A fair energy transition must allow disabled people to level up
To prevent dangerous climate change, we need to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our use of energy, and transition to net zero. This needs to be done in a way that is fair to everyone and doesn’t disadvantage vulnerable groups. New research by Lucie Middlemiss and Diana Ivanova of the Sustainability Research Institute shows that disabled people in the EU are already energy disadvantaged and so, they argue, need greater consideration in planning for a fair energy transition.
In the EU and beyond, policy-makers are beginning to understand that some people are particularly vulnerable in a transition to net zero. The European Green Deal, for instance, aims for net zero by 2050, but also to ensure that people have access to clean and affordable energy, and that ‘no person and no place is left behind’. In their National Energy and Climate Plans, EU nations are required to include reporting on energy poverty (inability to access adequate energy services), and many have begun to measure and monitor energy poverty as a result. While these are welcome changes to EU policy and practice, they do not capture the diversity of needs and the inequalities in current consumption. In new research we look at the specific experience of disabled people — approximately 1 in 4 citizens are disabled in the EU — and find considerable differences in their ability to access and use energy. To ensure a fair energy transition, this existing disparity needs to be taken into account.
Disabled households use less energy and consume energy differently
In our new study, we look at the energy consumption footprints of disabled households (households where one person is disabled and economically inactive) in the EU. Using consumption data from 19 countries in the EU in 2010, we analyse the differences in energy use between disabled and other households, according to the services and products they use and buy. This includes energy used directly (such as in heating homes or driving vehicles) as well as energy embedded in products (such as food or consumer goods). We also estimated energy poverty by identifying households with high energy costs as a proportion of spending (more than 10%) and below average incomes.
We reveal that disabled households currently consume 10% less energy than other households, as well as being 5% more likely to experience energy poverty. This lower energy consumption is directly linked to disabled households substantially lower incomes, which is only 76% of the incomes of other economically inactive households.
Disabled households also have different consumption profiles to other households. Consumption of basic needs and services (food, energy at home, water, and waste services) is similar to other households. However, we find disabled household have lower consumption of leisure services (for e.g. recreation, hotels, restaurants and travel services) and mobility (in both air transport and motor fuel), and lower spend on education than other households — suggesting lower opportunities to access education. It is notable that disabled households tend to under consume transport and leisure activities even when compared to households with similar incomes.
Energy consumption data reveals unequal access to opportunities
Our finding that disabled households consume less energy on average is important because consuming energy is central to inclusion in most of the opportunities of our time. Disabled households’ limited consumption of leisure services represents such an inequality of opportunity: it suggests that disabled people have less opportunities to engage in fun and relaxing forms of consumption. Paradoxically, the similar consumption of energy in the home is also a concern. We know that some disabled people have a greater need for energy in the home: for life-supporting machinery or to keep warmer, or wash more frequently than others. In the light of these greater needs, the similar consumption levels to other households suggests that energy in the home might be being under-consumed by disabled households.
Describing disabled people’s lives in this way makes it clear that they do not currently have the same opportunities to thrive as non-disabled people in the EU. Following the Glasgow COP26 climate change conference, we are all thinking more about planning for reduced energy consumption in the future. Given that energy consumption is associated with alleviating poverty, achieving a decent quality of life and meeting basic needs, it is critical to understand how disabled people consume now, and whether their current needs are being met. This will enable us to reduce energy consumption safely, and in a way that allows disabled people to live decent lives. Our evidence suggests that disabled people are likely to need access and support to consume energy in a way that non-disabled people do not, and taking this into account in transition planning is critical to ensure that the current inequalities between disabled and non-disabled people are not reinforced. It also supports our earlier call to include the energy poor, in all their diversity, in energy transition planning.
Further information
Read the full study: “Characterising the energy use of disabled people in the European Union towards inclusion in the energy transition” in Nature Energy.
If you would like to find out more about this study or work with us, please get in touch with Lucie Middlemiss.
This blog forms part of the Policy Leeds blog series, sharing policy relevant research and comment by researchers at the University of Leeds. Find out more about Policy Leeds on our website or follow us on Twitter.
