Green Energy Awareness: Why Older Generations Excel Yet Hesitate to Adopt – SEO Study Insights

New research from 100Green has found that older Brits are more reluctant to make the switch to green energy than younger generations – despite understanding more about how it works. 

It’s widely accepted that younger generations are more engaged in the conversation around climate change than their older peers. Findings from climate-related studies in the UK show that Gen Zs and millennials have higher levels of fear, guilt, and even outrage about the effects of climate change compared with older generations. 

Similarly, new research from the UK’s only 100% green gas and renewable electricity supplier has found that younger generations are more likely to say they would make the switch to green energy, with those aged 18-44 being 1.5x more likely than those aged 45+ to say that they would change (52% vs 35%). 

Charlie Lister, a 36-year-old PA from Nottinghamshire, who is also a ‘micro-volunteer’ for the RSCPA and a Ms. Great Britain finalist, tells 100Green that she thinks the older generations are less likely to switch because they “don’t fully understand it”, despite 100Green’s research showing otherwise. 

“If they fully understood climate change and how it affects them on a personal level then they might be more interested in being green”, says Charlie. 

However, for Ben Thornbury – an 18 year-old part time shop assistant from Wiltshire, who runs a local environmental Facebook community group – feels a lot of the older generation are still keen to make the switch to green: “From my own experience, we had a lot of older members [in his community groups], and they were very keen to look into the ways they could switch over to green energy solutions – and they were even telling their grandchildren about the benefits”.

Although Ben also notes that he believes the younger generation are keener because of an “awareness of environmental issues being taught more and more in schools”. 

Despite quite an obviously bigger commitment from younger Brits to make the change, 100Green’s research found that they actually understand less about how green energy works than their older peers.

100Green were able to determine this by asking respondents some true/ false questions about green energy, with 52% of 18-44 year olds able to answer the energy supplier’s quiz correctly, compared to 61% of those aged 45+. 

Through this quiz, 100Green discovered that nearly half (46%) of 18-44-year-olds incorrectly believe that solar generated energy doesn’t work if it’s too cloudy, compared to just 29% of those aged 45+. 

Despite this knowledge gap between generations, the research still found that younger Brits have a far greater thirst for renewable energy knowledge, with 77% of 18-44-year-olds saying they wish they learnt more about green energy at school, compared to just 56% of those aged 45+. 

For Charlie, climate change was only taught briefly when she was at school, but she’s been working over the past 15 months to improve her own understanding of climate change solutions through courses online and a Level 2 course at her local college. 

Charlie hopes her self-taught climate change knowledge will help her to educate people on the links she believes there are between climate change and cancer: “My goal as a Ms GB Finalist 2024 is to promote the petition to get VAT removed on SPF 30 and higher products. 

“The rate of skin cancer has increased in recent years, in my opinion, due to climate change and the thinning of the ozone layer.”

Ben also tells 100Green that much of his climate change knowledge is self-taught: “I like to think I have a very good understanding of climate change.

“Some of it was taught when I was at school, but the majority was self-taught through my environmental community group which helps keep Malmesbury, Wiltshire clean and raise environmental awareness for the area”.

However, both Ben and Charlie want to know more about green energy, with Ben calling for more campaigns or public talks and Charlie saying: “Climate change knowledge is constantly evolving and I feel like my knowledge will be a constant learning process too”. 

Given the results of the research and both Ben and Charlie showing that the public have a clear thirst for improving their climate change and green energy knowledge, Doug Stewart, Chairman of 100Green is calling on the those in the energy industry to do more to increase public understanding: 

“Our research shows that we, and the industry as a whole should be doing more to ensure people understand what a difference that can make.

“We found that those who fall into the 45+ years age bracket, generally tend to have a better understanding of what green energy is and how it works, but when asked if they would make the switch, inertia set in, and they were less likely to want to.

“At 100Green, we believe we play an important role in ensuring that anyone considering switching to a green supplier, really understands what it is they are buying and how it is contributing to the UK’s journey to net zero. 

“With energy prices falling this week in the April price cap, we hope it will encourage people to look at the green alternatives available in the market where for a while now the volatility of wholesale prices has created an inactive retail market with little obvious choice.”

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