Paying for energy transitions: public perspectives and acceptability by UK Energy Research Centre published on 2019-01-16T17:32:01Z Under the UK Climate Change Act 2008, the government has committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 relative to 1990 levels (Climate Change Act, 2008). This will require a large shift in the UK’s energy system, ranging from energy production, across transmission to consumption. The public are implicated in the transition process as energy users, increasingly also as energy producers and as active members of society who might support or oppose energy projects and policies. Previous research (Demski et al., 2015; Parkhill et al., 2013) has shown that there is widespread public support for transitioning to a low-carbon, affordable and reliable energy system – however, this change is associated with costs and it remains to be seen how these costs will be covered. This research explores the views of the British public on how the energy transition should be financed. Drawing on a survey of 3,150 respondents and focus groups in 4 locations across Great Britain, it investigates what responsibility members of the public assign to government, energy companies and the general public for financing energy system change. Opening Speaker: Prof. Nick Pidgeon, university of Cardiff Main speaker: Dr. Christina Demski, Cardiff University Panel speakers: 1. Joe Perkins, Chief Economist at Ofgem’s Office for Research and Economics. 2. Sharon Darcy, Director at Sustainability First 3. Rebecca Willis, Chair of IGov Advisory Group Followed by a discussion with questions from the audience.
