People with higher incomes have the highest energy footprint.
A study carried out in Spain by the research group Ekopol has revealed the factors that most influence the energy footprint of individuals. In particular, the most influential factors are income, population and the origin of housing. Thus, in high-income housing, up to 63.3 MWh of energy waste per person per year has been measured, 75% more than the state average. Likewise, the energy footprint of people living alone is 41.4% higher than the average. On the contrary, in migratory homes the energy footprint is 24.7 MWh per person per year, 31.8% lower than the average.
With regard to the Autonomous Communities, Navarre and the CAPV have the highest energy footprint: Navarre is 17.6% higher than the Spanish average and the CAPV 15.4% higher.
To achieve these results, the researchers have analyzed the consumption of the Spanish AACC by socioeconomic segments (income, nationality, number of inhabitants of housing, age, size and gender of the municipality) and have taken into account the hidden energy flows, i.e. the energy integrated in the imported services and products. In fact, the researcher at Lomas Ekopole, Estitxu Villamor, has recalled that when it comes to sustainability, the focus is often on countries that export products such as India or China. However, according to Villamor, it is important to take into account the responsibility of the enriched countries, which have delocalised the industry to the countries mentioned above.
According to the study, most of the energy footprint is indirect, i.e. integrated into products and services, reaching 74.9% of the total. On the other hand, AEA and Navarra lead the ranking with 32.9 and 32.6 MWh per person per year, respectively. The full research has been made available in the journal Cleaner Environmental Systems.
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