Adding Innovation Diffusion Theory to Technology Acceptance Model: Understanding Consumers' Intention to Use Biofuels in Viet Nam

(ProQuest: . denotes formulae omitted.)IntroductionEnergy is one of the most important sectors in the economy of the country and the dynamics of the process for national development. Biofuels are drawing increasing attention on worldwide as substitutes for petroleum-derived transportation fuels to help address energy cost, energy security and global warming concerns associated with liquid fossil fuels. The term "biofuels" is used here to mean any liquid fuel made from plant material that can be used as a substitute for petroleum-derived fuel. Biofuels can include relatively familiar ones, such as ethanol made from sugar cane or diesel-like fuel made from soybean oil, to less familiar fuels such as dimethyl ether or Fischer-Tropsch liquids made from lignocellulose biomass (Larson, 2007). Biofuels can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a diesel additive to reduce levels of particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons from diesel-powered vehicles. Stimulating biofuels use is an important candidate policy option for increasing the sustainability of the transport system. Both public support and public opposition may influence the implementation of biofuels stations. According to Worldwatch Institute (2011), worldwide biofuels production reached 105 billion liters (28 billion gallons US), up 17% from 2009, and biofuels provided 2.7% of the world's fuels for road transport. Global ethanol fuel production reached 86 billion liters (23 billion gallons US) in 2010, with the United States and Brazil as the world's top producers, accounting together for 90% of global production. The world's largest biodiesel producer is the European Union, accounting for 53% of all biodiesel production in 2010 (Koltuniewicz, 2014). The mandates for blending biofuels exist in 31 countries at the national level and in 29 states or provinces (REN21, 2011). The International Energy Agency has a goal for biofuels to meet more than a quarter of world demand for transportation fuels by 2050 to reduce dependence on petroleum and coal (Shimasaki, 2014). The production of biofuels also led into a flourishing automotive industry, where by 2010, 79% of all cars produced in Brazil were made with a hybrid fuel system of bio-ethanol and gasoline (Hall, et al., 2014). Biofuels in VietnamHigher rates of economic growth in Vietnam led to growing energy demands. Annual energy demand has expected to increase approximately 12.1% from 2010 to 2020 in combination with the fossil source situation has been exhausted yearly (Nguyen, et al, 2013). Vietnam is an agricultural country and annually has to import a huge capacity of oil products to satisfy the domestic demand. When the fossil fuel is becoming exhausted, petroleum price is continuously increasing; doing research in finding new power resource, renewable power, to replace fossil fuels is an essential solution.With economic growth as the sweeping social, in the development process, Vietnam has been considering energy security at top priority. With the limitation in exploitation and use of new fossil energy, renewable energy sources are considered as an important alternative, with exploitable renewable energy resources. The Vietnam National program for development biofuels is up to 2015, with a vision to 2025 (Decision No.177/2007/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister dated 20 November, 2007). The Government has affirmed the policy of renewable energy as the key task during the industrialization and modernization of the country. It strives to increase the share of renewable energy in total commercial primary energy from 3% in 2010 to 5% in 2020 and 11% in 2050. The government decides to produce biofuel to replace 5% of total demand for petroleum- through blending to attain E5 and B5 starting 2010 up to 2025 (AFD Hanoi, 2012). After surging between 2004 and 2008, the invention of biofuel technologies was slow considerably, and in many countries went into decline. …