Renewables enjoy continued high public support in UK

Renewable energy continues to enjoy strong public support in the UK, according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change's (DECC) quarterly public attitudes tracking survey.

The use of renewables is supported by 76% of respondents in the latest poll, an increase from 75% in the previous survey. Support for renewable energy has been consistently high at around 75-80% during the tracker, which was launched in March 2012.

The level of support for specific technologies was similar to that seen in March as the question about individual sources was omitted from the previous survey. Onshore wind support ticked up to 66% from 65%, solar backing was at 80%, compared to 81% in March. Support for offshore wind was unchanged at 73%. For wave and tidal, it was at 73% and for biomass at 65%.

By comparison, fracking is supported by 23% of respondents and nuclear by 36%, which is a slight increase from 33% in June.

"We hope that Ministers will look at these figures carefully and listen to what the thousands of voters who took part in this official Government poll are telling them," RenewableUK's deputy chief executive Maf Smith said in a statement. Onshore wind is one of the cheapest of all sources of electricity, so it should be kept in the energy mix to drive fuel bills down, he added.

The UK government has in recent months announced a series of cuts to renewables subsidies, saying that the moves are designed to control spending and protect bill payers.

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