Nearly half the British public believe investing in renewables is the top priority for energy security, according to a new poll.
Nearly half the British public believe investing in renewables is the top priority for energy security, according to a new poll.
Perhaps more surprisingly, the view is reflected by voters across the four largest parties – including UKIP.
Almost half (48 per cent) of those surveyed picked investing in renewables as their number one energy priority, far ahead of building new nuclear reactors, which came in second at a distant 15 per cent. Support for fracking trails fourth at 13 per cent, after ‘reducing consumption’.
Fracking was even less popular in the forty most marginal Tory/Labour seats, with just 8 per cent seeing it as the most important energy priority – a worrying finding for pro-fracking incumbents.
Just 2 per cent of UKIP supporters think that reducing the number of future onshore wind-farms should the government’s main priority, while 37 per cent believe that investing in renewables is the most important energy need.
Securing our energy supplies was seen as a top five priority for the majority of voters, with 53 per cent ranking it an urgent issue.
Commenting on the poll, RenewableUK chief executive Maria McCaffery said:
“This poll shows that the public want to tackle our energy security crisis by investing in renewables like wind, wave and tidal power and offsetting the need to import volatile and dirty fossil fuels from insecure parts of the world. Onshore wind, as the cheapest low carbon electricity source is a crucial component of that so it’s no wonder that the electorate will reject Parties that rule out its future use.”
The ComRes poll for RenewableUK follows a study last week which showed that politicians opposing wind development are a ‘turn off’ for voters.
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63 Responses to “Half UK voters support renewable energy as ‘top priority’”
itdoesntaddup
Supporting nuclear power on the basis of the Hinkley C type deal does not make any sense at all. We’re being asked to pay 3 times as much as the Chinese for the same thing by way of construction cost, at take twice as long doing it – and then offering an inflation linked guaranteed price that’s higher than for onshore wind.
The IPCC have made quite clear that they view gas as vitally important in helping to meet carbon reduction targets, so your opposition to fracking is entirely wrong if you consider carbon emissions to be an important issue.
Leon Wolfeson
And? I am discussing the current tax situation.
And of course you are denying the geological issues, etc.
As you demand I read your propaganda rather than the studies.
Leon Wolfeson
Well, let’s shop around then. And maybe we should be looking to a long-term investment program.
Gas is not a good answer – that way lies dependence on foreign suppliers, and it’s simply replacing coal. And, no, sensible nuclear policy means we don’t need the outright dangerous fracking here – especially when policy means it literally cannot lower prices, the liability for issues lies with the taxpayer and it cannot generate meaningful tax revenue.
The ONLY reason for it is to shore up your profits.
Tom
People can invest in renewables themselves – if half of all UK voters did this, we’d make some pretty rapid progress!
Switching energy suppliers is the easiest possible way:
Good Energy:
http://www.goodenergy.co.uk/blog/2011/02/24/how-much-we-re-investing-per-customer-in-new-sources-of-renewables
Ecotricity
http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/about-ecotricity
Or, people can invest more directly:
https://www.abundancegeneration.com/
gscales631
That smell is huge. Besides, there is far more going on in our culture and media right now than a fair, unbiased and enlightened education about energy. A decade of clever marketing by renewables companies and a failure of government and educators to teach the public about being responsible alongside the fear we have taught to a generation of children about climate change is what has created these circumstances where people become propaganda for the renewables companies and they make millions at the expense of people and the environment.
Global CO2 is increasing year on year. Renewables are not stopping it. They are not working. Germany produces more renewable energy that us (10%, compared to our 3.7% for total energy use), but to do that it has to subsidise renewables. It cannot afford to so it uses alot of coal and lignite to keep the energy price low enough to not crash its economy. The upshot is that Germany has more renewables than us, pays more for its electricity, but creates about 30% more CO2 than us both per person and per capita. Tell me that that is not ridiculous.