Energy Poverty and Sustainable Economic Development: An Exploration of Correlations and Interdependencies in European Countries

Blanka Tundys, Agnieszka Bretyn and Maciej Urbaniak
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Blanka Tundys: Institute of Management, Faculty of Economics, Finance and Management, University of Szczecin, Cukrowa 8, 71-004 Szczecin, Poland
Agnieszka Bretyn: Institute of Economics and Finance, Faculty of Economics, Finance and Management, University of Szczecin, ul. Mickiewicza 64, 71-101 Szczecin, Poland
Maciej Urbaniak: Faculty of Management, University of Lodz, Matejki 22-26, 90-237 Łódź, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 22, 1-25

Abstract: The problem of energy poverty exists in practically every European country. Its size and scope are determined by a variety of factors, ranging from economic development to the direction of energy and climate policy implementation to cultural factors. Our aim in this paper was to carry out a comparative analysis of indicators related to energy poverty and sustainable development to identify correlations and links between the two issues and determine how they are related. The fact that the analysis was performed for most European countries is new and represents a broad spectrum of research; we were not limited to studies of countries bound by formal political-economic arrangements or by consideration of the degree of economic development. This approach enabled explication of how diverse the situation is in Europe. The research methods used included a critical analysis of the literature and the use of descriptive and mathematical-statistical tools. The main conclusions and findings of the analysis were that in some countries in economically developed Europe, energy poverty is a major problem, and that, in this respect, there are large differences between “old European Union” and “new European Union” countries, and in the countries that do not belong to political-economic structures in Europe. It is clear, from the research, which countries are rapidly and effectively reducing their energy poverty problems and which factors are the determinants of this. These results are linked to the new direction of energy policy and the shift towards more environmentally friendly energy use. In conclusion, it has been possible to identify the causes of energy poverty and how the energy poverty situation in Europe is changing.

Keywords: energy poverty; sustainable development; correlation and indexes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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