Public supports carbon reduction policies
BEIS has published a research paper on public attitudes to carbon reduction policies based on market reasearch of adults in a UK population sample taken in May 2019.
The paper concludes that there is strong public support for carbon-reduction policies. The full paper can be read at Transforming Heat – Public Attitudes Research. The most revealling graph from the paper is reproduced below:
These polls indicate that a clear majority of UK adults are in favour of:
- using taxes on fossil fuels to subsidise renewable energy
- phasing out petrol and diesel cars for electric vehicles
- phasing out gas boilers for environmentally friendly heating systems, and even ...
- phasing out gas cookers for electric ones
The detail of the report says that: "Younger people, those with degrees, and people with higher household incomes were more likely to be in favour of carbon reduction policies or think they were important".
It is time to tell Rishi Sunak
It looks as this would be a good time to tell the Chancellor that the public would like him to re-balance the Fiscal Background of UK energy prices which is currently preventing the uptake of heat pumps.
A key reason to install a ground source heat pumps is that one kilowatt of electricity can be used to transfer 4 kilowatts of heat into your building. This high coefficient of performance of 4 is sadly neutralised by the taxes and levies on electricity that artificially raise the price of electricity to be 4 times the price of gas in the UK.
It is the high price of electricity in the UK that is preventing the decarbonisation of heat that is so urgently needed.
See Renewable Heating See Renewable Cooling