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The survey, conducted for The Times by Populus, says that nearly two thirds of those surveyed beleived that "nulcear will form part of the overall energy mix in the future, alongside coal, gas and 'green' energy.  20% said that they were opposed to the idea of nuclear power "under any circumstances", and 20% felt that nuclear was the best way to tackle climate change.

Environmental groups, including Greenpeace, are adamant that nuclear should not be part of the future's energy option suggesting that renewables can fill the gap from reducing fossil fuel power plants, with the need or nuclear.  They are particularly keen on the idea of decentralising the national grid, prefering a model of local electricity and heat production.

Greenpeace's argument says that the biggest use of fossil fuel isn't for electricity, or for transport, but for heating.  By producing local Combined Heat and Power (CHP) stations heating can be produced at the same time as elecricity, and therefore uses the resources much more efficiently.

According to the survey, an "overwhelming majority of people believe that nuclear power will have a role to play in meeting Britain's future energy needs, despite continued opposition from environmental campaigners."

Despite energy companies making investment in clean energy, the survey suggests that the public do not regard this as enough.  86% responded that the "energy companies should do more the address environmental issues."

On a scale of one to five, British Gas scores an average rating of 3.56, behind all its leading rivals and Good Energy, the self-styled "100 per cent renewable electricity supplier", which top scores with 4.76.

Populus said that British Gas's poor score reflected a growing gap between perception and reality in consumers' understanding of renewable energy. It pointed out that 35% of those surveyed believe that all the electricity pumped into the homes of customers on "green" energy products comes exclusively from renewable sources – which is practically impossible. In fact, the "green" energy simply forms part of the overall mix sent to everyone.