Reduce Energy Poverty Research Articles

Measuring energy efficiency financing: a way forward for reducing energy poverty through financial inclusion in OECD.

This paper seeks to examine the effect of financial inclusion on energy efficiency financing to limit energy poverty in OECD. The study uses 1998-2018 for the OECD economy to connect the nexus between financial inclusion, energy efficiency and poverty indices, country-wise GDP, and financial inclusion index. The findings show that a financial inclusion 1% increase improves 14% energy efficiency, and this energy efficiency lowers energy poverty by 28%. These results are deduced via the entropy technique and compatible with prior research on energy efficiency and poverty. This study illustrates the different policy changes that may be implemented based on the resultant deductions. The energy efficiency indices are affected by FI substantially, albeit in various ways. Unsustainable financial inclusion increases energy costs, but not to the level of energy use and environmental severe pollution. The increasing concern about environmental contamination should show in the energy industry of OECD.

Qualitative evaluation of an intervention to reduce energy poverty: Effects perceived by participants according to typologies of social vulnerability

Energy poverty (EP) is a systemic problem associated with various health effects. The city council of Barcelona carried out an intervention to reduce EP among social services users. The aim of our study was to assess the effects of the intervention perceived by participants and to identify typologies of social vulnerability that could affect these effects. A qualitative methodology was used within a grounded theory framework with a critical theory approach. Twenty-one interviews and 11 discussion groups were conducted among 89 participants in the intervention. Six typologies of social vulnerability were defined: single mothers, older people, migrants, tenants, people living in dwellings in poor conditions and people with chronic health problems. The results show that the overall effects of the program included economic savings, improved thermal comfort, increased perception of social support, enhanced knowledge of energy efficiency and rights to basic supplies, and greater energy security. These factors improved well-being and reduced stress and anxiety related to not being able to use energy supplies. The effects of the intervention might vary according to housing conditions, the perceived priority of social problems and the type of social vulnerability among participants. Importantly, a single individual could experience different axes of social inequality simultaneously. A typologies approach to interventions can provide a deeper understanding for the design of equitable policies to reduce EP.

Marketisation and rural energy poverty: Evidence from provincial panel data in China

Under the advancement of market-oriented reforms, China's economy has achieved rapid growth, but rural energy poverty has also become a topic widely discussed in academic circles in recent years. This paper examines whether marketization can effectively reduce rural energy poverty in China. To this end, we build a nonlinear analysis framework, including the quantile panel model and panel threshold model, to investigate the impact mechanism of marketization on rural energy poverty using China's provincial data. The results suggest the following. (i) The effects of marketization on rural energy poverty are heterogeneous across China's provinces based on energy poverty. (ii) There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between marketization and rural energy poverty for provinces with different energy poverty levels. The impact of marketization on rural energy poverty changes from promotion to suppression when market-oriented reform is advanced to a certain level. (iii) There is a new threshold effect of marketization on energy poverty in the right part of the inverted U-curve. This indicates that marketization can reduce energy poverty more in provinces with “higher marketization” than in provinces with “lower marketization”.

Evaluation of the Hydropower Potential of the Torysa River and Its Energy Use in the Process of Reducing Energy Poverty of Local Communities

The presented paper deals with the evaluation of hydropower potential in a selected section of the Torysa river in the eastern part of the Slovak Republic. This part of the country was chosen based on the existence of a significant risk of increasing energy poverty in local marginalized communities. Small hydropower plants in the form of mini and micro installations are an ecological and economical way to secure electricity and suppress indicators of energy poverty. The essential part of work focuses on the quantification of the gross (theoretical), technical, and economic hydropower potential of the Torysa river using elevation data obtained by GIS tools and hydrological data provided by The Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute. The next step identified concrete locations with a suitable head and volumetric flow rate. In the last part, the assessed section of the Torysa river was analyzed in terms of geographical collisions with NATURA 2000 areas, historical heritage elements in the country, and natural water bodies without hydropower potential (i.e., lakes, ponds, etc.). The resulting technical hydropower potential of selected part of Torysa river is 5425 kW and the economic potential is 1533 kW.

