A survey on public awareness towards renewable energy in Turkey

The use of renewable energy sources are rapidly increasing as alternatives to conventional sources. As Turkey having a great potential of renewable sources, the consciousness of community is a very significant issue for the development in this area. A survey of renewable energy awareness is conducted in this paper; implemented on university students from multiple disciplines. In order to determine the awareness of students, a validated questionnaire was prepared The survey depended on gender, age and education parameters of 322 students studying in state/private colleges and universities in Ankara. Thus, the perspective of the undergraduate and graduate students towards renewable energy has been studied. With this study, according to the education, politics, environment and energy factors, assessments are made trying to uncover the relationships between these factors. The data obtained from study were analyzed with SPSS 15.0 statistical software package. As a result, it is clear to say that there is a gradually increasing awareness among university students and a more reliable perception in the society either. This study is especially expected to be useful in determining the renewable energy content of the curriculum for relevant educational institutions and for the development of short and medium-term energy policies for future plans in other institutions.