Have you ever wondered what countries spend the most time looking up things like wind energy and solar power? Well, thanks to this research, you no longer have to.
US company SaveOn Energy looked at Google trends to establish where most people looked up these topics, providing a good clue as to where it is part of the national psyche.
“We researched action phrases people may search for when looking into certain environmentally-friendly activities,” the company revealed, “then we used Google Trends to rank the results by topic and state.”
On a global level, Australia leads the way. The top-ranked country to look up “solar power”, Australia also ranks second with regards “wind power”.
Naturally enough, Europe is only prominent in the wind energy realm. It turns out the lack of sun greatly affects our thirst for solar energy.
In the US it turns out that California and Washington State are the places most likely to see people looking up “how to recycle” or “how to reuse”, with Idaho “how to garden” and Colorado “how to compost” emerging top of their class.
California installed more rooftop solar panels in 2013 than in the previous 30 years combined. Tellingly, it was the only state to see people looking up “how to install solar panels” in any great numbers.
Air quality is a concern for coastal states, with actual energy production – similar to farming and soil concerns – more prominent as you move inland.
Main image via Shutterstock
