Renewable Energy receives high levels of support from the public
Renewable Energy receives high levels of support from the public
A recent public attitude tracking survey published by the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) on 12th August 2014 found over three-quarters of UK adults (79%) said they supported the use of renewable energy sources to generate the UK’s electricity, fuel and heat.
When asked about individual renewable energy sources, 60% were in support of biomass and 82% supported solar.
There is still a concern over rising electricity bills with 35% of UK adults admitting they worry about bills and 32% still concerned over steep rises in energy prices in the future. It’s no surprise therefore that 27% of people asked said they may or may not switch energy suppliers in the next 12 months. Nearly half (47%) of people trusted their energy supplier to inform them of the best tariff for them to be on which may be due to the pressure placed on electricity providers over the last few years and the fact many are already actively doing this.
Energy efficiency remains high on the agenda for 75% of people who are reported to give ‘a lot or a fair amount of thought’ to saving energy in their home. There was an increase however in the percentage of people saying they had not heard of or thought about installing specific renewable heat measures – biomass boiler (53%), air source heat pump (67%), ground source heat pump (63%). More work perhaps needs to be done to communicate the benefits of specific renewable heating technologies to arm people with the information so they are fully aware of their options. With the new Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive which launched in April (see https://norcroftenergy.co.uk/government-updates/domestic-rhi-launched-today/) we expect awareness and uptake to increase as the government announce they will now pay residents who heat their homes using renewable sources.
Source: Department of Energy & Climate Change – Public Attitudes Tracking Survey, Aug 2014. Click here to read the full report.
For more information on renewable energy or any of the technologies mentioned in this blog, please call us on 01226 763 127 or email info@norcroftenergy.co.uk.