Greenpeace has revealed through thermal images the “energy wastage” due to “widespread and significant” heat leaks in homes in several Spanish cities, including Madrid, Zaragoza, Ávila, and Valladolid.
As reported by the organization on Wednesday, the photographs show, through a range of colors from yellow to purple, the temperature variations on the surface of the same building, allowing the identification of points with poor insulation.
“Leaks are observed through windows, in corners, through the structural floor of the house, or through thermal bridges, among other points, confirming the high energy inefficiency of most of our homes,” Greenpeace stated. They added that, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), it “affects 95%” of homes.
Impact of energy poverty
Greenpeace emphasized that “this situation of energy poverty affects more than 20 million households, not only those built decades ago but also modern ones, and has repercussions on the comfort of families and their purchasing power.”
“Energy poverty especially impacts those who cannot afford electricity or gas bills, but energy impoverishment is widespread in a population victim of the energy oligopoly that has to pay much more than necessary to maintain their home’s temperature, even if they are unaware of it. It is a problem that worsens because our homes, in general, waste energy unnecessarily,” stated José Luis García, head of Climate, Energy, and Mobility at Greenpeace Spain.
Solutions to energy wastage proposed by Greenpeace
María Prado, coordinator of Greenpeace’s energy campaign, stated that “the best way to combat this widespread impoverishment is to demand the improvement of home insulation and replace gas with renewable and efficient solutions that save money, provide better protection against cold, and help fight climate change.”
According to Prado, the Government must “stop financing fossil fuels that cause this social and environmental crisis and allocate resources to solutions that benefit everyone.”
Greenpeace demands that, in addition to “palliative measures” in the short term to ensure access to basic energy services, the “structural measure” that permanently resolves this housing energy crisis by breaking the gas dependency be addressed definitively.
Have you visited our YouTube channel yet? Subscribe now!
