Abstract
Energy-poverty (EP) must be considered an energy-related issue since buildings are a central part of people’s daily lives. Thus, it has an important role in energy-related policy implementation. Even though the European Union (EU) has endorsed general energy efficiency through the Energy Efficiency Directive and Energy Performance of Buildings Directive recast, it was the Clean Energy Package for all Europeans that clearly highlighted EP. The growing concerns with EP have also been emphasised in subsequent directives and initiatives. Despite some regulatory framework and the milder climate situation, the proportion of the population experiencing thermal discomfort in southern and eastern European countries, namely in the winter season, is relatively high, reflecting the poor thermal performance of building stock, low family incomes and high energy prices, among others. The current work analysed the EP evolution in Portugal in the EU context, and the Thermal Building Regulations and Energy Efficiency Policies developed, aiming to add insight into the effectiveness of those policies concerning EP mitigation in Portugal as an EU Member state. Moreover, a critical debate on the potential to lower the EP Portuguese situation was also an objective to pursue. It is plausible to admit that reducing EP by acting on residential building stock, namely through the increase of energy efficiency and comfort, plays a key role in improving the living conditions, namely of vulnerable households and deprived areas. This will also decrease energy consumption and dependence while further promoting a smarter, sustainable and inclusive society, contributing to economic growth.
Highlights
Climate change awareness is a major issue for the European Union (EU), and has been under scrutiny by governments and authorities during recent decades
greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions from 1990 levels, an increase of 20% in the proportion of EU energy produced from renewable resources and a 20% improvement in the EU’s energy efficiency
EP is a major issue in the EU and is expected to increase due to growing energy prices and ongoing economic adversities, such as the current unexpected pandemic situation and climate change
Summary
Climate change awareness is a major issue for the European Union (EU), and has been under scrutiny by governments and authorities during recent decades. Among southern EU countries, the Portugal case needs some reflection, namely due to the following reasons: (i) the residential final energy consumption has been far above the majority of other EU MS, even considering Spain or Italy, which present similar climate conditions [31]; (ii) the residential building stock is aged [32] and not properly energy efficient, with high energy needs required to fit minimal comfort [33,34]; (iii) it is estimated that more than one third of the Portuguese building stock needs some intervention and approximately 50% of these require deep renovation to achieve minimal comfort requirements [35] that will move households to an economically poor situation [36,37]; Energies 2022, 15, 329. (iv) households use decentralized or low-efficiency HVAC systems [13]; (v) significant percentage of the Portuguese population still lives in EP [13,21] linked to the residential buildings’ thermal performance; (vi) the Iberian Peninsula is expected to be one area considerably impacted by global warming, with potential impacts for heating and cooling energy demands [38,39]; (vii) the electrical energy and natural gas prices for household end users (including taxes and levies) are among the highest in the EU [40]
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