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Abstract by the authors: Energy plays a pivotal role in economic growth. Besides, it is a requirement for the factories to be run, Industries to be developed, cities to have functioned, and populations to fulfill their needs and expectations. Thus, energy has a strategic position among nations and countries. Align with sustainability, nations want to have energy justice among various generations. In this regard, this study developed a comprehensive framework based on a complete literature review, to evaluate energy poverty (EP) by addressing the energy demand, clean generation of the energy, its strategic position, and energy justice among the nations. As a consequence, the EP framework consists of three pillars. The first one is for society to address the demand, access, and affordability of energy. The second pillar is administration to ensure the accessibility to the sources of energy as well as aligning the energy market by their import policies. The third EP pillar is sustainability and refers to the emissions which result from the energy generations and level of renewable energy sources to satisfy the energy demand. By considering these three pillars, energy would be accessible, affordable, and sustained among various generations. The comprehensive EP framework is applied in a case study with real data by using the European Union (EU) energy goal (7th goal) among the sustainable development indicators. The EP comprehensive framework is implemented to evaluate 27 EU countries based on the EU database in this case study by using the Indifference Threshold-based Attribute Ratio Analysis (ITARA) to weigh up the criteria set since this method is the recommended method in case of dealing with real data and assist the study to accurate and independent to the expert background and their attitude. Also, Measurement Alternatives and Ranking according to COmpromise Solution (MARCOS) methodology is used to evaluate the EU countries as the methodology uses both positive and negative ideal solutions to make sure the accuracy and convergence speed particularly when the problem is confronted by a long list of the 27 EU countries.
Abstract by the authors: The term energy poverty (EP), mostly used to capture problems related to an inadequate access to energy suppliers in developing countries, and that of fuel poverty (FP), commonly employed when households suffer from insufficient monetary resources to pay for their basic energy needs, are used interchangeably by many researchers. Energy poverty and/or fuel poverty are considered to be an indication of domestic energy deprivation or energy vulnerability and remain a global problem that has been accentuated in Europe due to the economic crisis. This work has made a comprehensive review of the current concepts and indicators of FP, and of current initiatives to tackle this issue, across Europe, thereby raising the discussion of how energy vulnerability factors fit FP situations: available infrastructure, energy efficiency, social and economic poverty, and wellbeing and health. In this context, the first weak spot of the FP indicators and initiatives analyzed is that most factors that influence the everyday activities of a household are not considered (comfort, health, and wellbeing), resulting in an incomplete analysis if these are used in an isolated way. This paper provides a multiple-indicator approach to understand an FP situation beyond its traditional definition, thereby establishing a starting point for the reflection of vulnerability in policy decisions and methodological implications.
Abstract by the authors: In recent years, awareness of energy poverty has gained increasing attention in European countries. Comparative country studies can enhance our understanding of the causes and effects of this growing problem. This paper proposes a new model for the analysis of energy poverty. We define a theoretical framework and model to estimate an energy poverty frontier. The estimated frontier indicates the minimum level of energy poverty that a country can achieve given its income level, energy prices, energy intensity, and other country-specific features. We apply the approach to a sample of 30 European countries during the period 2005–2018. This allows us to contrast whether policy measures aimed at reducing the poverty among vulnerable individuals and households have been effective. The results indicate that financial aid aimed at vulnerable groups, reductions in energy prices, and improvements in energy efficiency have been beneficial against energy poverty. These factors may partly explain why, despite the negative income impact of the financial crisis, we found a steady and general energy poverty reduction during the period in almost all the countries analysed.
Abstract by the authors: Energy poverty (EP) is a growing problem in the European Union (EU) that affects the population's health. EP is structurally determined by broader political and socio-economic conditions. Our aims were to analyze the configuration of these determinants in each EU-27 country through the creation of a structural energy poverty vulnerability (SEPV) index, to group countries according to their SEPV index scores, and to explore the association between SEPV and EP prevalence, and also with excess winter mortality (EWM). We created a SEPV index through seriated principal component analyses and then validated the index. We performed a hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) to group countries according to their SEPV. A Poisson regression model was fitted to analyze the association between SEPV and EWM. The final index comprised 13 indicators and showed an unequal distribution of SEPV across the EU. The HCA identified countries with high structural vulnerability (southeastern Europe) and countries with low structural vulnerability (northwestern Europe). The most vulnerable countries showed a statistically significant higher EP prevalence and risk of EWM. The SEPV index summarizes the structural determinants of EP across the EU, allows to identify geographical patterns and to study how the structural determinants of EP affect health.
Abstract by the authors: The COVID-19 pandemic is manifesting its devastating effects in multiple directions, even indirectly affecting the health of citizens, for instance, by increasing the level of energy poverty (EP). As part of the studies that are trying to frame the consequences of the pandemic, this paper aims to identify the effects on EP in the coming years in a bid to identify the countries of the European Union most affected and the time span necessary to return to a path to reduce EP. For this purpose, an analysis based on the supervised learning algorithms of dynamic factor models is carried out. The outcomes of this investigation show that the negative effects of the pandemic on the level of EP will be reabsorbed very slowly, not before 2025, and in any case with substantial differences between countries, further widening the gap between countries with low levels of EP and those with greater EP levels.
Abstract by the authors: This paper scrutinizes existing policy efforts to address energy poverty at the governance scale of the European Union (EU) and its constituent Member States. Our main starting point is the recent expansion of energy poverty policies at the EU level, fuelled by the regulatory provisions of the Clean Energy for all Europeans Package, as well as the establishment of an EU Energy Poverty Observatory. Aided by a systematic and customized methodology, we survey the extensive scientific body of work that has recently been published on the topic, as well as the multiple strategies and measures to address energy poverty that have been formulated across the EU. This includes the principal mitigation approaches adopted by key European and national institutions. We develop a framework to judge the distributional and procedural justice provisions within the recently adopted National Energy and Climate Plans, as an indicator of the power, ability and resolve of relevant institutions to combat the causes and consequences of energy injustice. We also provide a research and policy agenda for future action, highlighting a series of scientific and decision-making challenges in the European and global context.
Abstract by the authors: Energy poverty is an issue that concerns developing as well as developed countries and its mitigation is essential for social welfare. European countries are also affected by energy poverty problems and lately policy-makers are trying to address this issue, especially after the recent economic crisis. In order for strategies and policies implementation to be effective, it is important that energy poverty is measured and evaluated. In this paper, energy poverty is examined for the time-period 2004–2019 for 28 selected European countries, using a consensual approach and a composite measurement, based on the main indicators proposed in the literature. The Scandinavian countries are found to have the lowest levels of energy poverty, while the highest levels have been observed in Bulgaria and in the Balkans in general throughout the whole studied time-period. In addition, the drivers of energy poverty conditions are identified; electricity prices were found to be the main driving force for all three main indicators, while unemployment and the percentage of people at risk of poverty followed, for certain indicators. GDP per capita is found to be linked with an inverse relationship with issues related to energy poverty, confirming thus that the economic recession affected energy poverty conditions in Europe. •A consensual approach and a composite measurement are used to calculate energy poverty for a large time-period.•Panel data model specifications are used to identify energy poverty's drivers.•Energy poverty levels are compared before and after economic crisis.
Abstract by the authors: The paper presents a comprehensive approach to capturing the scale of exposure to hidden energy poverty at a household level in 11 Central and Eastern European countries. Despite constant refinements, the currently used energy poverty metrics remain highly controversial when it comes to inter-country comparisons. Scarce data and the lack of agreement on the energy poverty definition among the EU countries impedes operationalization of energy poverty measures on a global scale. Instead, we propose a reliable tool for tracking hidden energy poverty based on the existing micro-level data compiled by Eurostat. The paper assumes that the energy poor limit their energy consumption to the level below what is reasonably assumed a decent life. To estimate the expected energy costs, the paper introduces a new statistical approach. We consider multiple aspects of exposure to hidden energy poverty, including dwelling parameters and location, households’ structure, and regional specificity. Our findings confirm that on average 23.57% of the Central and Eastern European population is exposed to hidden energy poverty. The examined profiles are quite heterogeneous. In general, the affected are single-person households or living in detached houses and remote areas households with dependent children. The paper provides suggestions for targeted policy action.
Abstract by the authors: Access to energy is recognised to be at the heart of human development. However, there is a paucity of empirical research on the impact of access to energy on human development, particularly in energy-poor countries. This study, therefore, examines the effect of access to electricity and clean energy on human development in 79 energy-poor countries from South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Caribbean-Latin America for the period 1990–2018. Using the Lewbel two-stage least squares approach to control for endogeneity, our study reveals that access to both electricity and clean energy improve human development in the aggregated sample. Comparatively, our results also suggest that while access to both electricity and clean energy enhance human development in Caribbean-Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, they worsen human development in South Asia. Generally, our results indicate that economic growth, trade openness, foreign direct investment, urbanisation, access to credit and remittance enhance human development. This study also indicates that employment, industrialisation, economic growth, ICT, and gender empowerment are some of the important channels through which energy accessibility influence human development. The comparative effect of access to electricity, clean energy, and the control variables on different facets of human development such as education (human capital) and health (life expectancy, maternal mortality, and under-five mortality) are presented. In this study, we conclude that access to energy is crucial for human development but does not equally benefit all the components of human development.
