One of the toughest challenges of public policymaking in an age of populism is that the opinions of the public are frequently based on false beliefs. These can often be refuted by readily available objective facts, but in many cases these are not presented or accepted.

When it comes to energy, the truth should be established by science and engineering but policy has in recent years been distorted by two things: misconceptions by the public and heavy weighting by lobbyists for vested interests. The result is both suboptimal and expensive.

The gap between public perception and reality is well illustrated in a fascinating new book – The Perils of Perception by Bobby Duffy, the managing director of Ipsos Mori’s social research institute, based on Ipsos’s studies.