Energy Impoverishment: Addressing Capitalism's New Driver of Inequality

Chester, Lynne

doi:10.2753/jei0021-3624480213

Cited by 11 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Also, our results suggest substantial heterogeneity among consumption quantiles. These are in line with previous work showing the sensitivity of the rebound effect to income group (Small and Dender, 2007;Gillingham, 2011;West, 2004;Kulmer and Seebauer, 2019), and suggesting inequalities in energy consumption (Chester, 2014;Sovacool et al, 2017;Reyes et al, 2019) with potentially diverse rebound effects.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Previous research on green consumer behavior focuses mostly on curtailment behavior and energy efficiency behaviors as the main ways to reduce environmental damage and daily energy consumption (Testa et al, 2016;Karlin et al, 2014;Jansson et al, 2010). Efficiency behavior which is well as the inequalities among households (Chester, 2014;. Moreover, those in the first quantile who might have benefited more from energy efficiency will suffer a rebound effect due to possible increased in welfare and comfort which prevents their obtaining the full benefit of dwelling efficiency (Chan and Gillingham 2015;Fillipini et al, 2018).…”

Section: Dependent Variable (Total Electricity Consumption)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Scrutinizing the direct rebound effect for French households using quantile regression and data from an original survey

Bélaïd

Youssef

Lazaric

2020

Ecological Economics

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This article develops a quantile regression model to measure the magnitude of the direct rebound effect for residential electricity demand based on micro-level data from an original survey of a representative sample of 2,356 French households. We explore the rebound effect for different groups of residents. Traditionally, debate has focused on decreased prices for energy services due to efficiency improvements and their effects on energy demand. The methodological innovation provided by this paper is that it implements two theoretical estimation strategies: (i) energy efficiency elasticity of the demand for energy services, and (ii) price elasticity of the demand for energy services. Our findings reject the hypothesis of a backfire effect in the context of residential electricity use. Specifically, based on energy efficiency elasticity, we provide evidence of a rebound effect of between 72% and 86% but with substantial heterogeneity among consumption quantiles. Our results show that the direct rebound effect has critical relevance for energy efficiency policy in the face of energy invisibility in France.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Dependent Variable (Total Electricity Consumption)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Scrutinizing the direct rebound effect for French households using quantile regression and data from an original survey

Bélaïd

Youssef

Lazaric

2020

Ecological Economics

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“…Although the energy-consumption habits can be improved through training and user feedback programmes [53,54], improving the heat-generation systems and redesigning energy tariffs should be a priority in these households, before proposing expensive solutions to refurbish the thermal envelope. The increase in electricity prices in many European countries has aggravated the vulnerability of many low-income and energy-inefficient households [55]. In these cases, the use of natural gas for heating systems presents some beneficial results [56].…”

Section: Energy Poverty: An Empirical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Building Energy Assessment and Computer Simulation Applied to Social Housing in Spain

et al. 2018

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The actual energy consumption and simulated energy performance of a building usually differ. This gap widens in social housing, owing to the characteristics of these buildings and the consumption patterns of economically vulnerable households affected by energy poverty. The aim of this work is to characterise the energy poverty of the households that are representative of those residing in social housing, specifically in blocks of apartments in Southern Europe. The main variables that affect energy consumption and costs are analysed, and the models developed for software energy-performance simulations (which are applied to predict energy consumption in social housing) are validated against actual energy-consumption values. The results demonstrate that this type of household usually lives in surroundings at a temperature below the average thermal comfort level. We have taken into account that a standard thermal comfort level may lead to significant differences between computer-aided energy building simulation and actual consumption data (which are 40-140% lower than simulated consumption). This fact is of integral importance, as we use computer simulation to predict building energy performance in social housing.

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“…and their interaction with wages needs to be considered alongside broader living costs to determine if an adequate standard of living, that includes access to essential services such as energy, can be maintained. The energy efficiency rating of a home and the ability to improve this rating through capital upgrades and appliance replacements are also important factors that determine the cost of energy (Chester, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The drivers of energy-related financial hardship in Australia – understanding the role of income, consumption and housing

et al. 2019

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The drivers of energy-related financial hardship in Australiaunderstanding the role of income, consumption and housing Saunders and Bedford (2017) demonstrated that income levels are inadequate for some Australian households to maintain a basic standard of living. Analysing utility bills can extend this consideration of income adequacy issues given the essential nature of services such as electricity, telephony and water. This article builds on the work presented by Simshauser and Nelson (2014) about key demographic cohorts in Australia that have a high incidence of energy-related financial hardship. Our analysis indicates that energy related financial hardship is likely to be related to a combination of the following: family formation demographics; low-income (often reliant upon government income support); higher household size; and higher than average consumption. Our policy recommendations are relatively straightforward: development of tools to allow easier 'shopping around' by energy customers; cessation of credit-checking by energy retailers as a means of restricting access to energy offers; reform of state-based concessions frameworks; a lifting of income support for some key cohorts (e.g. unemployed); improvements to energy-efficiency standards; and amendments to tenancy laws to overcome potential principal-agent issues associated with uptake of new products and services such as embedded solar PV and battery storage.

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Energy Impoverishment: Addressing Capitalism's New Driver of Inequality

Cited by 11 publications

References 7 publications

Scrutinizing the direct rebound effect for French households using quantile regression and data from an original survey

Scrutinizing the direct rebound effect for French households using quantile regression and data from an original survey

Building Energy Assessment and Computer Simulation Applied to Social Housing in Spain

The drivers of energy-related financial hardship in Australia – understanding the role of income, consumption and housing

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