Evaluating the impact of energy efficiency strategies on households’ energy affordability: A Spanish case study

Barrella, Roberto; Linares, J. I. Vico; Mora, José Carlos Romero; Arenas, Eva

doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2023.113289

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Hence, our findings carry important policy implications. First, targeted interventions like subsidies for energy-efficient appliances, energy efficiency programs, renewable energy initiatives, and improved energy infrastructure can enhance access to clean, safe, sustainable, and modern energy and, thus, contribute to improved health outcomes (Barrella et al 2023;Dobbins et al 2019;Kyprianou et al 2019). Furthermore, recognizing the mediating role of expenditures on essential items in the relationship between energy poverty and health expenses, it is crucial to implement comprehensive social support programs/policies.…”

Section: Conclusion and Policy Implicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Poverty and Health Expenditure: Empirical Evidence from Vietnam

Nguyen-Phung,

2024

Social Sciences

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Utilizing data from the 2016 Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey, we undertake an empirical investigation into the influence of energy poverty on the health expenditure of Vietnamese households. Employing a double-hurdle model, our empirical findings reveal a negative relationship between energy poverty and health expenditure. Specifically, our results indicate that for each incremental unit increase in energy poverty, there is a substantial reduction of 42.5 percentage points in the overall health expenditure of the households. Furthermore, as energy poverty deepens, we observe declines of 24.6 percentage points and 45.5 percentage points in the expenses incurred for inpatient/outpatient care and self-treatment, respectively. To validate the robustness of our results, we conduct several sensitivity analyses, including propensity score matching, double/debiased machine learning. Across all these methods, our findings consistently underscore the significant and persistent adverse impact of energy poverty on the examined outcome variables. Additionally, to examine the underlying pathways, we conduct a structural equation modeling analysis and find that the relationship between energy poverty and health expenses is mediated by household hospitalization and expenditures on essential items, such as food and daily necessities.

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Section: Conclusion and Policy Implicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Poverty and Health Expenditure: Empirical Evidence from Vietnam

Nguyen-Phung,

2024

Social Sciences

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“…In some countries such as Spain and The Netherlands, the situation varied across the rural locations, possibly being correlated with regional localisation rather than territorial type (Figures 3 and 4). In Spain, the northern-southern 'divide' is more relevant, whereas the southern regions are more energy vulnerable because there is a higher share of dwellings with a G rating (the lowest energy efficiency), despite having a milder climate [111]. In The Netherlands, there is well-developed social housing in urban and rural communities [93] that accommodates people with lower incomes.…”

Section: Urban-rural Divide Informed By Housing Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Energy Poverty in Urban and Rural Contexts in the Era of Climate Change: A Comparative Analysis of European Countries and Israel

Dokupilová,

Stojilovska,

Palma

et al. 2024

Energies

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This article examines the multidimensional problem of energy poverty, focusing on its connections to climate change and its manifestation at rural and urban scales across selected European countries and Israel. The study examined 31 locations in eight countries with diverse geographical and economic backgrounds: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, North Macedonia, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, and Israel. The article aims to understand how winter energy vulnerability in rural and urban locations in these countries could be identified using selected energy poverty indicators and how it evolves under the influence of climate change. A set of sociodemographic, infrastructural, and economic variables, combined with climate analysis, were selected and assessed for their impact on energy poverty. We found that energy poverty in most countries depends significantly on location and regional development. Due to a combination of factors influencing energy poverty, rural households tend to be more vulnerable. Furthermore, climate change consequences will likely leave rural areas more likely to experience energy poverty in the future.

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“…Finally, they analysed how different interventions affect and what results are derived from them, providing recommendations to improve the quality of life of vulnerable households through energy saving and efficiency measures. Another theoretical study [17] analyses the effect of alternative retrofit strategies on the affordability of thermal services in vulnerable Spanish households. This assessment considers their impact on winter and summer EP and includes an integrated "social cost" and cost-benefit analysis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Impact of Shallow Renovation on Energy Poverty: A Primary Data Study

Barrella,

Romero,

Laguillo

et al. 2023

Energies

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One of the main identified causes of energy poverty (EP) is the low energy efficiency of housing. In this line, since 2018, public administrations and NGOs collaborating with the Naturgy Foundation’s Energy Renovation Solidarity Fund have implemented several shallow renovation interventions in 3660 Spanish vulnerable households. However, the effects of these measures on domestic energy affordability were not evaluated before because of a lack of a proper method. This paper presents a methodology to objectively assess the impact of these interventions on EP. In particular, this work proposes calculating a hidden EP indicator using data from a primary survey and applies it to a local case study (54 vulnerable households in Catalonia—10% of dwellings renovated by the Fund in the region) by processing their characteristics and energy bills before and after the implementation of the interventions. Considering the whole sample of households analysed, the hidden EP indicator drops by 10% in absolute terms (11.2% in relative terms) after the retrofit, and the average EP gap goes from 423 €/year to 313 €/year, thus marking a significant positive effect of the analysed interventions on the EP situation of this population. Eventually, extrapolating the results to the vulnerable population in Spain, this paper points out a series of recommendations that could be useful for decision-makers and organisations when designing and implementing shallow renovation interventions.

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Evaluating the impact of energy efficiency strategies on households’ energy affordability: A Spanish case study

Cited by 11 publications

References 19 publications

Energy Poverty and Health Expenditure: Empirical Evidence from Vietnam

Energy Poverty and Health Expenditure: Empirical Evidence from Vietnam

Exploring Energy Poverty in Urban and Rural Contexts in the Era of Climate Change: A Comparative Analysis of European Countries and Israel

Assessing the Impact of Shallow Renovation on Energy Poverty: A Primary Data Study

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