Photovoltaic microgeneration (RES) in selected major cities in Silesian Voivodeship

The impact of climate change on the economy and environment humans live in has increased, leading to a relatively quick intensification of the effort to reduce the environmental footprint of the civilisation. The push to establish a sustainable energy economy has become one of the primary challenges today. A sustainable energy economy should ensure energy security, reduce energy poverty, and contribute to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Poland is facing considerable challenges relevant to the objectives of EU policy, particularly the Fit for 55 package, which cannot be achieved without renewable energy sources. The most popular renewable energy source in Poland is solar energy. Apart from its obvious advantages, the use of distributed photovoltaic generation (including microgeneration) entails the need for transmission grid upgrades. The paper’s objective was to assess the RES potential of Poland through an analysis of the steps the state took and the progress of its targets. The empirical part focuses on the assessment of the use of the solar energy potential (in photovoltaic microgeneration) in cities with district rights in Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, from 2014 to 2020. The study employs selected cartographic representation, comparative analysis, in-depth case study, and spatial analysis methods. The calculations involved data from Tauron Dystrybucja SA on the number of microgeneration systems in the cities, Database of Topographic Objects, Local Data Bank of the Central Statistical Office of Poland and Eurostat.

The Casual Nexus between Income and Energy Poverty in EU Member States

This paper investigates the presence of a causal relationship between energy poverty and income poverty in the EU Member States through a Panel Vector Autoregressive specification, and controlled with a set of explanatory variables collected from the Eurostat energy database and the OECD environment database for 2007–2018. Deepening the nexus between energy poverty and income poverty is a relevant issue for tailoring policies to tackle poverty and improve the well-being of citizens, supporting the policy makers in the allocation of planned funds provided by the Recovery plan, “Next Generation EU”. The results of the panel VAR model estimation and Dumitrescu and Hurlin test suggest that there will be no change in the long-run equilibrium when income poverty remains constant. Moreover, the reduction in energy poverty is expected to have a positive effect in terms of overall economic poverty reduction. Finally, there is evidence that substituting fossil fuels with renewables helps to reduce energy poverty and widespread poverty due to the leverage effect on economic development as well as to support the achievement of some of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals addressed by United Nations.

Nexus Between Economic Development and Energy Poverty to Gain Energy Efficiency: Empirical Evidence From China

Mediating the nexus between economic development, energy poverty, and energy efficiency has become a major issue for governments. Evidence from China shows that both sectors have an important role in determining economic development policies and alleviating poverty. Economic development in China is examined experimentally in this research. This study makes use of the Data Envelopment Analysis and the entropy approach between 2007/08 and 2010/11 on the 17 provinces of china. For every unit increase in economic growth pressure, the development indicator of energy efficiency falls by 3.4 percent. Energy poverty and energy efficiency in China are strongly linked to economic development, according to the model’s economic development findings. Economic inequalities in China have increased as a result of greater economic development or China’s economic development to be of high quality, we believe that our results will be useful in understanding the function of national economic growth management and coordination in wealth distribution and energy use. For rural and male-headed families, the economic development is more consistent. Employees are most likely to be economic developmentt from an increase in economic development, which is expected to reduce energy poverty the most and improve energy efficiency the most.

Impacts of bilateral trade on energy affordability and accessibility across Europe: Does economic globalization reduce energy poverty?

Energy poverty is a major issue in both developing and developed countries, and its mitigation is a key aspect of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the determinants of energy poverty are relatively less explored. The current research adds to the scholarly literature on energy affordability and accessibility for the lowest 20% poor European population. This is one of the first studies to examine the impact of bilateral trade, globalization, and bureaucratic quality on energy poverty. A variety of robust panel data techniques were used to investigate the role of bilateral trade for energy poverty, which includes cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL), common correlated effects generalized method of moments (CCE-GMM), and instrumental variable regression. This study employs annual data (from 2000 to 2019) from 27 European countries. The econometric findings revealed that bilateral trade increases energy accessibility and causes energy prices to upsurge. Economic globalization was determined to increase energy expenses and reduce access to fuel for the poorest people in Europe. In the future, bilateral trade should be reviewed to ensure the following criteria. All European countries receive maximum benefit from it; low-income countries should be supported; and environmental harm should be minimized. These empirical findings are robust across model settings, enabling us to suggest novel conclusions on energy accessibility and affordability in accordance with the SDGs.

