Assessing Resilience to Energy Poverty in Europe through a Multi-Criteria Analysis Framework

Apostolos Arsenopoulos,Andriana Stavrakaki,Vangelis Marinakis,John Psarras,Konstantinos Koasidis

doi:10.3390/su12124899

Abstract

This study introduces a framework for assessing the resilience of different European countries against the problem of energy poverty. The proposed framework is established upon two major implementation pillars: capturing stakeholder knowledge and employing a multi-criteria analysis framework in order to provide valuable insights and objective results. The implicated evaluation criteria have been identified by the group of stakeholders and incorporate several socio-economic aspects of the problem beyond the energy dimension. The proposed methodology is largely dependent on the engaged stakeholders’ assessments, thus introducing nuggets of subjectivity into the whole analysis. However, it significantly differs from other energy poverty-based approaches, its novelty lying in that it directly attempts to evaluate a country according to its potential to deal with the problem as a whole, rather than deconstructing it in components and partial indicators. The proposed framework is demonstrated in countries in both Southern/Eastern and Northern/Western Europe (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain), exploiting diversities and particularities associated with their context.

Highlights

The pursuit of a transition towards a sustainable and resilient energy sector has set in the spotlight and laid the groundwork for three major transformations focused on climate change, security of supply and energy poverty [1]
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), it is estimated that 940 million people worldwide lack access to electricity (13% of the world’s population), while 3 billion are deprived of clean fuel for cooking (40% of the world’s population), two core pillars that current energy poverty definitions have been established upon, which come to confirm the severity of the problem [8]
If we reckon in the fuzziness of the regulatory and policy framework of the European Union (EU) countries that have officially recognised and defined the problem, closely related to the instability of the European political scene, along with the ever-changing framework as a result of the continuous deficit-amending modifications, it becomes clear that the integrated assessment of a country’s resilience against energy poverty, emerging as a crucial factor in pursuit of mitigating the phenomenon, incorporates a multitude of prerequisites

Summary

Introduction

The pursuit of a transition towards a sustainable and resilient energy sector has set in the spotlight and laid the groundwork for three major transformations focused on climate change, security of supply and energy poverty [1]. The notion of energy poverty was established upon the inability of households to access and maintain adequate levels of domestic energy services, such as electricity, gas, heating, cooling, etc., at an affordable cost [7]. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), it is estimated that 940 million people worldwide lack access to electricity (13% of the world’s population), while 3 billion are deprived of clean fuel for cooking (40% of the world’s population), two core pillars that current energy poverty definitions have been established upon, which come to confirm the severity of the problem [8]. Energy poverty is extended to severe known impacts on the health of citizens, including mental health issues, respiratory, and circulatory problems [9]. Thomson et al (2017) attempted to provide an in-depth analysis of the connection between energy poverty and health, with the findings highlighting that energy-poor households are significantly more affected by health issues than non-energy-poor households [10]

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion