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

Humanising the Energy Transition:Towards a National Policy on Energy Poverty in the Netherlands

Energy poverty is emerging as a national agenda in the Netherlands. Local authority leadership and action on this agenda, and European Union reporting requirements around the energy transition have aligned to create an opportunity to establish a national agenda on this issue. Early action on energy poverty by local authorities stemmed from their recognition of the value of addressing environmental, health, social welfare and poverty goals through measures to address the problem. In contrast, the experiences of vulnerable energy consumers have limited recognition in national policy. Meanwhile EU requirements for climate reporting include a specification for measuring and monitoring energy poverty. This growing momentum has resulted in an emerging interest in energy poverty as a means to achieve a just transition at a national level, as reflected in the Dutch National Climate and Energy Plan. In this paper, we profile the case of the Netherlands, and outline the opportunity we see for the development of an energy poverty agenda in national energy transition policy, as part of a multi-level energy governance effort. We report on a national stakeholder workshop that we led, linking the lived experience of energy poverty in the Netherlands with policy solutions. Following the clear call for a national policy in this workshop, we also outline a strategy for engagement with energy poverty in the Netherlands, published recently in a white paper on this topic.</p

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)

Empowering whose future? A European policy analysis of children in energy poverty.

Children experience distinct impacts on their mental and physical health as well as their educational attainment as a result of living in energy poverty, according to multiple sources. International guidelines, such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, underline the right of every child to an adequate standard of living and the need for all policies to consider the specific needs of children. This paper aims to understand the extent to which energy policies take explicit account of children in energy poverty and endeavour to address their distinct needs and the impacts they experience. The investigation is based on an analysis of EU-SILC data and policy documents across the 28 countries that (at the end of 2019) formed the European Union. The analysis reveals that children are mostly only considered within the wider family context, with larger families tending to receive greater support, despite evidence that single-parent families are at higher risk of energy poverty. Children are characterised as passive subjects in energy policy; their perspectives and needs are not considered in policy development