Tackling Fuel Poverty: Bridging the divide for low income and vulnerable communities

毫无疑问，英国正面临一场能源危机，在未来5年内，燃料价格将翻两番，这意味着数以千计的低收入者将很快陷入燃料贫困。此外，还有全球减少碳排放和开发更节能产品的努力。在其《能源评论》(2006)和《能源白皮书》(2007)中，英国政府确定了英国面临的两大挑战：确保未来的能源供应，以及通过减少碳能源发电和节能来减少碳排放。政府认为能源效率是实现其燃料贫困目标的核心。然而，很明显，为了在最低收入和最脆弱的人群中有效地解决这一问题，需要社会科学和参与设计和开发节能措施的人之间采取跨学科的方法。对于许多低收入和弱势家庭来说，问题是如何负担得起供暖所需的能源，以及如何负担提高家庭热效率所需的隔热和供暖措施的前期成本。DECC的最新预测表明，2009年英格兰约有460万个燃料匮乏家庭(能源部能源气候变化部，2010年能源年度声明)。目前有一系列节能措施可供低收入家庭免费使用或成本大大降低。然而，有很多证据表明，对于那些被归类为弱势和低收入人群的人来说，这些选择的接受率远远低于全国平均水平。拟议的活动旨在进一步探讨这一点，并建立联系，以帮助解决目前我们对人和社区的了解与家庭如何开发、供应和安装技术之间的不匹配问题。人们普遍认识到，通过改造项目，该技术已经得到了充分的发展，可以提高住宅的能效。这一跃进的重点将是更好地了解和探索建筑材料和技术在缓解弱势群体生活中的燃料贫困方面所发挥的作用。这项活动的目的是更好地了解这些当地弱势居民和社会租户，包括低收入者、老年人、残疾人和有年幼子女的家庭(特别是单亲父母)在解决燃料贫困问题上面临的跨学科挑战和机遇，以及研究住房提供者、开发商和技术提供者所面临的问题。该项目还将研究家庭所处地理位置面临的一系列问题：城市、农村和沿海居民。这项活动将包括：文献回顾；对弱势和低收入家庭进行调查和访谈；与各主要利益攸关方接触；在改造技术供应链内与各组织和行业举办讲习班；以及继续进行跨学科对话和学习。

There is little doubt that the UK is facing an energy crisis, within the next 5 years fuel prices are set to treble, meaning that thousands of people on low income will soon be forced into fuel poverty. Coupled with this, is the global drive to reduce carbon emissions and develop more energy efficient products. In both its Energy Review (2006) and the Energy White Paper (2007), the UK Government identified two major challenges for the UK: securing an energy supply for the future and reducing carbon emissions through reduced-carbon energy generation and energy saving. The Government regards energy efficiency as central to achieving its fuel poverty targets. However, it has become clear that in order to tackle this issue effectively amongst those on the lowest incomes and most vulnerable requires an interdisciplinary approach between the social sciences and those involved in the engineering and development of energy efficient measures. For many low-income and vulnerable households, the problem is how to afford the energy they need to warm and their homes to an adequate standard, as well as how to afford the up-front cost of the insulation and heating measures necessary to improve their home's thermal efficiency. The latest projections, form DECC, suggest that there were around 4.6 million fuel poor households in England in 2009 (Department Energy Climate Change, Annual Energy Statement, 2010).There is currently a range of energy saving measures available for free or at a much reduced cost for low income households. However, there is much evidence to suggest that the uptake of these options is well below the national average for those who are classed as vulnerable and low incomes. The proposed activity looks to explore this further and put in place the links to assist in addressing the current mis-match between what we know about people and communities and how technology is developed, supplied and installed in households. There is general recognition that the technology has been developed sufficiently to improve the energy efficiency of domestic dwellings, through retrofit projects. The focus of this hop would be to better understand and explore the role that building materials and technology play in alleviating the presence of fuel poverty in the lives of vulnerable people. The activity aims to develop a better understanding as to the inter-disciplinary challenges and opportunities to tackling fuel poverty faced by these local vulnerable residents and social renting tenants, including those on low incomes, the older people, people with disabilities and life-limiting conditions, and families with young children (particularly single parents), as well as looking at the issues faced by housing providers, developers and technology providers. The project will also look at a range of issues faced by the geographic location of households for instance: urban, rural and coastal residents. This activity will consist of: reviews of literature; surveys and interviews with vulnerable and low-income households; engagement with various key stakeholders; workshops with organisations and industry within the retrofit technology supply chain; and, continued inter-disciplinary dialogue and learning.