Does energy poverty influence decarbonisation through electrification of the heating sector?

Cleaner end-uses of energy, including electrified heating, represent a cornerstone of a decarbonised energy transition. On the other hand, many governments have adopted measures to mitigate energy poverty and facilitate access to modern energy services, including heating. Both objectives may be inte...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Burguillo Cuesta, María Mercedes|||0000-0003-3328-4487, Río González, Pablo del|||0000-0002-1712-5198, Juez Martel, Pedro
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Alcalá (UAH)
Repositorio:e_Buah Biblioteca Digital Universidad de Alcalá
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ebuah.uah.es:10017/61978
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10017/61978
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114110
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Heating
Energy poverty
COVID
Multinomial probit
Economía
Economics
Descripción
Sumario:Cleaner end-uses of energy, including electrified heating, represent a cornerstone of a decarbonised energy transition. On the other hand, many governments have adopted measures to mitigate energy poverty and facilitate access to modern energy services, including heating. Both objectives may be interrelated, since energy poor people are less likely to use cleaner (and costlier) heating fuels. This paper analyses the impact of energy poverty on the decision to use different heating sources and identifies whether the events of COVID and the Ukraine war have affected this decision. Thus, a multinomial probit model is estimated using information from a large database of Spanish households in 2019, 2021 and 2022. The results show that being energy poor increases the probability to use carbon-intensive energy sources for heating compared to electricity, and that COVID and the war in Ukraine have affected this relationship. The increase in energy poverty over those years has negatively affected the decarbonisation goal with respect to heating choices. The influence of those events on the probability to use electric heating depends on some household and dwelling features. Therefore, mitigating energy poverty increases the welfare of energy poor people while supporting the choice of cleaner heating.