Energy poverty in Andalusia. An analysis through decentralised indicators

Abstract

Interest in energy poverty has increased in recent years and has made it possible to define the lack of energy resources in households and the importance of energy as a right. The research carried out in this work shows the importance it acquires in the current context, where a large part of the population lives confined to their homes due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and has to face higher energy costs, which affects their health and safety. This paper focuses on showing the need to study and take action on energy-poor households in Andalusia, which has been identified as one of the Spanish communities with the highest level of energy poverty. To this end, the main indicators are calculated for Andalusia. The research is transdisciplinary and has been developed by the Aura team of the University of Seville, which participates in the Solar Decathlon university competition. A high degree of energy vulnerability is concluded, with all the main indicators exceeding the national average. Finally, the conclusions section shows the need to modify the current methodology that defines vulnerable households and develop local databases in territories where the factors that affect energy vulnerability are homogeneous and evolving towards decentralised studies.