The UK Government’s latest survey of public attitudes towards renewables and tackling climate change shows that 88% of people support using renewable energy while just 2% oppose it.
The newest wave of polling in the Public Attitudes Tracker, conducted in the autumn and published today by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), beats the previous record of 87% set a year ago.
When asked about individual technologies, at least eight in 10 were supportive of solar energy (89%, up from 87% in Spring 2022), wave and tidal energy saw no change at 84%, offshore wind support reached 85% (up from 83%), and onshore wind scored 79% (no change).
Support for biomass was slightly lower at 72% (unchanged) although people were more likely to give a neutral opinion on this compared with other technologies (17% said they neither supported nor opposed this technology).
The percentage of people in the UK who are concerned about climate change remains high at 83%, and the percentage of people who say they are “very concerned” has risen from 39% to 45%.
The poll also shows the percentage of people aware of the concept of Net Zero remains high at 90%
RenewableUK Chief Executive Dan McGrail said: “This sky-high level of public support needs to be reflected fully in Government policy.
“This week Ministers have started publishing crucial details of the next auction for contracts to generate clean power and a consultation on future rounds beyond that.
“It’s vital that we secure as much new capacity as possible in each annual auction round at prices which are sustainable – and that we do so in a way which enables our supply chain to grow throughout the country.
“So the new parameters need to be set carefully to boost confidence among investors.”