Electricity Price, Heat and Risk of Climate Poverty in Spain's Current Climate Change Scenario
The health risk associated with high temperatures has been declining during the last decade [[1]]. Among the factors that played an essential role in increasing the resilience of populations, air conditioning has been shown an effective heat adaptation strategy in several countries, including Spain [[2]]. However, the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates that the average temperature in Spain could rise up to 3°C [[3[] , making access to air conditioning a lifesaving question, especially for those populations more vulnerable to heat, such as elderly and low income communities [[4]]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), housing conditions must maintain an adequate climatization for health, ranging between 18°C in winter and 24 °C in summer [[5]]. Therefore, the price of electricity turns into an essential issue to satisfy a minimum amount of energy services and ensure air conditioning during heat periods. Upsettingly, Spain faced an exceptionally hazardous situation this summer when the price of electricity in the daily market registered the highest values ever in history through five consecutive days in the course of August's heatwave week, from Monday 9th to Friday 13th (Figure 1). Since then, the electricity price has kept increasing, and the disparity experienced could exacerbate existing health and socioeconomic inequalities in the short term with the forthcoming cold season.
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| Format: | artículo biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2021-12-01
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| Subjects: | Climate poverty, Electricity prices, http://metadata.un.org/sdg/13, Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/255694 https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85119262595 |
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| Summary: | The health risk associated with high temperatures has been declining during the last decade [[1]]. Among the factors that played an essential role in increasing the resilience of populations, air conditioning has been shown an effective heat adaptation strategy in several countries, including Spain [[2]]. However, the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates that the average temperature in Spain could rise up to 3°C [[3[] , making access to air conditioning a lifesaving question, especially for those populations more vulnerable to heat, such as elderly and low income communities [[4]].
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), housing conditions must maintain an adequate climatization for health, ranging between 18°C in winter and 24 °C in summer [[5]]. Therefore, the price of electricity turns into an essential issue to satisfy a minimum amount of energy services and ensure air conditioning during heat periods. Upsettingly, Spain faced an exceptionally hazardous situation this summer when the price of electricity in the daily market registered the highest values ever in history through five consecutive days in the course of August's heatwave week, from Monday 9th to Friday 13th (Figure 1). Since then, the electricity price has kept increasing, and the disparity experienced could exacerbate existing health and socioeconomic inequalities in the short term with the forthcoming cold season. |
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