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29 November 2006

Power generation and the environment

These are the notes from our on-air discussion. You can download the full document with the tables from here. Since this analysis there have been many more responses come in - we are up to 1313 as I write.

  1. 1090 responses
  2. More male than usual – 58% to 42%
  3. More Greens – 44%. Liberals almost non-existent, 10%, but Labor only 26%.
  4. Most likely to be 51-60.
  5. Agree that nuclear necessary – party specific with the Labor vote being more negative (-68% net) than the Liberal vote was positive (37% net). Biggest numbers of undecideds were Coalition voters (18% of Liberals).
  6. Everyone agreed with the need for a carbon tax, although Nationals were much less than average. 41% average, Nats 10%. Liberals however were on 39%, close to Labor 40% and Greens 43%. Democrats were the most in favour (59%).
  7. Likely that opposition to a carbon tax came from very different quarters. Greens voters often believe that it is just a corporate perk, while Nats more likely to think we are already over-taxed.
  8. Significant drop between those who favour a carbon tax and those who think that electricity ought to be more expensive. Obviously don’t accept the consequences of the previous question. Nats and independents most opposed (52% and 36% respectively). Liberals least likely to have made up their mind (25% neither agree nor disagree).
  9. Air-conditioners widely condemned. Nats and Libs most likely to be in favour (31% and 28% respectively), but they also have the largest numbers of those who are neutral.

Nuclear

Word Count

Waste 404
Solar 146
Wind 129
Renew 146
Chernobyl 21
Safe 209
Danger 126


Verbatims:

There are numerous ways of reducing greenhouse emissions from energy use, primary amongst which are energy efficiency and various renewable energy sources. These are by and large much faster and more effective ways of reducing emissions than the as yet unproven and risky options of clean coal and nuclear. Given the short time frame we have in which to tackle this issue, I believe that renewables and efficiency are the way to go. In this context, it must be noted that it is simply untrue to say that renewables cannot provide baseload electricity. They can and already do around the world. Male, 31-40, 7004

Depending on how fast the world switches over to Nuclear power there is as little as only 70 years supply of uranium in the ground what then? Uranium Fission is a dead-end with an extremly costly long-term disposal legacy. But Thorium fission could be a long term nuclear power answer. If Australia goes anywhere with nuclear power it should be a Thorium solution, not Uranium. But the government won't say that when its' mates uranium claims dotted over the land look like money in the bank. Male, 51-60, 2774

Carbon Tax

Word count

Pay 117
Global 24

Themes:

No more taxes
Needs to be more expensive to encourage alternatives
Punish emitters
Push up price to the consumer
Suspicion of taxes
Belief in the power of markets
Undermine our natural advantages
Don’t trust the government to reinvest


Electricity more expensive

Themes:

Needs to be to encourage substitution
Slugging the average person
Should be reinvested in energy research
Disbelief that it will be effective


Airconditioner

Verbatims:

The number of air conditioners installed last year in SEQ will be using almost the entire output from teh new Kogan Creek power station. If you really want your kids to fry buy an air conditioner! You can check this statistic with Wendy Miller from the Queensland Sustainable Energy Industry development group www.qse.org.au Male, Greens, 4178

Air conditioning, both domestic and industrial, is driving the current increases in demand for electricity. This is being met by more generation that emits more greenhouse gases. That is driving demand for more power stations. The next round of power stations will not be clean coal nor nuclear - they will be dirty coal and natural gas. (Clean coal is a furphy anyway - unlikely to be successful, IMHO) Male, Independent, 31-40

We don't have an airconditioner and we don't have any intention of getting one. There are other ways to keep a house cool without using more electricity. Whether someone buys an airconditioner is an individual decision and I certainly understand why many people have installed airconditioners in their homes. You also seem to overlook that the cold kills people too. Male, Democrat, 2913

Posted by Graham at 10:33 PM | Comments (14)

20 November 2006

Nutrition

The results of this study were fascinating. Most of our resondents were improving their own nutrition, but saw a decline in the nutrition of the nation.

John Black's summary was:

Basically, the respondents presented us with a well-argued set of policy alternatives for all levels of Government.

They suggested, for example, that the Federal Government should look at issues such as advertising restrictions on fast food - food that was excessively processed or contained excessive fats, along with programs extolling the virtures of more exercise, such as the old Life Be in It, campaign.

They suggested the state Governments should be doing more, to provide high quality food for school tuckshops - clearly many had seen Jamie Oliver's series on getting decent cooked, fresh food into UK tuckshops, and that States could also be doing more about education, presumably in schools, on nutrition and cooking. And provide more public access to community facilities in schools, such as heated pools in schools, which are left deserted over winter, or school facilities such as ovals and tennis courts.