Decarbonisation of the Polish residential sector between the 1990s and 2021: A case study of policy failures

In this paper, we study the policies that regulated the energy mix in the Polish residential sector between 1990 and 2021. We apply a qualitative assessment of policies and difference-in-differences to evaluate the effects of particular regulations. We find that policymakers in Poland did not identify households as stakeholders in their strategies since starting the energy transformation back in the 1990s until the early 2020s. We demonstrate that the government policies failed to stimulate efficient decarbonisation of the residential sector and did not address such issues as energy poverty and air pollution, while the coal consumption rates by Polish households remained the highest in the European Union. The situation has started to change since 2017 when the first regions in Poland introduced anti-smog regulations, which have had a minor, yet positive effect on air quality and the decrease in the number of coal stoves. Furthermore, “Clean air” and “My electricity” programmes were introduced in 2018 and 2019, which provided subsidies for investments in clean heating technologies, and small-scale photovoltaics. These support instruments have yielded relatively positive results. Finally, the Polish energy policy of 2021 identified decarbonisation in the residential sector, reducing energy poverty and improving air quality as key priorities.

Integration of Small Modular Reactors Into Renewable Energy-Based Standalone Microgrids: An Energy Management Perspective

The environmental impact of human activities has become a significant consideration when making energy infrastructure decisions. To reduce energy poverty worldwide, there is growing interest in providing electricity in an environmentally sustainable way that minimizes greenhouse gas emissions. The same applies to the energy supply for off-grid industrial activities, such as mining projects and remote communities. These applications have traditionally been served by diesel generators, and more recently by wind-diesel hybrid power systems. Diesel and fuel oils are notorious for the high cost of transportation to remote sites, and for emissions of particulate pollution and greenhouse gasses. Such emissions can profoundly impact the environment in comparison to other types of power generation.

Spatial-temporal energy poverty analysis of China from subnational perspective

Alleviating energy poverty is a significant issue in many countries, for which effective energy poverty measurement is the prerequisite. This paper seeks to make a comprehensive and systematic assessment of the energy poverty performance of 30 provinces in China for 11-year period (2007–2017) by emphasizing their spatial-temporal changes. The paper firstly constructed energy poverty measurement conceptual framework based on overviewing previous studies. Secondly, a technique based on the integrated fuzzy DEMATEL (Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) and Data Envelopment Analysis - Assurance Region (DEA-AR) for performance assessment was proposed. Then, the energy poverty performance was assessed, and clustering analysis was conducted to investigate the spatial-temporal changes of energy poverty in China. Finally, sensitivity analysis was applied for verifying the robustness of the proposed method. It is found that the energy poverty condition in China tends to be similar among most regions, but the gap between the best and worst performers gets wider. In addition, provinces with better economic conditions, have higher performance and are classified into the progressive group for alleviating energy poverty. On the contrary, provinces, whose economy lags, have regressed the most and are also the worst performers in reducing energy poverty. Thus, policies to improve household energy cleanability in high-income provinces and increase energy affordability in low-income regions would help reduce energy poverty in China.

How effective has the electricity social rate been in reducing energy poverty in Spain?

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of the electricity social rate, the Bono Social de Electricidad, introduced in 2009 in Spain’s electricity market. It is a policy aimed at increasing the affordability of electricity by entailing a discount on prices for vulnerable consumers. Using data from the family budget surveys from 2006 to 2017, we rely on a difference-in-differences approach to measure its causal impact on energy poverty and to further analyze how the introduction of this measure affected the consumption behavior of households. We find that, on average, the introduction of the policy has reduced the likelihood of energy poverty of households eligible for the social rate. Nevertheless, the magnitude of the effect is quite modest as it corresponds in practice to only 59,000 households that are no longer in energy poverty as a result of the measure. We further show that, in reaction to lower effective prices, households do not increase their consumption of electricity. In other words, the increased affordability did not induce a change in the consumption behavior in terms of quantity purchased but it entirely resulted in a decrease in electricity expenditure.

