Solar power has gained more ground in terms of positive perceptions in the US public according to a recent survey; whereas nuclear energy has lost a substantial amount of acceptance.
The Navigant Research survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults found 79% of respondents favoured the concept of solar energy, followed by wind energy at 72%.
Solar’s result was a substantial improvement on 2012 – up from 69%. Wind also saw gains, up from 66%.
Nuclear energy scored poorly, with just 32% of respondents noting a favourable or very favourable impression of the technology, down from 41% in 2012. The number of people with an unfavourable or very unfavourable view of nuclear power climbed from 20% to 32%.
Navigant Research notes nuclear energy’s poor performance in the survey may be due to a variety events, such as the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan and severe weather events that raise concerns about another possible nuclear disaster. Women had far lower favourability ratings for nuclear power than men (19% vs 45%) as did younger respondents.
Solar energy attained both the highest percentage of favourable opinions and one of the lowest scores in terms of unfavourable opinions (6%) among all energy and environmental concepts covered in the survey.
“Navigant Research attributes solar energy’s high level of consumer acceptance to its relatively long history in the market, strong renewable energy reputation, and the variety of applications that utilize solar energy,” states the company’s survey white paper.
With regard to transportation, participants generally held favourable views of alternative fuel vehicles including hybrid vehicles (67%), electric cars (61%), and natural gas vehicles (56%).
The Navigant Research Energy and Environment Consumer Survey white paper can be dowloaded here (PDF and registration required).