They suggested Local Governments could be doing more to encourage fresh food markets in the cities on the weekends, and provide more bikeways and better pedestrian access to local shops, where more fresh can be purchased more easily.

In terms of what they could do personally, to help their own health, they clearly had a series of News Years' resolutions in mind, and talked about giving up drinking alcohol, learning to cook, educating their children better, in relation to food and cooking, eating less processed foods and walking locally to shops, instead of taking their cars.

The notes that I provided for the program are reproduced below. You can download the full document with tables by clicking here.

  1. Almost evenly balanced between the genders – 51% Male, 49% female. Ages skewed towards 50+
  2. 26% have children at home, 37% are a couple without children, 19% live on their own and 7% are in share housing.
  3. Usual political skew. 36% Green, 29% Labor and 13% Liberal.
  4. 49% earn more than $45,000. Voting intention and income marginally align – Liberals slightly more likely to earn more.
  5. 11% teacher and 20% retired the only significantly over-represented occupation groups
  6. 64% think that our diet is getting worse, versus 16% who think it is improving. This is fairly consistent over all political groups with Liberals being slightly more optimistic than the group and Independents the most pessimistic.
  7. 65% think their own diet is improving, while only 8% think it is getting worse. Again, Liberals are the most optimistic, and Independents the least.
  8. 81% think that there is too little emphasis on nutrition. Again, this is fairly consistent over the groups
  9. Fast (179 mentions), processed (74) and takeaway foods (86) are seen as the big villains in problems with diet. Fat (101) is also mentioned. Sugar (49) and salt (19) are seen as less to blame. Respondents thought that there was too much fast food, that life is too busy, and that they see too much obesity around them. Some reported improved information and thought we were eating more Asian food, which they saw as good.
  10. The reasons for people’s diets improving tended to be objective – we eat well. However, there was also a significant percentage of respondents who had experienced health scares. How many of our respondents replied because of this deeply personal interest?
  11. When it came to the question of what the Federal Government can do about the problem, bans (172) on advertising (220) fast (134) food were the most popular, followed by education (169), taxes (109) and exercise (109)
  12. There were a variety of sources used to get information about nutrition. 153 mentioned the Internet, and 27 the web, a total of 180. Book was mentioned by 167, magazine 73, article 36, and Journal 24, making print still the most important source of information, but not by much. In terms of a reference source, rather than just opportunistically gleaned information, the Internet edges books out. Television 65 edged out Radio with 49 mentions. Media was mentioned by 59. When it came down to human sources of advice, Doctors were most influential 62, followed by family 25, friends 22, wives 20 and dietitians 20. No-one listens to husbands, and only 11 to naturopaths, while 10 nominated mothers.

Posted by Graham at 02:31 PM | Comments (13)

3 November 2006

Market research

Our survey on market research came up with some interesting conclusions, as usual.

  1. 805 responses. 31% Green, 34% Labor, 12% Liberal and 4% National
    54% male, 60% over 50.
  2. 75% favoured Internet surveys over the rest.
  3. Surprisingly 7% said they completed internet surveys less than once per year – must have been the newbies.
  4. 48% complete internet surveys at least once per month.
  5. Liberals were the most likely to use Internet surveys (57% more than 6 times per year), but they are under-represented in our surveys, which says not all Liberals are like this.
  6. 71% more likely to complete an Internet survey now than 5 years ago
  7. 71% don’t belong to online panels (apart from ours)
  8. 96% have a phone at home
  9. Independents least likely to respond to phone canvassing (53%). Nationals the most likely 41%.
  10. 39% said they were less likely to respond to telephone calls, versus 12% who were more likely than 5 years ago.
  11. Respondents liked the Internet because they were in control.
  12. Our sample homogenous in terms of its likes and dislikes for the telephone – they were all equally supportive and opposed
  13. The main reason that respondents liked the Internet surveys was because they were in control. It was convenient (12%), not intrusive (10%), 5% complained that pollsters rang at dinner, and 45% said that time was an issue. Verbatims indicate that respondents like to do things at their own pace and they like the Internet because they can save and return to a questionnaire, and they can see where it is going.

Verbatims:

“I prefer internet surveys because the Company has previously asked my permission to contact me. When I soy no, that's it. When I say yes it is my decision because I am interested. Telephone polling is an invasion of my privacy.”

“I hate most telephone surveys unless some good can come of it internet ones are far less intrusive, can do them when it suits me rather than them.”

“Internet surveys because I can do them at a time of my own choosing, and I can see the questions and explanations in written form.”

You can download the word document, including the tables, from here .

Posted by Graham at 09:45 AM | Comments (8)