Extending the prebound effect: the gap between healthy and actual energy consumption among low-income households in the global south

Abstract

The prebound effect, first identified in 2012, refers to the gap between actual energy consumption and substantially higher engineering estimates of consumption needed for full thermal comfort. It has since been widely identified in Global North countries where it is mostly due to deliberate under-consumption to save money. However, unlike its opposite, the rebound effect, it has not been investigated beyond high-income countries or in spheres apart from home heating. Here we offer a first step in applying it to the Global South across a wider range of household energy services, focusing on three field studies of low-income and informal settlements in India and Kenya. We find it evidenced in the domains of cooking, ventilation, space cooling, refrigeration, transport, lighting and communication technology. Although it is almost always associated with insufficient money, it is also driven by cultural practices, specially related to gender, where women bear most of its health and discomfort burdens. It is exacerbated by inadequate energy supply, energy theft and cartel activities, and often, ironically, by formal housing projects which introduce new energy service needs. We find the prebound effect a more precise and applicable concept than energy or fuel poverty as it is not subject to ambiguities of definition, but refers simply to the measurable gap between necessary and actual energy consumption across all essential energy services. Our theoretical framework also points to the need for empirical prebound studies in the industrial and macro-economic spheres in Global South countries.