FPRN bulletin – 11th March 2024

New analysis by Age UK has revealed that 2.2 million households would not be living in fuel poverty this winter – a reduction of around 65% – if the Government had implemented an energy social tariff to help the most vulnerable energy users in society.

The report challenges the approach of ‘fabric first’ retrofit and shows that heat pumps in the UK may be a more affordable retrofit option than an insulation first approach. Reducing costs of technologies may mean policy makers need to rethink decarbonization approaches.

This paper explores the likelihood of being exposed to energy poverty in Spain by using a novel metric of energy vulnerability at the local level. The results show that over 84% of the municipalities show a vulnerability index of 3 or higher (out of 5) and discusses how the proposed indicator might help policy decision-makers fight energy poverty at the local level.

This paper explores the relationship between human sentiment on social media data, urban building characteristics, and the socio-spatial dynamics of New York City. The research uncovers disparities in the built environment and the allocation of resources in NYC and highlights the critical need to embrace a spatial energy justice framework for a sustainable future.

This paper explores both the emotional and cognitive aspects of energy retrofit decisions from 18 case studies and workshops with 36 stakeholders. Based on the data the authors developed a Home for the Common Future heuristic, which captures three out of five identified themes of the research.

This report identifies strategies to help lessen inequities by improving access to the benefits of a clean energy system for lower-income and vulnerable households through demand-side flexibility.  The report identifies a number of policy actions including targeting the right kind of flexibility, plugging technology gaps and designing low-risk and upside-only retail offers.