FALMOUTH M.A. FINAL PROJECT BLOG

Week 5: Fuel Poverty in the Isle of Man

This week I begin investigating fuel Poverty in the Isle of Man in order to ascertain whether it's as much as an issue here as elsewhere.

I also look into design for poverty, taking examples from D&AD previous winners.

STUDIO REVIEW

Figure 1: Vault49. 2022. [motion-branding advert]

This week I take a look at the work of Vault49.

As soon as you land on Vault49's website you know you're dealing with something different, something sleek. They're a branding agency, and they show how contemporary design can bring attitude to modern packaging.

Their work shows me that there's a place in modern branding for work that I naturally gravitate towards, where that work is masterfully executed.

PROJECT REVIEW

DESIGN FOR POVERTY

D&AD Awards

KINGO: AFFORDABLE SOLAR ENERGY ON DEMAND

Figure ?: Solar battery units by Kingo Energy. The client is given a code that lets them use stored energy.

This 2019 D&AD Graphite Pencil winner caught my eye as a combination of relieving poverty whilst decarbonising.

I discovered the Kingo solar energy business model while looking for D&AD winners related to the topic. The nominee was design agency, Ogilvy Columbia, who produced a video for Kingo Energy showcasing their work to bring solar energy to impoverished, remote communities around the world.

Kingo Energy bring affordable solar energy to remote communities in South America. The campaign is supported by Leonardo Decaprio and has brought meaningful change to the lives of many people.

What I took from this work is a sense of what innovation can look like when addressing this issue. There may be multiple avenues for empowering people, and pointing them towards means of generating their own energy could be something that I could focus on going forward.

Although the project is one of product design, I hope to bring some of the same spirit to my own project. Ideally, I would like to facilitate the installation of renewables in people's homes to alleviate fuel poverty.

OTHER RESEARCH

PORTABLE POWER STATIONS

Kingo’s work pointed my in the direction of portable power stations. I found a number of these for sale on Amazon. They’re expensive, and of questionable reliability according to reviews, and most that I viewed were no longer in stock. There may be something in portable power stations that I could use (helping people understand how to get them, for example, or encouraging investment in them). With that said, the apparent lack of availability of reliable units in the UK means they may be a non-starter.

FUEL POVERTY ON AN IDYLLIC ISLAND

Does fuel poverty even exist in the Isle of Man?

The Isle of Man has a Aa3 stable credit rating that, according to an official Government funded report (Moody's 2021), "reflects the island's high levels of wealth and economic resilience."

For this reason, the island may be one of the last places on earth you'd expect to find fuel poverty. However, the reality is not adequately reflected in the island's credit score.

Official Government Reporting

Official IoM Government statistics (July 2020) put the number of households in fuel poverty between 9.9% and 15.8% using 10% and LIHC measures respectively. Most of those households are comprised of more than one individual and the occupants are under the age of 65 (i.e., not pensioners).

Isle of Man Fuel Poverty Report

Fuel Poverty in the Manx News

Fuel poverty appeared in the Manx news in November of 2021 when the chair of the Manx Benevolent fund stated there had been a rise in the number of individuals seeking support from the charity (Manx Radio 2021).

The news story indicates that there was already a problem before the onset of the energy crisis.

Manx Fuel Poverty Relief Strategies

Although citizens, journalists, and politicians are clearly aware of the fuel poverty in the Isle of Man, whether they were doing anything to address it was a different matter. I began to explore whether and how attempts were being made to alleviate fuel poverty.

My research unearthed several strategies in place to alleviate fuel poverty. Those with no or lower income are given fuel allowances by the Government, and the Green Living Grant offers a free survey for energy reducing changes to homeowners’ properties. Other, smaller forms of aid include the provision of free lower energy LED lightbulbs for low-income households.

Strategy Effectiveness

I wanted to explore the effectiveness and potential of each of these strategies in the Isle of Man. That is to say, although I held a preconception about the potential for renewable energy to alleviate fuel poverty, I wanted to know if installation of renewable energy sources was really the best way to alleviate fuel poverty in the Manx context.

With a quick analysis of the demographic make-up and infrastructure of the island I realised that installation of renewable energy sources makes just as much sense in the Isle of Man as it does elsewhere when it comes to helping people out of fuel poverty.

I was now convinced that this was the direction to go, although I wasn't yet sure of the specific form my project would take. More research would be needed!

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Vault49. 2022. [motion-branding advert]. Availabe at: https://vault49.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/V49_Website_Principals_Motion_3.mp4 [accessed 29th June 2022].