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Energy inequality as a risk in socio-technical energy transitions : The Swedish case of individual metering and billing of energy for heating

von Platten, Jenny LU ; Mangold, Mikael and Mjörnell, Kristina LU (2020) BEYOND 2020 In IOP Conference Series 588.
Abstract
Improved energy efficiency in the housing stock is an important undertaking in the energy transition but is associated with both opportunities and risks. While there are possibilities to reduce energy inequalities in the housing stock, inequalities also risk being aggravated as actions for energy efficiency usually aim at the least energy efficient—and thus sometimes the least privileged—parts of the housing stock. In this paper, we use two different energy performance metrics (kWh/m2 and kWh/capita) to investigate the energy inequality in the Swedish multifamily building stock and explore the effects of these inequalities in the energy transition. More specifically, we investigate the implementation of individual metering and billing of... (More)
Improved energy efficiency in the housing stock is an important undertaking in the energy transition but is associated with both opportunities and risks. While there are possibilities to reduce energy inequalities in the housing stock, inequalities also risk being aggravated as actions for energy efficiency usually aim at the least energy efficient—and thus sometimes the least privileged—parts of the housing stock. In this paper, we use two different energy performance metrics (kWh/m2 and kWh/capita) to investigate the energy inequality in the Swedish multifamily building stock and explore the effects of these inequalities in the energy transition. More specifically, we investigate the implementation of individual metering and billing of energy for heating, which was recently implemented in the least energy efficient part of the housing stock. It was found that low-income households were overrepresented in the affected buildings. The consequence of this implementation is thus that the strongest protection against energy poverty in Sweden (collective billing for heating) is removed in a part of the housing stock where two of the predictors for energy poverty—low income and low energy performance—are overrepresented. It was concluded that acknowledging inequalities is crucial to avoid risks associated with the energy transition. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Improved energy efficiency in the housing stock is an important undertaking in the energy transition but is associated with both opportunities and risks. While there are possibilities to reduce energy inequalities in the housing stock, inequalities also risk being aggravated as actions for energy efficiency usually aim at the least energy efficient—and thus sometimes the least privileged—parts of the housing stock. In this paper, we use two different energy performance metrics (kWh/m2 and kWh/capita) to investigate the energy inequality in the Swedish multifamily building stock and explore the effects of these inequalities in the energy transition. More specifically, we investigate the implementation of individual metering and billing of... (More)
Improved energy efficiency in the housing stock is an important undertaking in the energy transition but is associated with both opportunities and risks. While there are possibilities to reduce energy inequalities in the housing stock, inequalities also risk being aggravated as actions for energy efficiency usually aim at the least energy efficient—and thus sometimes the least privileged—parts of the housing stock. In this paper, we use two different energy performance metrics (kWh/m2 and kWh/capita) to investigate the energy inequality in the Swedish multifamily building stock and explore the effects of these inequalities in the energy transition. More specifically, we investigate the implementation of individual metering and billing of energy for heating, which was recently implemented in the least energy efficient part of the housing stock. It was found that low-income households were overrepresented in the affected buildings. The consequence of this implementation is thus that the strongest protection against energy poverty in Sweden (collective billing for heating) is removed in a part of the housing stock where two of the predictors for energy poverty—low income and low energy performance—are overrepresented. It was concluded that acknowledging inequalities is crucial to avoid risks associated with the energy transition. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
WSBE 20 - World Sustainable Built Environment - Beyond2020 2-4 November 2020, Gothenburg, Sweden
series title
IOP Conference Series
volume
588
article number
032015
pages
8 pages
publisher
IOP Publishing
conference name
BEYOND 2020
conference dates
2020-11-02 - 2020-11-04
external identifiers
  • scopus:85097159586
ISSN
1755-1315
DOI
10.1088/1755-1315/588/3/032015
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
67a7f0f3-084c-4f9f-a9da-ab9e3b706b3c
date added to LUP
2020-11-26 09:52:43
date last changed
2022-10-31 18:07:40
@inproceedings{67a7f0f3-084c-4f9f-a9da-ab9e3b706b3c,
  abstract     = {{Improved energy efficiency in the housing stock is an important undertaking in the energy transition but is associated with both opportunities and risks. While there are possibilities to reduce energy inequalities in the housing stock, inequalities also risk being aggravated as actions for energy efficiency usually aim at the least energy efficient—and thus sometimes the least privileged—parts of the housing stock. In this paper, we use two different energy performance metrics (kWh/m2 and kWh/capita) to investigate the energy inequality in the Swedish multifamily building stock and explore the effects of these inequalities in the energy transition. More specifically, we investigate the implementation of individual metering and billing of energy for heating, which was recently implemented in the least energy efficient part of the housing stock. It was found that low-income households were overrepresented in the affected buildings. The consequence of this implementation is thus that the strongest protection against energy poverty in Sweden (collective billing for heating) is removed in a part of the housing stock where two of the predictors for energy poverty—low income and low energy performance—are overrepresented. It was concluded that acknowledging inequalities is crucial to avoid risks associated with the energy transition.}},
  author       = {{von Platten, Jenny and Mangold, Mikael and Mjörnell, Kristina}},
  booktitle    = {{WSBE 20 - World Sustainable Built Environment - Beyond2020 2-4 November 2020, Gothenburg, Sweden}},
  issn         = {{1755-1315}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  publisher    = {{IOP Publishing}},
  series       = {{IOP Conference Series}},
  title        = {{Energy inequality as a risk in socio-technical energy transitions : The Swedish case of individual metering and billing of energy for heating}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/588/3/032015}},
  doi          = {{10.1088/1755-1315/588/3/032015}},
  volume       = {{588}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}