14 DAY TRIAL // An overwhelming majority of people in the United Kingdom favor the construction of wind farms, especially offshore ones. By comparison, the practice of fracking for shale gas is not all that popular, a new survey commissioned by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills says.
More precisely, it would appear that over 75% of Britons would prefer it if the country were to invest heavily in wind farms in the years to come. In turn, 36% would not object should high officials give the thumbs up to the development of the fracking industry.
According to Click Green, wind power has come to be this popular in the United Kingdom due to the fact that there are many who believe that this clean energy source can help not only put a leash on climate change and global warming, but also boost the economy.
By comparison, fracking is quite often linked to earthquakes, environmental pollution and damage done to natural ecosystems. These issues were found to be on the mind of roughly 80% of the people interviewed while carrying out this investigation.
Besides, there were many who said that they did not trust that the country's high officials would be able to properly regulate shale gas exploration and exploitation well enough to keep this industry from having a negative impact on human society and the natural world.
The same source tells us that the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills-commissioned survey was a face-to-face one, and that it boiled down to questioning 1,749 adults and 510 individuals whose age ranged from 16 to 24.
Interestingly enough, it was discovered that, at least in the United Kingdom, young people are currently the chief supporters of clean energy. Thus, of the 510 16-24-year-olds interviewed, 85% expressed their support for plans to install more offshore wind farms.
47% admitted to being in favor of carbon capture and storage, and just 42% had no objection to fracking. Besides, 70% said that the offshore wind industry was likely to benefit the economic, whereas just 53% argued that this was also true in the case of fracking.
“It’s heartening to see fresh evidence of strong support for offshore wind energy among young people. This is an increasingly important technology for our future and it’s clear that the young people of Britain recognize this,” RenewableUK’s Director of Offshore Renewables, Nick Medic, commented on the outcome of this survey.
Of the people interviewed, 75% were found to approve of the idea that human activity affects the climate, and 60% argued that, regardless of the risks associated with such initiatives, limiting climate change was something that needed to be done without delay.