资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

Energy poverty is becoming ever more important for academia and policymakers. This study conducts fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) with the aim of constructing energy poverty profiles. FsQCA was performed on 150 households. The results show that energy-poor households are characterised by the interdependence and intertwining of socio-demographic (ownership status, education level, labour force status and household size) and housing (type of building, central heating system and solar collectors/heat pump) characteristics. The conditions form eight equifinal configurations related to energy-poor households. None of the individual characteristics is able to explain energy poverty alone, although strong interrelations are present in the outcomes. The study also highlights that the conditions play different roles in the presence or absence of energy poverty, giving policymakers the necessary leeway to formulate effective policies as part of agendas covering poverty in general, poor health, climate change and domestic energy inefficiency. This study suggests that energy poverty is a structural issue, mainly arising from poor energy-efficient buildings and/or labour market inefficiencies.