Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is being considered as an option to reduce CO2 emissions worldwide. Yet recent cases show that CCS faces divergent public acceptance issues. This paper investigates stakeholder perspectives on CCS in Indonesia. Q methodology was adopted to analyse the diversity of stakeholder perspectives. Four perspectives were identified: (1) "CO2 emissions reduction through clean energy sources rather than CCS"; (2) "CCS as one of the options in the transition to a sustainable energy system"; (3) "CCS as the only optimal solution to reduce CO2 emissions"; (4) "CCS is only a tactic to keep burning coal forever". Based on these results, we argue that stakeholder acceptance of CCS should be understood as a complex notion. This means that understanding whether or under what conditions stakeholders would be willing to support CCS, requires consideration of stakeholders viewpoints about broader questions of CO2 emission reduction and energy supply in Indonesia, rather than studying attitudes towards CCS in isolation. We discuss how the approach taken in this study can be used and followed up in policymaking on CCS in Indonesia. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.