How renewable energy alleviate energy poverty? A global analysis

The development of renewable energy industry is an important measure for countries to strengthen the construction of ecological civilization. Thus, to empirically investigate the underlying effect of renewable energy consumption on global energy poverty alleviation, we first assess the energy poverty composite index across the globe, and then explore whether the rapid development of renewable energy industry can help alleviate energy poverty. The regional heterogeneity and the mediating role of energy efficiency in the renewable energy-poverty alleviation nexus are also discussed. We conclude that: (1) Global energy poverty shows a significant trend of allevia.tion in the sample period, and rapid development of renewable energy industry can help alleviate energy poverty; (2) significant regional heterogeneity exists in the relationship between renewable energy and poverty alleviation. Only in European countries can increased renewable energy significantly reduce energy poverty; and (3) the mediating role of energy efficiency in the renewable energy-poverty alleviation nexus is significant; in other words, renewable energy not only directly alleviates global energy poverty, but also has a significant inhibiting effect on energy poverty by improving energy efficiency. Following the above three conclusions, we provide relevant policies about how to alleviate energy poverty and improve energy efficiency.

Study of energy poverty in the European Union: the effect of distributed generation

ABSTRACT The objective of this work is to measure the energy poverty in the European Union through the construction of an Energy Poverty Index by means of the multivariant technique of factorial analysis. The index is calculated for the 28 member countries of the European Union in the years 2008 and 2017. Moreover, the effect of distributed generation renewable resources (such as photovoltaic, small hydro or micro wind) on energy poverty is studied. The obtained results show that Bulgaria, Rumania, Greece, Latvia and Lithuania are among the countries that display the highest index. The countries with the lowest index are Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands and Slovakia, among others. The distributed generation contributes to reduce energy poverty in all countries. In fact, Ireland, France, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden, have shown greater capacity than others to respond to changes in the distributed generation.

Reduction of Energy Poverty in Mexico by Applying an Optimization Model to Residential Energy Tariffs

Reduction of Energy Poverty in Mexico by Applying an Optimization Model to Residential Energy Tariffs

Razvoj energetskih zajednica kao aktivna mera za podsticaj pravedne energetske tranzicije u Republici Srbiji

One of the main features of the energy system of the Republic of Serbia is the extremely high degree of centralization. This situation largely conditions the planning of the energy transition with a "top-down" approach. In this way, the existing state of high level of centralization of the energy system is maintained, which largely prevents the elimination of existing injustices. At the same time, the 3D matrix (decarbonisation, decentralization and digitalization) that forms the basis of every modern energy transition is being disrupted. The paper analyses the possibility of changing the approach in planning and implementing the energy transition. Change implies that the bottom-up principle is also respected. In this way, wider involvement of local communities in the energy system is encouraged. The precondition for such a scenario is the development of energy civic initiatives (energy communities) This can be realized through cooperatives, charities or through classic investment business models. Involving the wider community in the process of planning and implementing the energy transition enables adequate remediation of local injustices that occur as a result of the functioning of the energy system as well as the reduction of energy poverty. Overall, the development of energy communities has a positive effect on increasing the level of energy justice and the degree of fairness in the transition to a low-carbon economy and energy.

Implications of different income distributions for future residential energy demand in the U.S.

Future income distribution will affect energy demand and its interactions with various societal priorities. Most future model simulations assume a single average consumer and thus miss this important demand determinant. We quantify long-term implications of alternative future income distributions for state-level residential energy demand, investment, greenhouse gas, and pollutant emission patterns in the United States (U.S.) by incorporating income quintiles into the residential energy sector of the Global Change Analysis Model with 50-state disaggregation. We find that if the income distribution within each U.S. state becomes more egalitarian than present, what means that the difference on income between the richest and poorest decreases over time, residential energy demand could be 10% (4%–14% across states) higher in 2100. This increase of residential energy demand will directly reduce energy poverty, with a very modest increment on economywide CO2 emissions (1%–2%). On the other hand, if U.S. states transition to a less equitable income distribution than present, with the difference between richest and poorest increasing over time, residential energy demand could be 19% (12%–26% across states) lower. While this study focuses on a single sector, we conclude that to improve understanding of synergies and tradeoffs across multiple societal goals such as energy access, emissions, and investments, future model simulations should explicitly consider subregional income distribution impacts.

