Fuel Poverty

As of March 2009 there are 5 million housholds in the UK spending more than 10% of their total income on providing adequate warmth for the living areas of their homes. These households are in 'fuel poverty'. A cold home can lead to various health problems such as arthiritis, respiratory or cardio-vascular ailments which leads to excess winter deaths.

The following factors contribute to fuel poverty:

• Low income, which is often linked to absolute poverty
• High fuel prices, including the use of relatively expensive fuel sources (such as electricity in the UK, aggravated by higher tariffs for low-volume energy users)
• Poor energy efficiency of a home, eg. through low levels of insulation and old or inefficient heating systems
• Under-occupancy: according to UK government statistics, on average those in the most extreme fuel poverty live in larger than average homes

Fuel poverty is a big problem in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, as many homes are 'hard to treat' with solid granite walls. For this reason renewable energy really makes a big difference to peoples lives where it reduces bills AND provides much needed warmth.

The map of England below shows how fuel poverty impacts different area of the country.