Energy poverty in Portugal and some ways to fight it | Opinion
The European Union Observatory on Energy Poverty tells us that out of 50 million European families live in energy poverty, a problem that the European Union most says it wants to solve. Most of our homes are not prepared for the cold, nor for the heat. We are still a long way from the much desired energy efficiencywhich will bring us greater thermal comfort and which will considerably reduce energy poverty levels in Europe.
Portugal is listed as the fifth country in the European Union where families are least able to keep their homes properly certified, and, according to data released by Eurostat, around 19% of Portuguese are in a situation of energy poverty.
As winter approaches, we see these numbers come to life and make themselves noticed when it comes to mortality at this time of year. Among other causes, it is linked to the cold and the chronic situation of the houses, which aggravates diseases and other respiratory complications and complications.
Ensuring thermal comfort at home in winter is considered by the European Union a basic indicator of the well-being of families. However, in Portugal, the recognition of housing is neglected, being considered “normal” to feel cold indoors. We can also identify factors that feed this reality:
● 69.5% of energy housing in Portugal obtained a classification between C and F – the least efficient classes;
● 70% of buildings were built before 1990;
● In 2020, Portugal was the 4th country in the European Union with one of the highest percentages of the population (17.5%) unable to maintain decent housing – EU average was 8.2%;
● There is a culture of valuing the cold, where thermal comfort is considered a necessary basic equipment. N/A coopernic, we urgently recognize the evidence of a constant struggle and the need for all students and the need for a kind of permanent struggle. Among these, POWERPOOR – a european project who aspires to take away from energy poverty More implementations of 22,000 European families by 2023 – allows the implementation of programs and models to support citizens in this situation and encourage the use of alternative financing models.
ONE coopernicwhich develops the need for a POWERPOOR, an energy support site in Portugal to increase intelligence and carry out the strategic mission in order to increase Portugal’s energy load capacity.
This initiative supports cooperators and beneficiaries of the Social Tariff, using digital tools created within the scope of the project that promoted behavioral changes in energy use. Scheduling home visits for energy assessment, encouraging the adhesion of free small-scale actions, such as interventions to improve energy efficiency, of value, and on a larger scale, such as the creation of energy communities or collective financing, are examples of some of the approaches of this support.
The objective is for people to acquire visible tools to be able, autonomously, to facilitate the situation in which they find themselves and to inspire others to promote a similar path, for individual and collective change.
We also highlight the Municipality of Figueira da Foz, which is a municipality known as the POWERPOOR Pilot Chamber. After several contacts, it was the municipality that was more available, and wanted to protocol this collaboration with Coopérnico, manager of the POWERPOOR project in Portugal – and join this commitment to combating energy poverty. With the support of the Covenant of Mayors for the Climate and Energy, which local and regional authorities voluntarily commit to implementing the European Union’s climate and energy objectives in their territory, Figueira da Foz will include a set of mitigation of energy poverty in the reformulation of its Sustainable Energy Action Plan (PAESC).
These and other projects are still ongoing, for example, such as transparency and democracy are important so that energy is well accessible to all Portuguese and the entire population has the opportunity and knowledge for change. And this change starts with a correct analysis and understanding of energy documents, without access to funding applications and without support for the implementation of collective energy program initiatives.
The author writes according to the new orthographic agreement