Exploring rural energy poverty and needs

In the context of the European path towards carbon neutrality and energy resilience, this report investigates energy poverty in EU households and energy need challenges in the EUs building stock, focusing on the vulnerabilities and opportunities for rural areas. Based on measures of consensual comfort levels, economic strain and dwelling energy efficiency from the Household Budget Survey and the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, our results indicate that rural households could face higher levels of energy poverty. A high-resolution analysis of the building stock shows that rural areas feature higher residential building volumes per inhabitant and less compact shapes, which challenges their energy efficiency and increases heating needs. On the other hand, rural areas lead in energy efficiency improvements, and are particularly suited for the implementation of self-consumption renewable systems such as rooftop photovoltaics thanks to large roof areas per inhabitant and a high share of rural ownership (78% of owned dwellings). With rooftop PV, rural areas could potentially produce 2 200 kWh/inhabitant annually, 38% more than the average household electricity consumption in the EU.