Illustrating the conflicts of the energy transition: energy poverty vs decarbonisation. A case example in Spain

Abstract

Although the energy transition is generally understood as the decarbonization of the energy sector, other elements, such as atmospheric pollutants mitigation, job creation, energy security, or reducing energy poverty, must also be considered to build a truly sustainable energy roadmap. And, sometimes, these may be conflicting goals. In this paper we present a multi-criteria tool that illustrates the conflict between energy poverty, decarbonization and other energy transition objectives for the Spanish energy roadmap towards 2050. Our results show that there is a significant level of conflict. Setting critical limits on CO2 emissions radically conditions the scenario and forces vulnerable population to react. And not all households do it in the same way. In particular, vulnerable households do not reach the target of full decarbonisation of residential demand and continue to consume natural gas because of budget constraints. In addition, the tool makes it possible to compare different strategies for solving the multi-criteria problem, i.e., efficiency versus equity. The results show how the prioritization of equity, i.e., the criterion farthest from the optimum leads to a significant worsening in the rest of the criteria.