Published
2020-12-18
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Renewable energies as an inclusion tool a proposal in vulnerable populations

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22490/25394088.4439
Section
Artículo de revisión
Mauro Reyes Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur (UNS-CONICET)
María María Ibañez Martin Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur (UNS-CONICET)
Silvia London Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur (UNS-CONICET)

Energy poverty is defined as the lack of satisfaction of energy services essential for human life (lack of access, quantity and quality not only of energy but also of equipment), and has an impact on the level of well-being and human development of household members. Technologies play a central role in the processes of inclusion and social change. In this framework, the use of renewable energies is considered a valid tool to alleviate the situation of energy poverty and promote social inclusion.

In the present work, an intervention proposal is presented to satisfy the sanitary hot water energy service in a vulnerable neighborhood of the city of Bahía Blanca. The technology to be implemented, with its benefits, the target population and the proposed methodology to carry out an impact analysis through a random experiment are detailed. In turn, the difficulties and changes implemented in the application of this technology due to the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed. In the preliminary socio-economic results, it is found that the target population shows multiple deprivations and the energy dimension is one of them. On the other hand, it is concluded that the individual strategies developed to satisfy energy needs are inefficient, polluting and irregular, while neighbors show incentives to participate in an environmentally friendly and low-cost proposal.