Study suggests people are in favour of wind energy in UK
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A new study into the UK public’s perception of wind energy suggests that people are favourably inclined toward it.
New research by Ipsos MORI for RenewableUK, the trade and professional body for the UK wind and marine renewables industries, shows that 67 per cent of people are in favour of the use of wind power in the UK, with 28 per cent ‘strongly in favour’.
One in 12 (eight per cent) are opposed — with only three per cent suggesting that they are ‘strongly opposed’.
According to RenewableUK, these figures provide more evidence to show that while there is a small but vocal anti-wind energy contingent, a majority of the public support the UK’s abundant wind resources.
‘It’s clear that the majority of those surveyed are supportive of energy from wind,’ said Maria McCaffery, chief executive of RenewableUK. ‘Wind is an abundant, clean, secure and affordable energy source. It is therefore not only undemocratic to allow the vocal anti-wind minority to derail the UK’s plans for renewable energy, but also damaging to our economy, undermining investment and jobs that will help to rebuild communities across the country, and put the UK on a path to future economic prosperity.’
The findings also suggest that the majority find the appearance of wind farms to be acceptable.
Respondents were asked to rate the level of acceptability of the appearance of wind farms on the landscape on a 10-point scale, ranging from completely unacceptable (one) to completely acceptable (10).
The majority (57 per cent) gave a score of between seven and 10, with a fifth (20 per cent) suggesting that the look of wind farms was completely acceptable. At the other end of the scale, one in six (17 per cent) gave scores of between one and four. Two in 10 (22 per cent) were neutral (giving a score of five or six), with four per cent not knowing.
The poll of 1,009 adults aged between 16 and 64 across the country comes ahead of the Clean Energy Ministerial, which will see ministers from more than 20 nations come to London to discuss low-carbon energy.
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Readers' comments (26)
Adrian Montagu | 25 Apr 2012 4:01 pm
Succinctly put John K !
You are right - That is the real issue.
Neil Kermode, You haven't said where you live. Let us examine the facts please.
Thank you
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Anonymous | 27 Apr 2012 4:32 pm
John K - Succinctly put perhaps, but unfortunately incorrect...
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Chris R | 28 Apr 2012 2:52 am
Outside of engineering related publications, the public is told fossil fuels are bad and the other choices are nuclear and wind. On tv, in newspapers, at work and college, I never heard mention of tidal, piezo electricity or fuel cells (even here on theengineer I hanent seen anything on fuel cells for the 14 months or so I've been reading).
It looks mainly like people are happy taking everything at face value, because when they start to question and investigate, the information is confusing, contradicting and usually sparse.
In my opinion, the general public's view has no value towards finding a solution as they don't understand and don't care as long as the power is there.
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Editor's comments | 28 Apr 2012 2:52 am
We've actually covered quite a few fuel cells stories in the last few months. Here are a couple of the recent ones:
Scientists develop new method of making hydrogen fuel cells
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/automotive/news/scientists-develop-new-method-of-making-hydrogen-fuel-cells/1011947.article
Companies collaborate on hydrogen fuel-cell development
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/automotive/news/companies-collaborate-on-hydrogen-fuel-cell-development/1011889.article
JohnK | 30 Apr 2012 1:20 pm
Anon.... you can't just say i'm incorrect without countering my points. This is just politic speak, typically ducking the question, or answering a question that was not asked just to get your view across. So... come on, lets hear what you have to say.
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Callum Strachan | 30 Apr 2012 2:46 pm
JohnK
You state that wind produces only 13% of stated capacity whereas tidal produces 100%. I presume you refer to capacity factor (i.e. energy produced as a ratio of that which would be produced were the generators to generate at their rated power 24/7). I disagree with your figures on two points - First, I would expect wind projects to have a capacity factor closer to 30% so your figure is misleadingly low. (Obviously the figure will vary from project to project and depend on the timeframe chosen). Second, tidal power, whilst being relatively predictable, is nonetheless still variable through the tidal cycle. Even allowing for storage via lagoons, I do not see how you design a system that generates continuously at 100% of installed capacity without losing substantial amounts of the energy available (and thereby reducing economic viability of the project).
With regard to your claims on subsidy, I would suggest you provide some support because they appear to have no basis whatsoever. The support mechanisms currently available for wind are also available for tidal and are clearly not sufficient to allow large-scale commercial application at present.
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jono1066 | 17 Jul 2012 10:04 am
If the report is clear cut on the population's belief that wind power is o.k. just think of the benefit of letting everyone see the findings along with the questions.
does anyone have a link to it?
As they say "your enemy is your best friend" then I am sure that renewable UK asked the anti lobby to agree the questions before they started .
If they didn't they just blew it.
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