Recent developments in the energy poverty and vulnerability research in Europe: a systematic literature review
There is an extensive body of energy poverty literature in the European context, and the literature is increasing at a fast pace. This is due to increased awareness of the problem, as well as societal developments such as the energy transition and recent geopolitical instabilities. However, the deve...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-09-01
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| Series: | Energy Strategy Reviews |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211467X25002184 |
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| author | Tuija Kajoskoski Kaisa Matschoss Eva Heiskanen Senja Laakso |
| author_facet | Tuija Kajoskoski Kaisa Matschoss Eva Heiskanen Senja Laakso |
| author_sort | Tuija Kajoskoski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | There is an extensive body of energy poverty literature in the European context, and the literature is increasing at a fast pace. This is due to increased awareness of the problem, as well as societal developments such as the energy transition and recent geopolitical instabilities. However, the development of energy poverty research targeting households in the European context has not been systematically examined. This review fills the gap in current literature by providing a comprehensive analysis of the academic energy poverty research in Europe. We focus on two time periods: 2010–2020 and 2021–2023 and compare the two data sets for similarities and differences in contextual motivations, definitions of energy poverty and energy vulnerability, theoretical literatures, causes of energy poverty, groups identified as poor or vulnerable, and proposed solutions. The findings show that the literature is characterised more by continuity than evolution, yet we identified several important developments. We found that research increasingly understands energy poverty and vulnerability as structural issues and as reflective of divisive societal inequalities. Recent research is increasingly drawing on broader social science literature on inequality to study intersections of various forms of energy vulnerability. Moreover, these vulnerabilities and inequalities ensuing from the energy transition have emerged as persistent problems on research and policy agendas. Future research should continue to examine the links between energy transitions, energy vulnerability and energy justice to identify new vulnerabilities and the wider social impacts of the changing energy system. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6c4fb8ba29794c788fcc1cbe079d5b58 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2211-467X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energy Strategy Reviews |
| spelling | doaj-art-6c4fb8ba29794c788fcc1cbe079d5b582025-08-20T03:44:06ZengElsevierEnergy Strategy Reviews2211-467X2025-09-016110185510.1016/j.esr.2025.101855Recent developments in the energy poverty and vulnerability research in Europe: a systematic literature reviewTuija Kajoskoski0Kaisa Matschoss1Eva Heiskanen2Senja Laakso3Corresponding author. Helsingin Yliopisto, PL 16, 00014, Finland.; Centre for Consumer Society Research, University of Helsinki, FinlandCentre for Consumer Society Research, University of Helsinki, FinlandCentre for Consumer Society Research, University of Helsinki, FinlandCentre for Consumer Society Research, University of Helsinki, FinlandThere is an extensive body of energy poverty literature in the European context, and the literature is increasing at a fast pace. This is due to increased awareness of the problem, as well as societal developments such as the energy transition and recent geopolitical instabilities. However, the development of energy poverty research targeting households in the European context has not been systematically examined. This review fills the gap in current literature by providing a comprehensive analysis of the academic energy poverty research in Europe. We focus on two time periods: 2010–2020 and 2021–2023 and compare the two data sets for similarities and differences in contextual motivations, definitions of energy poverty and energy vulnerability, theoretical literatures, causes of energy poverty, groups identified as poor or vulnerable, and proposed solutions. The findings show that the literature is characterised more by continuity than evolution, yet we identified several important developments. We found that research increasingly understands energy poverty and vulnerability as structural issues and as reflective of divisive societal inequalities. Recent research is increasingly drawing on broader social science literature on inequality to study intersections of various forms of energy vulnerability. Moreover, these vulnerabilities and inequalities ensuing from the energy transition have emerged as persistent problems on research and policy agendas. Future research should continue to examine the links between energy transitions, energy vulnerability and energy justice to identify new vulnerabilities and the wider social impacts of the changing energy system.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211467X25002184Systematic reviewEnergy povertyEnergy vulnerabilityHouseholdsEnergy transitionEnergy justice |
| spellingShingle | Tuija Kajoskoski Kaisa Matschoss Eva Heiskanen Senja Laakso Recent developments in the energy poverty and vulnerability research in Europe: a systematic literature review Energy Strategy Reviews Systematic review Energy poverty Energy vulnerability Households Energy transition Energy justice |
| title | Recent developments in the energy poverty and vulnerability research in Europe: a systematic literature review |
| title_full | Recent developments in the energy poverty and vulnerability research in Europe: a systematic literature review |
| title_fullStr | Recent developments in the energy poverty and vulnerability research in Europe: a systematic literature review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Recent developments in the energy poverty and vulnerability research in Europe: a systematic literature review |
| title_short | Recent developments in the energy poverty and vulnerability research in Europe: a systematic literature review |
| title_sort | recent developments in the energy poverty and vulnerability research in europe a systematic literature review |
| topic | Systematic review Energy poverty Energy vulnerability Households Energy transition Energy justice |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211467X25002184 |
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