The government's Department of Energy and Climate change has published its latest poll tracking public attitudes to energy and climate change. What does it tell us? Here are the five things to take away from it:
1) Energy bills are more important to people than mortgages -
and they are very scared about them going up.
More people (59% a 9% increase on the last poll) are worried about paying their energy bill than they are about anything else including food, transport and even their mortgage.
Indeed 13% of people said they were worried about their energy bill but not so worried about food or transport. When asked why, the main reason given (45%) was that energy bills have risen by more than any other cost.
It's not surprising therefore that 88% of people viewed the prospect of bills rising over the next 10-20 years with concern and that that feeling - unlike concern about the climate - is very strong, with 45% being 'very concerned'.
2) People care about climate change - but not very much and they
aren't entirely sure what causes it
Just 5% of respondents saw climate change as Britain's biggest challenge with 6% putting energy security in that spot.
In fact out of nine challenges listed, including crime, education, energy supply and inflation, tackling climate change came 8th with just 17% of respondents putting it in their top three. The only thing people felt was less important was national security and defence.
When asked directly, two thirds of respondents said they were concerned about climate change but only 20% of those were very concerned. Again by way of comparison, 72% of people were worried that our fossil fuel supplies would soon run out - when asked directly.
When it came to what causes climate change, the largest group - 42% - felt it was partly caused by natural causes and partly by human activity. Just 38% of people believed it was largely or entirely down to human activity.
More people care about climate change than they did in 2012 - the tracker reveals - and fewer think it's entirely down to natural processes, but the changes are very small.
3) People are more worried about energy security than climate
change
Energy security was viewed as a greater challenge for the UK than climate change, both now and in the future.
The poll found 79% of people are concerned by the thought of the UK becoming dependent on fuels from other countries - with 40% of those very concerned (again numbers over 20% for very concerned are rare in this poll).
People were also concerned about the lights going out (60%), fossil fuels running out (72%) and insufficient investment in alternative energy (75%).
The numbers suggest that support for renewable energy - see below - may come as much from concerns about energy security and hoped for economic benefits as it does from concern about the climate.
4) People really support renewable energy, including onshore
wind, but nobody asked them about paying for it
When asked directly, 82% of people support renewable energy, with just 4% opposing it and 32% very supportive (suggesting support is strong but not unchangeable).
People think there are economic benefits from renewables (71%) and a surprisingly large number would be prepared - in theory at least - to have a wind far near their home (56%). But pretty much everyone (81%) thinks they should provide benefits to the communities that host them.
21% were blunt enough to say they would oppose a renewable development near their home - enough to cause some problems in planning.
Broken down into technology types, all forms of renewables are popular with even onshore wind attracting nearly two thirds support (68%) - a record high - and just 11% of people opposing it. Interestingly solar power - which benefits households most directly - is also the most popular form of power with 85% total support and almost 40% strongly in favour.
All in all, renewable energy is popular, but it could be an 'apple pie' question - people like when they are asked about it. DECC didn't ask whether they would accept higher bills to pay for it, but the responses to their questions on bills suggest a problem.
5) The hype about fracking hasn’t got into the living room
For all the media hype, fracking is still just not understood very well. The poll found that 48% of people had never heard of it, with a further 14% aware of it but having very little idea what it actually was.
What that suggests it that we're a long way from knowing what the public's view is on a technology most of them have barely heard of.
Like onshore wind it is better known in the regions in which it might take place. A poll for Greenpeace by Comres in the chancellor's Tatton constituency - a possible fracking location - found a majority (52%) opposed unconventional gas extraction with 39% supporting.
That said, when asked about the future 69% of people were concerned about the prospect that the UK "was not developing the technology to use existing sources of fossil fuels sufficiently" and 72% feared running out of fossil fuels - suggesting latent support for fracking or new fossil fuel generation technologies and for renewables.
