Assessing Energy Poverty in Urban Regions of Mexico: The Role of Thermal Comfort and Bioclimatic Context

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This research focuses on assessing energy poverty in urban regions of Mexico considering thermal comfort and bioclimatic context, which is very interesting. However, the following problems need to be improved.

1. Are the two factors of Thermal Comfort and Bioclimatic Context mentioned in this paper applicable to other countries? If it applies only to Mexico, the value of the study is not high.
2. Data sources and data processing and calculation process are not explained in this paper, which is very important and necessary for research papers.
3. Lacks a "conclusion" section.
4. According to the research results, corresponding suggestions and strategies should be put forward, which is also the research significance of this paper.

Author Response

This research focuses on assessing energy poverty in urban regions of Mexico considering thermal comfort and bioclimatic context, which is very interesting. However, the following problems need to be improved.

1. Are the two factors of Thermal Comfort and Bioclimatic Context mentioned in this paper applicable to other countries? If it applies only to Mexico, the value of the study is not high.

Thermal Comfort and Bioclimatic context is applicable in the Global South, where climatic diversity is common. We mention it in more detail in the paper.

2. Data sources and data processing and calculation process are not explained in this paper, which is very important and necessary for research papers.

We have properly cited the papers where the processing and calculations were done, as well as the data sources that are publicly available in the web.

3. Lacks a "conclusion" section.

We had conclusions and discussion mixed in section 4. Thanks to your comment, we have clarified which part is discussion (and its local relevance), and which part is conclusions and its applications to other regions.

4. According to the research results, corresponding suggestions and strategies should be put forward, which is also the research significance of this paper.

This was lacking in the conclusions sections and reviewing your comment we explained better the suggestions for policy makers.

Reviewer 2 Report

The subject of the article is very interesting. However, the authors base their research on a lot of previous studies. Which is their contribution? Isn`t it obvious that poor people aren`t able to pay for utilities? Is it a revelation that the government should help them?

In my opinion, it`s a new wine in an old bottle. No methodology, no results, no limitation. The article should be rewritten in a scientific structure.

Author Response

The subject of the article is very interesting. However, the authors base their research on a lot of previous studies. Which is their contribution? Isn't it obvious that poor people aren't able to pay for utilities? Is it a revelation that the government should help them?

Energy poverty is not related completely with economic poverty. So even though it is obvious that, as you say, poor people cannot pay utilities in several countries (as in Mexico), governments subsidize energy for poor people. The important contribution of this paper is that we suggest that promoting PEDs is an strategy for non-EP districts, on the contrary, PEDs should be fostered in non-EP spaces, to promote energy solidarity by networking PEDs to EP districts. Our contribution is to have a methodology that properly asses EP in a locality and be able to map these subregions to develop urban plans that create energy solidarity networks.

In my opinion, it's a new wine in an old bottle. No methodology, no results, no limitation. The article should be rewritten in a scientific structure.

We hope to have a clearer paper. We added content in the spaces where more explanations were needed, and also, thanks to your comments rearranged the Discussion and Conclusions sections to clarify our contribution.

Reviewer 3 Report

In the introduction is not clear the link between Positive Energy Districts and energy poverty. Please, specify better  with a rationale description of the steps in literature review this connection. No literature review on MEDI has been done. Thus, the gap in literature and the novelty of your paper are not clear. The structure of the article is not inserted. Also, the methodology has not referenced scientifically, thus it seems generica and not motivated. more detailed information is needed. Thus situation is reflected also on the results. 

Author Response

In the introduction is not clear the link between Positive Energy Districts and energy poverty. Please, specify better with a rationale description of the steps in literature review this connection. No literature review on MEDI has been done. Thus, the gap in literature and the novelty of your paper are not clear. The structure of the article is not inserted. Also, the methodology has not referenced scientifically, thus it seems generica and not motivated. more detailed information is needed. Thus situation is reflected also on the results.

Thank you for your comments. You were right, and now we have added more explanations on the energy solidarity scheme that we are proposing as the public policy strategy to alleviate energy poverty in those regions with high EP in close vicinity to regions with low EP, by promoting that the latter transform into PEDs. We added more detail in our explanations.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The comments have been revised and refined.

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors made the requested changes.

Reviewer 3 Report

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