Tackling Energy Poverty from different territorial perspectives

Description: The multidimensional phenomenon of Energy Poverty derives from different causes and, in 2022, the 10% of the European population was affected by it. Basing on the various countries definitions, Energy Poverty is conceived in different ways, but according to European Union it is the “household’s lack of access to essential energy services that underpin a decent standard of living and health, including adequate warmth, cooling, lighting, and energy to power appliances, in the relevant national context, existing social policy and other relevant policies”. It is a happening conditioned by external events, like Covid-19 pandemic crisis or wars and it has negative impact on health, wellbeing, social inclusion and quality of life. People affected by Energy Poverty suffer from inadequate comfort and sanitary conditions, such as unsuitable indoor temperatures (too hot or too cold), deficient air quality, and exposure to harmful chemicals and materials, which may lead to lower productivity, health problems and higher mortality. The energy poor also experience significant psychological stress over unaffordable energy bills. This work attempts to underlie the benefits of the disaggregated analysis of some indicators going beyond the macro-view. “At Risk Of Poverty and Social Exclusion” (AROPE), “Cooling and heating degree days” (CHDD) and “Charging points” (Cp) are taken into consideration and QGis is used to represent data on different territorial scales: Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (at NUTS2 and NUTS3 levels) and Istat Zone Urbanistiche (ZU) which compose the 15 Municipi into which the Municipality of Rome is administratively divided, with thematic and Kernel density maps. N.B. some zones were omitted due to poster space. OSS. if some areas are differently coloured from the classes’ subdivisions, data were not available for such areas. Research aims: Energy Poverty evaluation in different spatial perspectives to support decision maker in its actions to improve quality of life of citizens. It is a first step to the research on Energy Poverty characterized by the union of environmental, economic and social aspects with the geographic dimension. Conclusions: An in-depth analysis of some indexes related to Energy Poverty and Sustainability at different territorial levels can give important insights for future interventions. CHDD characterizes some regions of Europe, although there are some smaller areas with high values even elsewhere, with greater need for heating; AROPE is higher in the region of the south even if there are many more zones in different European countries interested by it; for what concern Cp in Rome, a concentration is evident in the centre of the city and near the sea area. But, if we consider more variables at these levels of analysis, which more insights can be given? The next step in my research involves studying every dimension of Energy Poverty, aiming to evaluate the phenomenon across different scales, considering also other environmental, economics and social factors. This will emphasize differences from a micro-perspective, facilitating comparisons between specific areas and providing policymakers with a valuable tool for their actions.