailand has seen rapid growth in RE, it has been focusing on supporting the producers and not considering the users. In addition, there were few studies on RE receivers in Thailand. To reach sustainable growth and increase the empirical study, this research aims to analyze the socio-economy, electric consumption behavior, attitude, opinions, and cognition of households in Bangkok Metropolitan to willingly pay for RE alternatives in Thailand. A questionnaire survey was carried out for 250 households covering six administrative districts, selected through multistage and stratified sampling techniques. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and conditional logit regression. It is found that the overall household in Bangkok still unchanged the status of electricity production based on the findings of socio-economy, behavior, and psychological factors. Considering to pay for RE alternatives, households are willing to pay (WTP) for solar energy at the highest level among other types, and biomass is the least willing to pay when the RE share is expected to reach 40%. These results are relevant for the planning of RE in the metropolitan region and the methodology applicable to other regions for extending RE opportunities to the national level.

Published in Social Sciences

ISSN: 2076-0760 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Social Sciences
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/socsci

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