Energy poverty in a changing climate: the challenge of “hot homes”

Panel: 1. Energy consumption and wellbeing

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Anna Realini, RSE S.p.A., Italy
Simone Maggiore, Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico - RSE S.p.A., Italy
Marco Borgarello, Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico - RSE S.p.A., Italy

Abstract

Energy poverty is traditionally and historically identified mainly as an issue of inadequate heating of homes, which arises when people, due to economic hardship, are unable to heat their homes to a satisfactory level of comfort at an acceptable cost. However, within the context of a climate change, with more and more frequent hot summers and heat waves, the need for “cool houses” is becoming crucial, also in terms of health impacts on vulnerable consumers. So, energy poverty and its impacts shall be defined considering the overall household energy needs both in winter and in summer.

This is particularly true for those countries where the climate is various, with large differences in terms of heating and cooling needs. Among these, Italy represents a good example, with climates going from the almost-North-African hot Southern areas to the almost-Scandinavian Alpine areas.

This work is focused on studying the problem of combined winter and summer energy poverty, addressing, in particular, the case of Italy. First, the issue of defining a minimum energy need and an energy poverty indicator is discussed. Then, the calculation of the minimum energy need for heating and cooling is performed for 140 types of buildings across the whole country and this is converted into a minimum energy cost for each household. Then, the issue of cooling is addressed directly, by analysing the impact not only of paying higher electricity bills, but also of installing and maintaining a cooling system (64 % of Italian household declare not to have one) and the related costs. Finally, the impact in terms of energy poverty increase, due to cooling, is addressed, considering local differences among different areas. Last but not least, a focus on how to support vulnerable consumers in the energy transition, by taking into account the impacts of climate change, is performed.

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