Search

The decentralization of governance is increasingly considered crucial for delivering development and is being widely adopted in sub-Saharan countries. At the same time, distributed (decentralized) energy systems are increasingly recognized for their role in achieving universal access to energy and are being promoted in sub-Saharan countries. However, little attention has been paid by governments and energy practitioners to the dynamic interrelationships between national and local government and the role of governance decentralization in transitioning to distributed energy systems. This paper traces the complex relationships between accelerated delivery of distributed energy and decentralized local governance systems. The argument is grounded in an exploration of two different approaches to decentralized energy systems governance in Kenya and Malawi. For Kenya, analysis focuses on the energy sector since the adoption of the new decentralized constitution in 2010. In Malawi, it focuses on the involvement of the authors in piloting Local Authority Energy Officers in districts under the decentralization of Malawian energy policy. Our analysis shows that accelerating the speed and scale of implementation for distributed energy systems and enhancing their sustainability and socio-economic impacts is directly linked to the quality of local and national governance structures and their interrelationships. The paper extends existing work in energy and evidence literacy for policy actors by developing an analytical framework, to enable more effective local governance within energy access initiatives in the Global South.

Energy resilience is a complex issue, encapsulating a diversity of factors. Such complexity makes effective policymaking difficult, and requires a whole-systems approach. This paper argues that the bottom-up participatory causal loop mapping method can be helpful in facilitating a shared understanding of the issues, and can help facilitate the application of a whole-systems approach to the design of effective policy interventions. Focusing on Nepal as a case study, this paper outlines the participatory approach, highlighting the method’s value in visualising the variables and interconnections affecting the resilience of Nepal’s electricity supply. Through the mapping, participants identified four interconnected groups of factors as important for resilience: governance, technology, economic and social. Within these, political leadership was noted as particularly important. Environmental factors were largely absent, which is an interesting result given the emphasis on renewable sources and clean technologies in energy policy in Nepal. The outcomes of our bottom-up participatory approach show the significant benefit of using this approach for highlighting context-dependent understandings of complex issues and represents a novel methodological innovation for energy research, which could be applied in diverse geographies and contexts.

This paper discusses the impact of COVID-19’s vulnerability context on Malawi’s Energy Sector and outlines mechanisms for enhancing Malawi’s energy-sector resilience based on experiences from a range of stakeholders. The investigation was conducted online by inviting purposively selected stakeholders to create presentations responding to thematic questions. The final sample had 19 stakeholders with representation from policy-makers, regulatory bodies, national grid supply players, off-grid players, development agencies, bankers, professional bodies, civil society, and women’s rights bodies. The presentations from the stakeholders highlighted how COVID-19 affects the operation costs of energy systems and implementation of energy systems projects in areas that require stimulus packages to contain energy system delivery costs and prevent disruption of essential services amid the COVID-19 pandemic. These services include stakeholder responses to COVID-19 in the energy sector, the role of digital payments particularly when purchasing electricity units, and the state of third-party service providers such as banks and mobile network operators to enhance preparedness and continuity of operations for the energy sector. Based on the findings in these thematic areas and an application of systems thinking in the analysis, the paper finally makes recommendations on how Malawi and similar low-income countries can strategise to enhance energy systems resilience.

Cooking with modern energy fuels and technologies has a high potential to positively impact the users’ health and well-being, and make cooking safer and less burdensome for women and girls. To date, there have been numerous interventions targeting improved cooking solutions in displacement settings, but very few which have involved modern energy cooking, such as ethanol, biogas, LPG or electric cooking. They have been largely absent from humanitarian programming due to limited availability, affordability and lack of business models that suit those complex settings. Additionally, energy access services in displacement settings have historically relied primarily on grant-based funding. However, grants are limited to relatively short timeframes which do not align with the long-term needs of the displaced. New ways of funding energy access in displacement settings, and particularly modern energy cooking services, are urgently needed to address the scale of the challenge as the number of displaced surpassed 80 million in 2020, with close to 90% having little or no access to adequate cooking fuels and technologies. In this paper, we review modern energy cooking in displacement settings and the common ways of funding and delivering them. We argue that new ways of funding and delivering energy access in displacement settings are urgently needed to address the scale of the challenge and to facilitate transitions to modern energy cooking fuels and technologies, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 7 and the principle of ‘leaving no one behind’.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—including 17 interconnected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets—is a global plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. SDG7 calls for action to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Here we characterize synergies and trade-offs between efforts to achieve SDG7 and delivery of the 2030 Agenda as a whole. We identify 113 targets requiring actions to change energy systems, and published evidence of relationships between 143 targets (143 synergies, 65 trade-offs) and efforts to achieve SDG7. Synergies and trade-offs exist in three key domains, where decisions about SDG7 affect humanity’s ability to: realize aspirations of greater welfare and well-being; build physical and social infrastructures for sustainable development; and achieve sustainable management of the natural environment. There is an urgent need to better organize, connect and extend this evidence, to help all actors work together to achieve sustainable development. The UN’s Agenda for Sustainable Development has 17 goals with 169 targets for action across a range of issues, with access to sustainable energy for all being Goal 7. This Perspective analyses interlinkages between energy systems, Goal 7 and the other goals at the target level, identifying synergies and trade-offs between them.

