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You might not guess it from the tone and
substance of recent government policy, but its own research has yet again shown
just how popular renewable energy is in the UK – and conversely how little
support exists for fracking.
Every three months the Department of Energy and
Climate Change (DECC) asks the public about their views on different energy
types and how they use energy in their daily lives. The latest has just been
released (summary;
full
breakdown). Its headlines:
- 81% of the public support renewable energy,
with over a third “strongly” supporting it.
- Only 19% support fracking.
- Only just over a third (35%) think that
nuclear energy will help tackle climate change.
- Over half (56%) say that they’d be happy to
have a renewable energy development near them, and 77% say that they would like
renewable energy sites to provide economic benefits to local
communities.
Clearly something as complex as energy policy
should not be solely governed by public sentiment. But the public mandate for
clean energy versus fossil fuels is staggering.
Support for zero-carbon energy has been
unfailingly high each of the 17 times the survey has been run; over
three-quarters of people have backed it each quarter since 2012.
Not just popular, but increasingly lucrative:
Danish energy company Dong revealed
this week that growing profits from its offshore wind business – including
in UK waters – have more than made up for its tumbling returns from oil and
gas.
All of which of course prompts the question of
who it is the government listens to on energy policy – proudly delivering both
myriad
cuts to support for renewable energy and cutting
tax for oil and gas as part of its drive to drill ‘every drop’, both in the
North Sea and from fracking.
In particular it exposes the folly of its war
on onshore
wind farms; the Prime Minister’s claims
that the public are “fed up” with the technology looks simply silly, given
that the DECC survey found that 69% of people support the technology, and only
5% oppose.
Don't miss these:
- This
photo-essay on the massive new turbine that’s revolutionising the economics
of onshore wind – featuring British-made blades as big as the wing of an Airbus
A380.
- 2015 was another record year for renewable
energy investment , say
the United Nations –an impressive $286 billion worldwide, over twice as much
as was spent on coal and gas.
In other news…
The Paris Agreement is signed – so what
next?
The signing of the Agreement by 171 governments
last week prompted a full page advert in the FT, signed
by a huge range of organisations (including NEF), calling for oil companies
to start planning for a low-carbon world. Experts did however warn
that the pledges currently on the table from signatories need “radical”
improvement to keep temperatures to a two degree rise or less.
Heard the one about the government paying
Shell to drill our oil?
UK taxpayers paid
Shell a net $123 million in 2015 to drill North Sea oil and gas, thanks to a
large tax rebate. That makes the UK the only one of the 24 countries where Shell
reported that it took money from, rather than gave money back to, the
taxpayer.
MPs slam government failure on air
pollution
A very cross cross-party group of MPs slammed
ministers for not doing enough to stop at least 40,000 people a year dying
early from air pollution. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
(Efra) called for a decent national action plan, a national diesel scrappage
scheme and more powers to local authorities to bring in diesel charging schemes.
Last year the Supreme Court also ordered
the government to draw up an action plan to clean up the UK’s air: what they
came up with, however, would still leave dozens of UK cities in
breach of EU law for years to come. Damning evidence has also emerged
of the systemic failure of car manufacturers to produce diesel vehicles that are
as clean when driven in real life as they are in the laboratory.
And finally
Picking a fight with Emma Thompson is never
wise – particularly if you’re the fracking industry and you’re trying
to claim you’re a good thing for renewable energy.
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