Abstract
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.
Highlights
The inability of many European households to access or afford an adequate level of energy services in the home is gaining increasing academic and policy attention across the continent (Bouzarovski, 2014)
This paper explores the relationship between European energy transitions and existing socio-economic and regional inequalities, via the lens of spatial and temporal variations in the incidence of energy poverty
Our theoretical approach has identified some of the key dimensions that link energy transitions and poverty via a geographical lens: the need to position energy restructuring processes within the context of existing patterns of uneven development, as well as the role that monetary and material deprivation rates play in exacerbating existing or creating new vulnerabilities
Summary
The inability of many European households to access or afford an adequate level of energy services in the home is gaining increasing academic and policy attention across the continent (Bouzarovski, 2014). In order to explore the consistency of this categorization with the respect to correlation analysis presented, we plotted the average value of Eurostat’s monetary deprivation indicator ‘at-risk-of-poverty’ rate (percentage of the population with an income below 60 per cent of the national median, after social transfers) against an adhoc composite energy poverty index for each member state.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
