A YouGov poll of 1,952 people for the Sunday Times found 78 per cent said the govt is right to spend money encouraging solar power, while 76 per cent said the same for tidal, and 65 per cent backed financial support for wind power.
By comparison, 49 per cent approved of public financial support for nuclear energy, 57 per cent backed clean coal, and just 40 per cent said the government should provide support for shale gas developments.
The poll also found 47 per cent considered shale gas to be damaging to the environment, compared to 31 per cent who did not. However, the scale of the divisions over shale gas development was laid bare with 68 per cent of respondents saying shale gas would be good for the economy as a whole, while 43 per cent said the controversial fracking technique used to extract gas and oil from shale deposits would be bad for their local area, compared to only 25 per cent who would be happy to see projects in their vicinity.
Labour and Liberal Democrat voters came out most strongly against shale development, while well over half of voters from all three of the main parties and UKIP supported wind, solar, and tidal energy development.
The results echo a number of similar polls showing high levels of public support for renewable energy, the most recent of which showed voters favour politicians who actively support wind power.