Abstract by the authors: Billions of people live without access to modern energy services around the world, the majority of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa. In order to address this issue, efforts to increase energy access, especially in electrification for the energy-poor, have increased globally. However, current electrification planning largely relies on techno-economic criteria and fails to incorporate ethical and fairness considerations. These deficiencies in the planning phase result in the construction of energy infrastructure that fails to provide energy services to those who need them the most further exacerbating energy access inequalities at a local level. This paper aims to consider an approach for a justice-based electrification planning framework that reevaluates the electrification planning and decision-making process.
Abstract by the authors: Energy access rates improved significantly in developing nations in the past decade. However, sub-Saharan Africa still remains with the highest percentage of its population in energy poverty. The diversity of technologies and business models available today offer promise to expanding access for the region. Nonetheless, past energy related inequities point to the key role institutional norms and planning standards play in shaping the consequences of electrification efforts beyond the technologies or the business models employed. For the sub-Saharan Africa region, where country budgets are limited, multilateral organizations and their financial resources remain the critical institutions that set the standards that guide the region’s electrification efforts. Through a socio-legal research methodology, the paper applies the energy justice concept as an analytical lens to assess the existing standards and frameworks in the region’s energy access planning and decision-making processes. Using energy sector project finance appraisal documents as case studies, we reveal the equity limitations and gaps in the status quo process. The study finds that, although the presence of development finance institutions plays a role in advancing energy access for all, the standards that guide their actions can perpetuate planning processes that generate inequitable outcomes on people and their capabilities. The study provides guiding principles for a just and informed standard for energy access planning.
Abstract by the authors: South Africa has about 2.5 million households without electricity access, most of which are located in rural areas and urban informal settlements. The nexus of energy poverty and gender is at play in the affected communities, as women and girls are culturally stereotyped with the task of collecting unclean fuels (e.g., firewood) and using these for their households' energy demands. Therefore, this study prioritized rural women and girls as respondents in the provinces most affected by gendered energy poverty (GEP) in the country. The study was carried out in selected rural unelectrified areas of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces using structured interviews. The study revealed that GEP in the rural areas has exposed women and girls living there to security concerns, health hazards, premature death, domestic fire accidents, time poverty, income poverty, illiteracy, drudgery in households and farm tasks, etc., at different levels of severity. It also showed the effects of perceptions, age, income, and culture on the choice of energy use among the respondents. Mitigation strategies against GEP in rural South African communities through clean energy adoption are also proposed in this paper.
Abstract by the authors: This research evaluates the levels and the determinants of energy poverty in rural West Africa using countrywide primary data for Senegal and Togo. The study estimates and compares various indicators for measuring energy poverty and a newly proposed multidimensional measure. The results suggest that rural energy poverty levels vary from 31.2 to 98.5 percent in Senegal and 53.5 to 98.8 percent in Togo. Measures that are based on per capita energy consumption generate higher energy poverty rates in rural Senegal than Togo due to the relative scarcity of fire wood and the relatively larger household size in Senegal. Multidimensional and expenditure-based energy measures generate higher energy poverty in rural Togo than Senegal, reflecting the higher per capita income and greater access to modern energy sources in Senegal compared to Togo. Household income, fertility and the type of fuel used are the main drivers of household energy poverty in both countries. Furthermore, rural households tend to have greater energy consumption when the decisions about energy purchase are made jointly by male and female household members. Thus, public policies that improve rural households' income, foster women's participation in decision-making, and provide affordable energy would help reduce energy poverty in both countries.
Abstract by the authors: The paper deals with the challenges of energy access, efficiency and security as essential conditions to improve people's living in the Southern African region. It supports energy policies by providing material for an integrated assessment of alternative energy systems at national level. Taking the example of Namibia, the paper applies the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach to assess the energy systems and scenarios. Using historical data from 2000 through 2013, the authors initially characterize energy supply and demand conditions of Namibia. Subsequently they conducted simulation analyses to find out a desirable energy policy to promote energy access in Namibia through 2030 under various environmental and societal constraints. The simulation results reveal that sustainable energy access in remote areas can be better achieved by small-scale distributed renewable energy systems rather than by large-scale energy technologies. Moreover, the study shows that energy policies should adopt a broader perspective to face the challenges of sustainable energy access in countries of the Southern African region by designing alternative development pathways rather than focusing on implementing new energy technologies.
Abstract by the authors: The absence of adequate modern sources of energy impedes the presence of decent living conditions. This very lack of modern sources of energy is Energy Poverty. Lack of availability, accessibility, and affordability are the main reasons behind this problem. In the literature, all three aspects were not covered together. In this paper, we have developed a composite index of energy poverty to measure the magnitude of energy poverty in the ASEAN region and India, where we capture all three elements. The measure revealed the degree of problem in each country, with Cambodia being the most energy poor amongst the countries in the study and Thailand being the least energy poor. To dig deeper into the problem at the micro level and to deliberate the policy implications, we developed detailed village-level case studies and analysed region-specific energy poverty. We thus identify the key root causes and propose effective solutions to eradicate the prevailing problem in these regions.
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