Londoners Favour Renewable Energy

Three quarters of Londoners are in favour of solar panels in their local area, with only 6% against. And nearly half said that they would pay more for green electricity according to a survey undertaken by London Renewables earlier this year.

London Renewables  is part funded by the Government Office for London. Its Energy for our Future programme promotes renewable energy in London through awareness raising and better use of the planning system. The organisation includes representatives from key regional organisations, including the Government Office, the GLA and LDA, London First and environmental and energy groups.

London Renewables has undertaken a number of public and stakeholder surveys to gauge people's opinions and where there is scope to make more progress. Public focus groups took place in Bromley, Hackney, Southwark and Surbiton in July last year, and over 500 London residents were interviewed. The stakeholders surveyed included local authority planners, councillors, energy companies, building occupiers and developers.

Results from the stakeholder survey discovered that 84 per cent of stakeholders consider the planning system a key tool for getting more renewable energy use in new  housing and other developments.

Energy Minister at the Department of Trade and Industry, Stephen Timms said:

"The Government is committed to increasing the use of renewable energy. The Energy White Paper includes a renewable energy target of 10% of UK electricity supply to be generated from renewable sources by 2010 and an aim to double that by 2020. I congratulate London Renewables on its report as a first step in its work programme and I look forward to seeing follow-up action in London."

More information

The report is available at: www.london.gov.uk/mayor/energy/renewables.jsp