Making sense of public and MP opinion on renewables

As numerous surveys and studies have shown, renewables are consistently more popular than fossil-fuel-based energy sources:

• A long-running YouGov tracker comparing support for different energy sources over time shows wind power winning out, with solar competing with nuclear for the second spot.
• Our own Climate Barometer tracker data finds solar topping the table as the most popular form of energy generation, with 80% in favour versus only 5% against. The same percentage would be happy living near a solar energy park.
• Focus groups with communities living near existing or proposed solar sites back this up: there’s a clear (if ‘quiet’) majority in favour of solar power. There’s no real regional variation, either – support is high across the country, and holds up in every constituency of the UK.
• Encouragingly, MPs also now support solar at about the same level, with Climate Barometer tracker data showing nearly 80% favourable towards it.

In common with wind power, though, there’s a perception gap: we underestimate this level of support, with only 39% thinking ‘other people’ would support (rather than oppose) living near a solar energy development. MPs also get it wrong, underestimating the level of support for solar and guessing that only 28% of their constituents would want to live near a solar farm.

Across the political spectrum, there are innovative proposals for overcoming this perception gap, which typically focus on delivering tangible benefits to local communities. But the struggle to convince elected representatives of the scale of public support for renewables, set against negative commentary in some (right-leaning) media, continues. It isn’t a recent phenomenon: there’s a longstanding challenge around how minority opposition to solar and onshore wind is amplified through media commentary, although Carbon Brief analysis shows newspapers across the political spectrum are now far more supportive of renewables than they were in the early 2010s (even if 2023 marked a high point for editorial opposition to some net zero goals).

But unlike onshore wind, where planning constraints have made developments almost impossible in some areas, solar power is proliferating. This is driven mainly by domestic (rooftop) installation, with campaigns from previously hesitant groups like the Campaign for Rural England advocating rooftop solar.

Labour, if it enters government, has pledged to remove fossil fuels from electricity generation by 2030. This ambitious goal has more support than opposition among the public, suggesting that whichever party is in power, speeding up the decarbonising of electricity generation would be seen favourably.

In fact, the latest Climate Barometer tracker data shows that although opposition is slightly higher among Conservative voters, there’s still a clear majority in favour of new pylons and power lines for carrying renewable energy built in the local area. Labour MPs in contrast underestimate the level of opposition currently being expressed in polls. If significant numbers of seats change hands at the next election, an accurate reading of public opinion will be crucial for candidates of all parties.