Social inequality and climate change are often issues that have a large degree of overlap.  A recent paper from Princeton highlights how cities can address them both by better measuring both racial and income inequalities in energy use.

The authors focus their attention on energy use intensity, which is the amount of energy used per unit floor area. It’s a common metric for examining the efficiency of buildings but one that is not commonly available, especially at a fine spatial level within cities.  The authors believe that even this approach is not sufficiently nuanced, however, and that it’s vital to unpick the racial disparities from income disparities.

“Often, in discussions about social justice, people sometimes ask, ‘Oh, how do you know it’s a race effect and not ‘just’ an income effect?'” they say. “This paper actually shows you the data, that there’s a structurally linked income-race effect, and an additional race effect even within the same income group.”

Energy use

The analysis of energy use in St. Paul, Minnesota and Tallahassee, Florida, revealed that homes in the lowest income neighborhoods were using up to 60% more energy per square foot compared to similar homes in the highest income neighborhoods.  Interestingly, this trend was especially so in non-white neighborhoods, where energy usage was consistently higher than in white neighborhoods.

The trend was even starker when seasonal energy use was factored in, with disparities between races resulting in energy disparities of up to 150%.  That’s up to five times greater than was previously thought to be the case based upon existing data.

“Part of the problem is that race and income are so intertwined, you need fine-scale data to actually unpack inequality,” the researchers explain. “Typically, cities get energy use data at the zip code level, which is very coarse, but we got data at the level of census blocks through a unique collaboration with our partner cities and utilities, who are committed to understanding baseline inequalities in their neighborhoods.”

Surprising results

A number of surprising results emerged, not least of which was that in St. Paul, the lowest income group had 27% higher energy use intensity than the highest income group.  In Tallahassee, however, this trend was even worse, with energy use intensity 66% higher in the lowest income communities.  That these trends were especially prominent among non-white communities highlights that this is not just a poverty issue but also a racial issue.

That the disparity rocketed to 167% when seasonal energy use was factored into the equation shows the scale of the challenge ahead of communities as they strive to be more climate-friendly.

“To my knowledge, this is the first study to show inequalities in urban energy use by race, and to show that it’s different from energy use inequality by income,” one of the researchers says. “The study corroborates other studies that show significant within-city inequalities” by both race and income, she said, “whether it’s exposure to heat or green space.”

Engaging with support

What’s more, the study also found that participation in the various types of rebate programs that exist to try and improve energy efficiency was also highly variable.  Homes in wealthier and predominantly white neighborhoods were far more likely to participate in them than poorer and predominantly non-white areas, despite the evident need for such communities to utilize these schemes.

“Making this type of data visible is helpful for making people understand that infrastructure-related racial disparities are not just some abstract thing–it’s real and you can see it in the data,” the researchers say. “We all say we want social justice, but to get to that, it helps to be quantitative.”

The researchers hope that their work inspires others to build on it and apply it in their own region so that officials and policymakers better understand the energy equity dynamic in their city.  It’s only by having such a nuanced understanding that an effective approach can be taken to tackle the climate emergency.  It’s a process that the researchers accept is only in its infancy, and they plan to further analyze it in subsequent studies.

“The new understanding gained from this study is already quite a lot,” they conclude. “But it will take another several studies to really understand the reasons behind our findings, to help communities improve their energy use efficiency.”