Renewable energy is hitting the headlines yet again with recent initiatives to reduce the numbers of diesel and petrol vehicles on our roads, and the improved uptake of hybrid vehicles.
With the recent hikes in energy costs recently announced by British Gas, the spiralling costs of energy have re-energised the debate about the role of renewables in meeting the country’s future energy needs.
Energy suppliers and governments have been reluctant to fund major investments in renewable technologies for fear of driving energy costs up still further, and governments of all persuasions are only too well how unpopular policies can result in lost votes.
As climate change issues climb higher up the political agenda and receive greater media attention, governments are seeking ways to either cap or at best moderate the rises in energy prices, promoting various energy saving initiatives and are looking again at renewable technologies.
Publicity about schemes for the funding of energy saving measures such as, the largely discredited, Green Deal, solar PV, additional loft insulation in the domestic sector, tighter energy ratings on domestic products, stricter building regulations on energy efficient buildings to say nothing of rising awareness of how the new MEES regulations, which apply to the energy effectiveness of commercial buildings, will affect the commercial rented sector are raising public and commercial awareness.
As reported in early May this year, public support towards renewable energy has risen dramatically, reaching record highs of almost 80% with opposition almost completely diminished. In fact, just 1% of those surveyed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said they were strongly opposed to renewable energy.
These findings come from the latest instalment of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s public attitudes tracker, which surveys public opinions on a variety of energy issues, and found that 79% of those surveyed generally supported renewable energy. While this figure was predominantly in line with previous results, opposition to renewables has nearly completely diminished with just 4% of those surveyed expressing opposition to them.
The results are compounded by responses to other questions asked in this edition of the survey. More than 70% of respondents said they were concerned by climate change, with two-thirds expressing concern that the UK was not investing in alternative energy sources quickly enough.
Public support for all renewable technologies, including on-shore wind and solar, has reached its highest level of support since the survey began, and shows that well over half of respondents would also support a new large-scale renewable project where they live.
This survey is a clear message to any government that climate change is a prime concern among the electorate and that they should listen to public opinion, champion renewable energy and make the UK a world leader in clean, green technology
Jonathan Marshall, energy analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, focused on the disparity between public concerns over a lack of clean investment, the impacts of climate change and rising energy bills, and recent government policy.
“Despite the government promising action on energy bills, the levels of concern are largely unchanged over the past two years, contrary to rising support for the development of low-carbon electricity generation, which is seen as a higher priority within society.
“As such, moves by the government to continue backing wind and solar power in the UK would clearly be in line with public sentiment, offering a prime opportunity to ensure that a steady source of low-carbon power is at the centre of the soon-to-be-revealed industrial strategy,” he said.
Businesses are keen to play their part and many have invested heavily in solar, special energy efficient boilers, heat reflective window glass, motion activated lighting, and automatic switch off of all equipment at the end of the day.
But no business can afford to be complacent and it is crucial to keep up with future innovations, particularly with your fleet, there’s a definite growth trend towards EV vehicles with France and the UK announcing the ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol cars by 2040 and Volvo declaring that sales of its new cars will be partially or completely battery-powered from 2019. It should therefore come as no surprise that we’re now seeing reports announcing the ‘historic end’ to cars that only have an internal combustion engine.
If this trend is applied to typical UK businesses with fleets of vans and company cars, then we need to ensure the infrastructure is in place to meet charging requirements. If just 10 vans require a rapid charge for 30 minutes, it could mean a business needing an additional 400kW of electrical supply. This needs planning to ensure that the large operating cost reductions can be realised.
The energy market is rapidly changing and with change there comes opportunities. There are opportunities for energy managers to make substantial, long-term savings for their companies providing careful forward planning is implemented.