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Fuel Poverty: Socioeconomic and political aspects
J. PARAVANTIS
171
worsening economic conditions globally. Fuel poverty, the inability to afford adequate
warmth at home as pointed out by Paravantis and Santamouris,
3
is one of the most
prominent social problems of the 21st century,
4
particularly in these times of global
economic recession.
Fuel poverty affects low-income families. Its causes lie in the poor quality of the hous-
ing stock and the high cost of fuel. This paper compiles and synthesizes the results
of three empirical research works on fuel poverty in Athens, Greece: an initial work
reporting on the results of a large household survey;
5
a follow-up work focusing on the
indoor environmental quality in a smaller number of low and very low income house-
holds during the winter;
6
and a more in-depth effort to analyze the indoor tempera-
ture measurements of these low and very low income houses.
7
The paper concludes
with important policy considerations.
II. Literature review
Fuel poverty is a distinct form of inequality and one of the most eminent social prob-
lems of the 21st century. It can be quantified via the Fuel Poverty Ratio (FPR), defined as
income
price fuel
n
consumptio
energy
ratio
poverty
Fuel
u
If the FPR is greater than 0.1 (10%), the household is considered to be fuel poor. It fol-
lows that poverty and fuel poverty are linked but not synonymous concepts.
8
Fuel-poor
households include low-income households, vulnerable households and households
with high energy bills and payment difficulties.
9
Vulnerable households contain chil-
dren, elderly people and persons who are disabled or suffer from long-term illnesses.
10
Oftentimes, fuel-poor people are those who receive social security payments, work on
3. J.A. Paravantis and M. Santamouris, ‘An analysis of indoor temperature measurements in low and very low
income housing in Athens, Greece’, Special Issue on Indoor Environmental Quality in Low Income Housing
in Europe.
Advances in Building Energy Research
, Taylor and Francis, accepted for publication 2015.
4. B. Boardman,
Fuel poverty: from cold homes to affordable warmth
. London: Belhaven Press, 1991. B.
Boardman,
Fixing fuel poverty: challenges and solutions
. London, Earthscan, 2010.
5. M. Santamouris et al., ‘Financial crisis and energy consumption: A household survey in Greece’
Energy
and Buildings
, 65, 2013, pp. 477-487.
6. M. Santamouris et al., ‘Freezing the poor – indoor environmental quality in low and very low income
households during the winter period in Athens’
Energy and Buildings
, 70, 2014 pp. 61-70.
7. J.A. Paravantis and M. Santamouris, ‘An analysis of indoor temperature measurements in low and very low
income housing in Athens, Greece’, Special Issue on Indoor Environmental Quality in Low Income Housing
in Europe,
Advances in Building Energy Research
, Taylor and Francis, accepted for publication, 2015.
8. B. Boardman,
Fuel poverty: from cold homes to affordable warmth
. London, Belhaven Press, 1991.
9. J. Hill,
Getting the measure of fuel poverty: Final report of the fuel poverty review
. CASE report 72, 2012.
10. B. Boardman,
Fixing fuel poverty: challenges and solutions
. London: Earthscan, 2010.
J. Hill
Getting the measure of fuel poverty: Final report of the fuel poverty review
. CASE report 72, 2012.