SOCIAL INSIGHT: Renewables UK preview
by Pete Wrathmell
We’re welcoming the Renewables UK conference to Manchester this year and we’ve booked our passes to once again see how the industry is progressing. Renewable energy is on a steady march to take over the UK’s energy sector – and public opinion will be taken along with it as fears about security of supply, price rises and avian armageddon fail to materialise. From a Social Consult perspective, the question as ever is how to reflect the goodwill found at a national level for renewable energy (support hovers between 75-80% according to DECC’s quarterly public attitudes tracker) at a local level when new wind farms, AD plants and other schemes are unveiled. Too often, the views of local communities swing against renewables projects based on misinformation and down-right lies spread by the minority who would prefer to see our country chug its way to climate disaster. And you can’t say there’s been that much progress in this area over the last few years. Getting your consultation right (and engaging a younger audience) remains one of the biggest challenges to the industry and we’re looking forward to getting the views of the developers, planners and industry experts who are at the coal face (or should that be turbine base) week after week. See you at Manchester Central on Wednesday.
RenewbleUK 2014 website