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Strong support for renewables, says gov’t survey

A poll commissioned by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has indicated that 82 per cent of people in the UK  support plans to expand renewable energy capacity.

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The survey, which sampled 2,121 UK adults, also revealed that 69 percent of respondents agreed that renewables provided economic benefits to the UK whilst 55 per cent were happy to have a large scale renewables project built in their area.

DECC has now pledged to repeat the survey on a quarterly basis with a view to more accurately guaging public opinion on environmental policy.

Although a clear support for renewables emerged from the poll, support for two other elements of the government’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions is more split. Only 29 per cent of people thought the benefits of nuclear energy outweighed the risks whilst two thirds of respondents said they has never even heard of carbon capture and storage (CCS).