The energy divide: Integrating energy transitions, regional inequalities and poverty trends in the European Union

Energy poverty can be understood as the inability of a household to secure a socially and materially necessitated level of energy services in the home. While the condition is widespread across Europe, its spatial and social distribution is highly uneven. In this paper, the existence of a geographical energy poverty divide in the European Union (EU) provides a starting point for conceptualizing and exploring the relationship between energy transitions – commonly described as wide-ranging processes of socio-technical change – and existing patterns of regional economic inequality. We have undertaken a comprehensive analysis of spatial and temporal trends in the national-scale patterns of energy poverty, as well as gas and electricity prices. The results of our work indicate that the classic economic development distinction between the core and periphery also holds true in the case of energy poverty, as the incidence of this phenomenon is significantly higher in Southern and Eastern European EU Member States. The paper thus aims to provide the building blocks for a novel theoretical integration of questions of path-dependency, uneven development and material deprivation in existing interpretations of energy transitions.</jats:p

De-centering transitions : Low-carbon innovation from the peripheries

Altres ajuts: Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSICUnidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MSocio-technical transitions have garnered significant attention in recent years. Both in theory and practice, however, concerns have been raised about the elitist character of low-carbon transitions. Such dynamics are predominantly imagined through core-periphery relationships. More recently, calls to 'decentre' transitions draw attention to the social and spatial dynamics of transitions in the peripheries. recognizing and fostering transitions from the peripheries offers important opportunities for progressing low-carbon innovation in practice and opens the door to deeper structural transformations. This perspective must nevertheless acknowledge the risk of transitions creating new core-periphery dependencies and reinforcing the strength of elites

Pobreza energética y vivienda: una perspectiva de justicia social

Equitable access to energy and housing are primary concerns for social justice. Despite the evident links between these two basic needs, the theoretical frameworks of justice and energy poverty have dealt with the issue of housing primarily through the narrow lens of residential energy efficiency. In response to this conceptual deficiency, this paper calls for the re-integration of housing into the framework of justice and energy poverty, thinking along the following three axes: material and temporal dimensions; political dimensions; and ethical and legal dimensions. To empirically illustrate the relevance of the housing-energy nexus in applied energy justice research, we present the example of two closely-related Barcelona-based social movements jointly advocating for both the right to energy and the right to housing: the Platform of People affected by Mortgages (Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca, PAH) and the Alliance against Energy Poverty (Aliança contra la Pobresa Energètica, APE). To conclude, the paper highlights the importance of housing and energy as the material foundations of a dignified life and their conflicting nature of being essential needs as well as tradable commodities.El acceso equitativo a la energía y a la vivienda es una preocupación básica de la justicia social. A pesar de los numerosos vínculos entre estos dos bienes esenciales, los marcos teóricos de la justicia y la pobreza energética se han referido casi exclusivamente a la cuestión de la vivienda en términos de la eficiencia energética de los edificios residenciales. En respuesta a esta carencia conceptual, se propone la reintegración del factor vivienda en el marco de la justicia y pobreza energética a lo largo de los siguientes tres ejes: dimensiones materiales y temporales; dimensiones políticas; y dimensiones éticas y legales. Como ejemplo empírico de la importancia del nexo vivienda-energía en la práctica de la justicia social, se presenta el caso de dos movimientos sociales surgidos en Barcelona que trabajan con una perspectiva conjunta de derecho a la vivienda y a la energía: la Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) y la&nbsp;Aliança contra la Pobresa Energètica&nbsp;(APE). El artículo subraya la importancia de la vivienda y la energía como fundamentos materiales de una vida digna y su naturaleza conflictiva como necesidades esenciales y bienes de mercado

Diferencias de género en las actividades propuestas desde las clases de Educación Física en Educación Primaria

La educación mixta se introdujo en el sistema educativo español en 1970, desde entonces ha evolucionado hacia la coeducación. El deporte y la actividad física son sensibles a las discriminaciones de género. En este trabajo de fin de grado se analiza la historia de la Educación Física femenina en España, y el alcance actual de la situación de la mujer y de las niñas en la escuela con respecto a la actividad física, para después examinar diversas iniciativas coeducativas. Por último, se hace una propuesta de intervención a través de una unidad didáctica de fútbol, el deporte con mayor sesgo masculino en la sociedad española.Grado en Educación Primari

Disconnected, yet in the spotlight: Emergency research on extreme energy poverty in the Cañada Real informal settlement, Spain

