New report “Public and stakeholder attitudes to city-level energy options”

Citation

(2011), "New report “Public and stakeholder attitudes to city-level energy options”", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 22 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2011.08322faa.003

New report “Public and stakeholder attitudes to city-level energy options”

Article Type: News From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 22, Issue 6

Funded by the EPSRC UKSHEC (sustainable hydrogen economy) consortium, this report summarises the results of a series of workshops investigating public and stakeholder perceptions of how Greater Manchester might meet its 2020 and 2050 low-carbon economic area CO2 targets (respectively, −41 and −93 percent relative to 2005). Seven workshops were held, three with homeowners, one with landlords and three with “traditional” stakeholders (principally local policy makers). All participants used the Greenhouse gas Regional Inventory Protocol (GRIP) scenario tool to simulate achieving target emissions reductions via both macro and micro energy options. In addition, a detailed questionnaire on micro-gen and related attitudes was completed by 201 Greater Manchester climate pledgers. Despite being produced by participants with differing levels of initial energy expertise, the low-carbon scenarios show a high level of similarity, with energy efficiency and renewable energy emphasized and approved of, and with nuclear and fossil CCS playing sometimes significant but more contested and varying roles. This echoes survey results by other researchers in the UK and Europe. Most homeowners judged themselves unlikely to install micro-gen technology without substantial subsidy or compulsion; this also applied to landlords, although they approached the issue with a notably different set of concerns. All, including the “traditional” policy stakeholders, found the emissions reduction targets very challenging to achieve in what they considered to be a plausible way. Details are available at: http://manchesterismyplanet.com/sustainable-energy-action-planning/public-attitudes-to-energy-options