According to a poll of 6,114 residents across all British constituencies published on 7th September more than 77% of Britons back renewable technologies to tackle the rise in energy costs.
The polling which was commissioned by industry body RenewableUK and conducted by Survation shows strong support across the board for building new wind and solar farms which generate electricity much more cheaply than currently high-priced gas. 76% of all those polled supported offshore wind, 81% backed solar and 74% were in favour of onshore wind.
Backing is even higher among Conservative voters with 84% of those who voted for the Tories at the last election urging the government to use new wind and solar farms to cut bills. Despite the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss’s opposition to solar farms the survey also showed that 82% of those planning to vote Conservative in the next election are in favour of building new solar and wind farms including onshore wind farms. The survey showed that onshore renewables are popular not only with the public but even more so with Conservative voters. 64% of the 2019 Tory voters think that Liz Truss should end the current block on onshore wind in England where there is local backing. In fact, there is no majority in favour of the current block in any constituency in Britain.
Sam Hall, director of the Conservative Environment Network said:
“This new polling shows that onshore renewables are popular not only with the public but even more so with Conservative voters. Renewables are popular and cheap, cut our reliance on imported fossil fuels, and support UK jobs.”
40% of those polled said they would be less favourable to the new Tory leader if she weakened climate change policies, far more than the 16% who said they would be more favourable.
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Interestingly, the 100 constituencies where support for offshore wind, onshore wind, solar and tidal power is strongest are predominantly Conservative.
Sam Hall urged the government to allow more solar farms to be built on unproductive land and lift the de facto ban on onshore wind in England, provided local communities consent to projects.
RenewableUK’s chief executive Dan McGrail said:
“These findings are a wake-up call to every politician, including the new Prime Minister, that the overwhelming majority of people want to see new investment in renewables and are happy to see new wind and solar farms built in their local area to drive energy bills down.
“At a time when we need to shift from expensive gas to low-cost renewables as rapidly as possible, most people agree that if local communities support having a wind farm nearby, the Government shouldn’t stand in their way.”
The poll also highlights high levels of support from people across the country for having a renewable project in their area. 76% of those people questioned said they would back a green scheme nearby including 81% of Tory voters.
Claire Mack, chief executive of trade body Scottish Renewables, said:
“We welcome this polling data that confirms the vast majority of people in the UK agree that wind and solar farms must play a key role in the shift from expensive gas to low-cost renewable solutions. Scotland’s renewable energy industry is worth £5.6 billion a year in GVA to Scotland, as well as employing more than 22,000 people. Building more renewable energy projects will not only tackle the cost of energy crisis we currently face but will secure economic success, create new green jobs, continue to cut the carbon emissions which cause climate change and underpin a Scottish green recovery in the long-term.”
The poll revealed that renewable energy sources are far mor popular than fossil fuel energy sources with only 34% of those polled supporting fracking for gas, a policy which the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss has said she would give the go-ahead where it has community support. 56% of those polled were in favour of getting energy from gas extracted from the North Sea.
Overall, 68 per cent of those polled said they want the government to increase or maintain investment in renewables, compared with just 14 per cent who want to see it decreased.
Dan McGrail said:
“We’re keen to work with the new Prime Minister Liz Truss to slash energy bills by building more renewable energy projects faster, which means bringing in a planning system which reflects the widespread public support for these technologies and setting ambitious targets for clean energy in each of their annual power auctions over the course of this decade. That will also help us to maximise jobs and attract billions in private investment.”
A report by Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) concluded that meeting the government’s four-fold increase target for offshore renewable energy by 2030 could be “potentially achievable” if the rate of wind turbine installation is doubled or tripled. Currently, as many as 46 per cent (almost 19.5GW) of potential capacity additions before 2030 are only at a concept stage, according to OEUK.
Back in July while the UK was experiencing soaring temperatures and high energy prices were fuelling a cost-of-living crisis, Parliament debated a bill to fast-track offshore wind projects in the House of Lords.
Earlier this year, the government announced a £31m fund to help drive further deployment of floating offshore wind projects and secured 11 gigawatts of winning bids for various renewable technologies at a record-low price.
The UK waits to hear what the government under the new Prime Minister will do next to improve the UK’s energy security and to continue the reduction of carbon emissions to meet the UK’s target of Net Zero by 2050.
