FPRN bulletin – 6th July 2024


6 July 2024

The FPRN email bulletin is a semi-regular email highlighting a handpicked selection of recently published research and other knowledge outputs in the area of fuel/energy poverty from around the world. The aim is to share this emerging knowledge more widely and to help generate discussion across the network.

If you have any issues accessing the below articles, or you have articles, research or other information we could share, please contact newsletter@fuelpovertyresearch.net

Growing up in discomfort: Exploring energy poverty and thermal comfort among students in Portugal
Inês Valente; João Pedro Gouveia (2024)
 Academic Paper  Open Access 

This paper assesses upper secondary school students’ perception of energy poverty at home and thermal comfort inside classrooms in Portugal. The results highlight a number of key outcomes including that up to 14 % of students live in permanent discomfort (i.e., uncomfortable both at school and home), raising a number of implications for school policies and future renovation programs.

Energy poverty alleviation by social housing providers: A qualitative investigation of targeted interventions in France, England, and the Netherlands
T.M. Croon; J.S.C.M. Hoekstra; U. Dubois (2024)
 Academic Paper  Open Access 

This study explores the insights of social housing professionals from France, England, and the Netherlands in relation to addressing energy poverty. The authors conclude that to empower social housing providers, housing policy reforms must acknowledge and address the significant impact of energy costs within total housing expenses.

Double energy vulnerability in Japan
Shinichiro Okushima; Neil Simcock (2024)
 Academic Paper  Open Access 

This paper calculates the cost burdens arising from expenditure on domestic energy, and public and private transportation in Japan. The findings suggest that risk of experiencing high domestic energy burdens is strongly differentiated by income and age, being more prevalent in low-income households and where the lead householder is over 65.

EU and US Approaches to Address Energy Poverty: Classifying and Evaluating Design Strategies (pdf)
Peter Heller; Tim Schittekatte; Carlos Batlle (2024)
 Report  Open Access 

This report explores the design of energy poverty policies and programs in the US and the EU and discusses the benefits, disadvantages and key lessons of these approaches.

Enough pain, cold, and illness! Social movements in response to energy poverty in Europe
Ana Stojilovska; Hyerim Yoon; Jan Frankowski (2024)
 Academic Paper  Open Access 

The authors present the experiences of three social movements of relevance to energy poverty across Europe. A number of opportunities are identified that may offer a more effective pathway towards achieving a just energy transition.

Energy poverty in Canada: Social and geographic inequalities
Mylène Riva (2024)
 Blog  Open Access 

Using data from a representative pan-Canadian population survey, this article explores the prevalence of energy poverty in Canada and on its social and geographical patterning. The authors raise a number of issues relating to addressing energy poverty in Canada such as that some support programs are inadvertently exacerbating social inequities.

(Dis)comfortably numb in energy transitions: Gauging residential hard-to-reach energy users in the European Union
Miguel Macias Sequeira; João Pedro Gouveia; João Joanaz de Melo (2024)
 Academic Paper  Open Access 

In this paper the authors propose a number of profiles for households and then explore this in the context of the EU. The analysis finds that there is a substantial share of households that are hard-to-reach which has implications for policy and research.

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