Nexus between green financing, renewable energy generation, and energy efficiency: empirical insights through DEA technique.

The study aims to test the nexus of green financing with renewable electricity generation and energy efficiency. The study used data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique during the year of 2016 to 2020 in developed and developing countries. The findings show that there is a 24% possibility of worldwide rise in expenditures in renewable energy through energy efficiency projects and probably could fall around 17% much further in 2017 and 2018. This may jeopardize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris climate change agreement. Lack of access to private financing slows the development of green initiatives. Now that sustainable energy is not about science and technology, it is all about getting financing in developed and developing countries. As policy measure, the study suggested to value environmental initiatives, like other infrastructure initiatives, for greater electricity generation and energy efficiency in developed and developing countries. Such infrastructural projects need long-term financing and capital intensiveness. It is further suggested to sustain growth, development, and energy poverty reduction, and around $26 trillion would be required, in terms of green financing, in the developed and developing countries alone by the year 2030 to enhance energy efficiency. To achieve energy sustainability goals in developed and developing countries, recent research suggested some policy implication considering the post COVID-19 time. If such policy implications are implemented successfully, there are chances that green financing would make energy generation and energy efficiency effective.

Fairness, effectiveness, and needs satisfaction: new options for designing climate policies

Financial compensations are often proposed to address regressive distributional impacts of carbon taxes. While financial compensations have shown to benefit vulnerable groups distributionally, little is known about their impacts on emission reduction or needs satisfaction. A potential problem with cash compensations is that if households spend this money back into the economy while no additional decarbonisation policies are implemented, emission reductions that arose from the tax may at least partly be reversed. In this letter, we compare the emission savings and impacts on fuel and transport poverty of two compensation options for carbon taxes in 27 European countries. The first option consists of equal per capita rebates for home energy and motor fuel taxes. The second option is the provision of universal green vouchers for renewable electricity and public transport, supported by additional investments in green infrastructures to meet increased demand for such green consumption. Results show that the first option of tax rebates only supports small emission reductions. In contrast, universal green vouchers with expanded green infrastructures would reduce home energy emissions by 92.3 MtCO2e or 13.4%, and motor fuel emissions by 177.5 MtCO2e or 23.8%. If green vouchers and infrastructure were provided without a prior tax, emission savings would be slightly lower compared to the ‘tax and voucher’ scheme, but fuel and transport poverty would drop by 4.1 and 2.2 percentage points, respectively. In contrast, taxes with rebates would increase fuel and transport poverty by 4.1 and 1.8 percentage points. These findings demonstrate that it is important to take environmental and energy poverty impacts of compensations for unfair distributional impacts of climate policies into account at the design stage. Such compensation measures can achieve higher emission reductions and reduce energy poverty if they involve an expansion of the provision of green goods and services, and if everyone is given fair access to these goods and services.

Energy Poverty, Climate Change and Economic Growth

The study objectives were to determine the short and long-run effects of energy poverty and climate change on economic growth and to theoretically describe the driving factors of household energy poverty status using the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) dataset, 2018. The Autoregressive Distributed Lagged (ARDL) model was used to estimate variables based on data from 1980 to 2018. The results indicate that energy poverty has a negative or inverse relationship with the GDP growth; energy imports contribute an average of ten percent to the value of the GDP growth. Traditional and dangerous forms of energy use are predominant in Nigerian households. This poses a threat not only to the environment but also to the health of the public. An awareness-raising campaign on using safe and environmentally friendly energy sources should be a priority in Nigeria. Likewise, energy poverty reduction interventions, probably in the form of promotion of cheap and efficient clean energy technologies in the rural sector and the northern region (most especially Northeast), should be executed to enable the households to exit the energy poverty trap. Income smoothing policy measures probably in the form of poverty reduction and safety-net programs should be directed towards the low-income earners in the country in order to ease their level of poverty, of which energy poverty is an important segment.