OVERCOMING STRUGGLES OF RESEARCHING FUEL POVERTY FOR A SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMEFuel poverty in policy and practice – a postgraduate symposium 16th November 2012

Structure The struggles and how I have dealt with

them when conducting research on fuel poverty Multidimensionality and interdisciplinary The fuel poor Situated in a varying policy and commercial

landscape

My PhD The overall aim is to critically evaluate community-based

fuel poverty initiatives and their capacity to address access to energy services for older people

1. What rationales are given for improving access to energy services for older people through locally-based fuel poverty initiatives? 2. What understandings of older fuel poor people are held by different actors in locally-based initiatives (including the residents) and how are these reflected in the way improving access to energy services is tackled? 3. How do older people that have been assisted by locally-based initiatives evaluate their experience and how are forms of social relationship implicated in the experiences that older people have of fuel poverty assistance schemes?

My PhD methodology Policy analysisCase study of organisations providing assistance to the fuel poor in a local area

Interviews with the organisation Shadowing/observation of the energy advice

team Observations, telephone interviews and semi-structured interviews in the home with older people that have received help from the case study organisation

Causes

Fuel poverty

Energy prices

Income

Energy efficien

cy

1. Multidimensionality

Consequences

Impacts of cold homes or fuel poverty

Poor mental health

Fuel debt

Heat or eat

conundrum

Social isolation

Negative impact of educatio

nal attainme

nt

Excess winter deaths

Cardiovascular illness

1. Multidimensionality

2. The fuel poor

LanguageFuel poverty or…

Affordable warmth

Energy vulnerability

Struggling to pay energy bills

Energy poverty

Unable to heat their homes to adequate temperatures

affordably

Older people or…

Elderly

Over 65s

Old people

Senior citizen

2. The fuel poor

My PhD

Larger research project

EDF energy R&D

Case study

organisations

3. Relevance

Finally…