Energy access is typically viewed as a problem for rural areas, but people living in urban settings also face energy challenges that have not received sufficient attention. A revised agenda in research and practice that puts the user and local planning complexities centre stage is needed to change the way we look at energy access in urban areas, to understand the implications of the concentration of vulnerable people in slums and to identify opportunities for planned management and innovation that can deliver urban energy transitions while leaving no one behind. Here, we propose a research agenda focused on three key issues: understanding the needs of urban energy users; enabling the use of context-specific, disaggregated data; and engaging with effective modes of energy and urban governance. This agenda requires interdisciplinary scholarship across the social and physical sciences to support local action and deliver large-scale, inclusive transformations.

Agro-industries have the potential to make a substantial contribution to sustainable energy supply in Africa, including energy access in rural areas. This paper focuses on the drivers and barriers to wider use of cogeneration from sugarcane bagasse in Malawi as there is a potential for the technology to enable access to electricity in rural areas. The paper gives an overview of the policy landscape for the energy sector and the sugar industry in Malawi. The research involved site visits, focus group discussions, and individual semi-structured interviews with participants from key government departments, businesses, research institutes and international agencies. It was found that energy sector reform, the proposed feed-in tariff for renewable energy, and risk are the key issues for investment in this area.Keywords: biomass, renewable energy, electricity

This paper applies a social context lens to explore the reasons why households in rural areas of developing countries such as Nepal choose to continue with their Traditional Cooking Practice (TCP). Modern Cooking Solutions (MCS) have many benefits over TCP, but each comes with a set of trade-offs. These co-benefits of TCP are poorly understood – this paper argues that the intricacies of current cooking practices must be explored before attempting to push people towards a new solution. We highlight the differences between household expectations and what MCS deliver to look for opportunities to enhance the provision of modern energy for cooking that is more likely to enable broader and more sustainable adoption in rural areas of Nepal. Our findings suggest three complementary strategies: localise MCS by modifying the design to suit cultural and practical needs; improve TCP to reduce its negative effects, as fuel stacking is inevitable; and deliver MCS as part of a holistic array of development interventions designed around the co-benefits of firewood.

Energy access is crucial for human well-being and poverty reduction. In sub-Saharan Africa, the failure of grid systems to provide electricity access to last mile users has led to the rapid scale up of off-grid solutions. The authors examine synergies and tradeoffs between solar off-grid solutions and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Rwanda which as a nation has successfully implemented innovative solar off-grid systems at scale. This paper is the first to map the relationship between energy and the 169 Targets of the 2030 Agenda in a specific country and sector context by operationalising the framework developed in Fuso Nerini et al. (2018). By doing so, this paper demonstrates the need for context-specific rapid assessment tools to monitor and improve energy access. The paper identifies synergies between 80 (47%) of the SDG targets and off-grid solar systems in Rwanda, thus demonstrating the wideranging benefits and value added through the inclusion of the off-grid solar energy sector in the electrification strategy. The paper demonstrates how mainstreaming off-grid policies and prioritising investment in the off-grid sector can realise human development and well-being, build physical and social infrastructures, and achieve sustainable management of environmental resources.

The Chinese Government has made strong policy commitments to expand the use of renewable energy systems in rural electrification as a means of achieving sustainable development. International experience has shown that there are technical, social, cultural, institutional and economic barriers to the deployment of renewable energy systems and, thus, to their ability to contribute to the development goals of the community over the long term. This paper aims to identify promising approaches for overcoming these barriers in the context of rural China. It includes (a) a literature review of key renewable energy projects in rural China1, (b) a comparison of the lessons learnt from renewable energy rural electrification programs in other countries, (c) an assessment of the contribution of these projects to our understanding of renewable energy projects in rural areas.