EPEC 2014 - Special Session on Energy Poverty and the Economic Crisis

This special session falls under Track IV (Technologies, Protocols and Applications) and more specifically under topics: applications in natural resource management; applications in tourism; simulation and evaluation via simulation; empirical evaluations; and case studies.
Over the last decades, energy or fuel poverty has attracted attention as a critical expression of social inequality. While energy poverty is well understood as a form of injustice that involves the inability of low income households to access energy services and thereby maintain a healthful living environment, in the present economic environment the situation is steadily deteriorating. Energy poverty is more severe in urban settlements and low-income regions as it is strongly correlated to environmental, economic and social aspects. Apart from the social issues related to energy poverty (such as the problem of unemployment), energy and environmental issues are of a great importance. Therefore improvement of the energy efficiency with low cost measures and smart grids, use of renewable resources to supply cities and economic/transport systems, adoption of sustainable consumption policies and green practices in tourism, seem to be the main tools to address energy poverty in the developed world. The aim of this Special Session is to provide insights in the subject of energy poverty at this time of a global financial crisis for cities as well as regional agricultural and touristic areas. Specific topics of the Special Session include:
analysis and identification of low-income households affected by energy poverty, including interview and questionnaire surveys of demographic, socioeconomic, technical, energy consumption and specific energy use characteristics; consumer/household spending and behavior
audits, case studies, modeling/simulation, building management systems, energy efficiency/conservation interventions, renewable energy solutions and statistical analyses of buildings of households affected by energy poverty; thermal discomfort due to energy poverty
energy poverty and (awareness of) its interconnectedness to environmental issues such as indoor air pollution, the urban heat island effect, and global climate change
quantitative methods, econometric analyses as well as modeling and simulation of energy poverty, including household clustering, other multivariate analysis, longitudinal/panel studies, household/building modeling and simulations as well as energy poverty indicators
socio-technical aspects of energy poverty and related applications of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) such as energy consumption information systems
economic analyses of energy poverty that point out the role of issues such as income inequalities and the deregulation of energy markets in a time of global financial crisis
cultural and ethical issues related to energy poverty, such as energy injustice and how it relates to quality of life; cultural and political recognition of vulnerable and marginalized social groups (including old-age and low-income households)
policy and legal/institutional issues related to energy poverty, including environmental externalities and carbon taxes; advice and information campaigns/programs; policy measures and solutions to the negative implications of energy poverty; energy policies targeting energy consumption of low-income households; energy standards and laws; and European Union policies that have a bearing on energy poverty
international concerns including comparative analyses of energy poverty globally; energy poverty in developed and less developed nations; energy poverty in the European Union, North and South America and the rest of the world.
Organizers:
Assistant Professor John Paravantis, University of Piraeus
Important Dates:
Paper submission: Friday February 28, 2014
Author notification: Monday March 31, 2014
Camera-ready paper submission: Friday April 18, 2014
Contact us:
Assistant Professor John Paravantis, University of Piraeus, jparav-AT-unipi.gr & paravantis-AT-gmail.com