One quarter of UK households are ‘worried’ about the UK’s energy generation prospects in five years time, it has emerged.

New research into public opinion on energy – commissioned by The Energy Savings Trust (EST), and undertaken by IPSOS Mori for Energy Savings Week 2013 (21-25 October) – found that 52 per cent of adults would ‘reduce their energy use if it meant guaranteeing the UK had enough energy to meet its needs in the future’.

Of the 2,000 British adults questioned, around half has said they had similar ’looked at ways to reduce their energy use after hearing or reading about rising energy bills’ and 26 per cent said they thought it would be ‘difficult to supply enough energy to meet the UK’s needs by 2018’.

The findings follow on from a report released by Ofgem earlier this year, which revealed that unless alternative electricity supplies are found to meet increasing demand, the UK could find itself facing blackouts by 2015.

‘Big energy issues’ and public opinion

EST found that concerns over energy capacity was widespread, with around 79 per cent of those questioned saying they were aware of rising energy bills.

Despite this, alternative energy issues were seen to have less of an impact on consumer behaviour, with around 18 per cent claiming to have looked at ways to reduce energy use after hearing or reading about hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) or wind farms (20 per cent).

Energy efficiency

Nonetheless, public demand for energy efficiency measures in the home is higher than a year ago. According to the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), a million more properties have loft insulation, 460,000 more have cavity wall insulation and 65,000 more have solid wall insulation.

However, according to UK housing stock figures show around half of homes – 13.5 million homes – still don’t have any form of wall insulation. The UK Government is hoping to turn this around by offering householders loansthrough the ‘Green Deal’ to make 45 different types of adjustments to their property, such as installing double-glazing, insulation and new heating systems, with repayment taken through the property’s electricity bill rather than from individuals.

It was hoped that these improvements will reduce the effects of ‘leaky buildings’ (thought to be responsible for 38 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions), cut electricity bills and pass the ‘golden rule’ of making financial savings equal to or greater than the costs attached to the energy bill. However, the first quarterly Green Deal statistics, released by the DECC in June, showed that of the 38,259 householders that had had assessments to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, only four Green Deal plans were ‘pending’.

“Mixed messaging on energy issues”

Speaking of the findings, Philip Sellwood, Chief Executive of the EST, said: “People are bamboozled by big debates leading to mixed-messaging on energy issues like fracking, rising bills, energy demand and wind turbines.

“On the one hand, fear around UK energy supply and rising bills is making people want to take action at home and reduce the amount of energy they use, but on the other hand debates on issues like fracking and wind turbines appear to be distracting the public from making meaningful energy efficiency upgrades which could save them even more money.

“While the big picture issues are an important part of the overall debate, we’ve got to focus on the things that strike a chord with people: saving money and guaranteeing we have enough energy for the future. Get these things right and people will take action at home.

“Pound for pound, using less energy in the first place is by far and away the most cost-effective thing to do and should be the UK’s number one priority.”

As part of Energy Saving Week, EST has published a range of steps householders can take to reduce energy consumption. These include:

• using draught excluders and silicone sealants to stop heat from escaping through doors and windows;
• turning off ‘unncecessary lights’ and appliances left on standby;
• setting washing machine temperature to 30°C;
• boiling the exact amount of water needed in kettles, rather than filling it up and leaving some unused;
• fitting a water-efficient shower head and that could reduce hot water usage;
• installing a room thermostat to keep room temperature controlled; and
• changing light bulbs to low-energy versions.

Find out more about Energy Saving Week.