Cañada Real is a 15-km informal settlement located in Madrid, Spain. With over 8000 inhabitants most dwellers live below the poverty line in informal, low-quality housing. Due to the impossibility to have legal supply contracts with utility providers, Cañada Real settlers have relied on irregular connections to nearby electricity and water distribution networks for decades. However, in October 2020, technical changes implemented by the distribution system operator left some 4000 people without access to power, and more than two years later a large share of them remain in those conditions. Emergency research has been conducted to document the change in living conditions experienced by Cañada Real residents. Census data have been analysed together with primary data from a 39-household survey, data retrieved from electricity service continuity sensors and direct measurements of indoor thermal comfort in 12 households. This set of data provides unique evidence on the impact of a collective disconnection event of an unprecedented magnitude in an EU context. Results give evidence of a case of &#8216;extreme energy poverty&#34; that existing datasets and indicators fail to capture. The collective adaptation response displayed by a group of residents, who agreed on an intermittent, predictable disconnection schedule, highlights social fabric, self-organization and local capacities as resilience factors that provide temporary relief. Still, collective reconnection appears as a necessary first step to secure a minimum level of material living conditions. Political action is needed to modify the existing framework that marginalizes vulnerable dwellers as non-compliant customers, without any provisions against supply disconnections.Sergio Tirado-Herrero acknowledges funding from the 'Ramón y Cajal' program supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grant RYC2020-029750-I). Raúl Castaño-Rosa acknowledges for the support provided by Tampere University and The RESCUE-Real Estate and Sustainable Crisis management in Urban Environments-Academy of Finland funded project (number 339711). The article publishing charges were funded by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Read & Publish Agreement CRUE-CSIC 2023)

European energy poverty metrics:Scales, prospects and limits

ENGAGER 2017–2021, CA16232Energy poverty, a condition whereby people cannot secure adequate home energy services, is gaining prominence in public discourse and on political and policy agendas. As its measurement is operationalised, metrical developments are being socially shaped. A European Union mandate for biennial reporting on energy poverty presents an opportunity to institutionalise new metrics and thus privilege certain measurements as standards. While combining indicators at multiple scales is desirable to measure multi-dimensional aspects, it entails challenges such as database availability, coverage and limited disaggregated resolution. This article converges scholarship on metrics e which problematises the act of measurement e and on energy poverty e which apprehends socio-political and techno-economic particulars. Scholarship on metrics suggests that any basket of indicators risks silencing significant but hard to measure aspects, or unwarrantedly privileging others. State-of-the-art energy poverty scholarship calls for indicators that represent contextualised energy use issues, including energy access and quality, expenditure in relation to income, built environment related aspects and thermal comfort levels, while retaining simplicity and comparability for policy traction. We frame energy poverty metrology as the socially shaped measurement of a varied, multi-dimensional phenomenon within historically bureaucratic and publicly distant energy sectors, and assess the risks and opportunities that must be negotiated. To generate actionable knowledge, we propose an analytical framework with five dimensions of energy poverty metrology, and illustrate it using multi-scalar cases from three European countries. Dimensions include historical trajectories, data flattening, contextualised identification, new representation and policy uptake. We argue that the measurement of energy poverty must be informed by the politics of data and scale in order to institutionalise emerging metrics, while safeguarding against their co-optation for purposes other than the deep and rapid alleviation of energy poverty. This ‘dimensioned’ understanding of metrology can provide leverage to push for decisive action to address the structural underpinnings of domestic energy deprivation.publishersversionpublishe

Rigid polyurethane foams with infused nanoclays: Relationship between cellular structure and thermal conductivity

Producción CientíficaA water blown rigid polyurethane (PU) formulation has been used to manufacture cellular nanocomposites containing different concentrations of montmorillonite nanoclays. The PU foams have been produced using a low shear mixing technique for dispersing the nanoclays and by reactive foaming to generate the cellular structure. A detailed characterization of the cellular structure has been performed. The effect of the nanoparticles on the reaction kinetics and the state of intercalation of the nanoparticles in the foams has been analyzed. The thermal conductivity and extinction coefficient of the different materials has been measured and the results obtained have been correlated with the materials structure. A strong reduction of cell size and modifications on cell size distribution, anisotropy ratio and fraction of material in the struts has been detected when the clays are added. In addition, a reduction of the thermal conductivity has been observed. Different theoretical models have been employed to explain thermal conductivity changes in terms of structural features. It has been found that, in addition to the modifications in the cellular structure, changes in the extinction coefficient and thermal conductivity of the matrix polymer play an important role on the final values of the thermal conductivity for these materials.We would like to acknowledge to Mr. Vela and Mr. Ferrer, from BASF Española S.L., for supplying the PU formulation employed in this research. The authors are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education which supported this work with a FPU Grant Ref-AP-2008-03602 given to Mr. Estravís. In addition, Financial assistance from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, FEDER program (MAT 2012 – 34901 and MAT2015-69234-R), the Junta de Castile and Leon (VA035U13) and the EU Commission (FP7 program, EC project NanCore number 214148) is acknowledged