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This chapter introduces the political and scientific context in which the book is situated. It defines the terms ‘energy poverty’ and ‘infrastructural divide’ while discussing the purpose and structure of the book. The book’s central aim is the consolidation and development of debates on European and global energy poverty, by exploring the political and infrastructural drivers and implications of the condition across a variety of spatial scales.

This chapter outlines past and current definitional issues at the nexus of energy poverty, energy vulnerability, energy justice and energy transitions. It traces the historical development of scientific understandings centring on these topics, while exploring their interactions and interdependencies. The chapter starts from the multiple definitional controversies surrounding fuel poverty and energy poverty, to then discuss the different ways in which notions of energy vulnerability and energy justice have enriched traditional understandings. The latter has been achieved, in part, thanks to a fuller appreciation of the services and production chains via which energy circulates across territories.

This chapter explores the historical evolution and present content of a common European Union (EU) energy poverty agenda. It identifies the principal institutional and political drivers of this process, as well as the ways in which it has been translated into formal legal and policy documents. Also discussed are the key actors involved in promoting energy poverty-relevant policies, as well as recent trends in the development of a more coherent programme to address the difficulties faced by vulnerable groups. The chapter argues that EU energy poverty policy has been limited by the subsidiarity principle, and as such has been largely shaped by instruments related to the Single Market, even if energy efficiency and social policy-related efforts have also played a role.

This chapter reviews the spatial and social differences that underpin existing and past patterns of energy poverty in Europe. This is achieved via exploration of scientific research focused on the topic, either as a central object of enquiry or as part of wider investigations in which the issue is brought up as a relevant factor. Special attention is paid to the large-scale geographic variation of energy poverty in Europe, as well as the manner in which this diversity is subsequently reflected at the level of nations, regions and particular demographic groups. I also discuss the driving forces of energy poverty within particular spatial contexts; and in an effort to move beyond the traditional geographic focus of energy poverty research—the UK and Ireland—the chapter first systematically overviews the development of a debate focusing on different parts of the European continent and its immediate neighbourhood. I then review evidence about patterns of energy poverty at a variety of spatial scales.

This chapter summarizes the key findings of the book in the context of its purpose and frameworks, while recommending possible avenues for future research and policy.