Advancing grid-connected wind and solar energy adoption in Nigeria: exploring the dynamics of socio-technical transitions.

The project examines the existing dynamics of the uptake of renewable energy on the national grid in Nigeria by investigating the barriers, drivers, and enablers to transitions. Findings show Inefficiencies in the incumbent regime deterring penetration of niche innovation on the Nigerian grid. Removing these barriers is critical to transforming the electricity system into a sustainable one

Decarbonising heating and fuel poverty in the UK: causes, policy implications, and the next steps.

Fuel poverty occurs when a household cannot afford to adequately heat their home or meet basic energy requirements. National Energy Action’s figures for April 2024, show 6 million UK households are in fuel poverty. Fuel poverty problem needs to be addressed along with decarbonisation of heating and achieving the net zero target. This study aims to identify the main causes of fuel poverty and critically analyse the impact of policy measures taken by the UK government, with a view to provide alternative green approaches to combat the crisis. The government needs to control inflation which has a significant bearing on the fuel poverty. Oil prices affect fuel poverty but are driven by international market. Government needs to focus on alternative energy sources to reduce the dependence on oil because of the lack of control on the oil price

Energy transitions, sub-national government and regime flexibility : how has devolution in the United Kingdom affected renewable energy development?

We acknowledge the support of the Economic and Social Research Council for funding the research on which this paper was based (Grant Number RES-062-23-2526).Peer reviewedPostprin

Rescaling the Governance of Renewable Energy : Lessons from the UK Devolution Experience

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the symposium ‘Scale in environmental governance: power reconfiguration, democratic legitimacy and institutional (mis-)fit’, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Berlin 7-8 March 2013. We would like to thank the symposium participants, special issue editors and three anonymous referees for their comments and advice.Peer reviewe

Technical sustainability of solar PV institutions : results from a field survey of 43 sites in Malawi

With grid connection rates in Malawi at 9% (5% for rural population) and 87% of primary schools lacking electricity, future connection for a significant share of the remaining schools through off-grid means is a plausible scenario. However, sustainability of off-grid community energy projects at public institutions in Malawi has historically been described as poor. Existing knowledge is largely anecdotal and quantitative data of any sort for off-grid installations is lacking. Efforts to document project existence and what has been effective have mildly improved recently, but this has not included in-depth sustainability analysis . Despite these efforts, it is thought that many more systems and their performance go undocumented. Thus, in 2014 a study was funded by the Scottish Government within the MREAP programme to capture sustainability factors for 43 off-grid solar PV projects at public institutions dispersed throughout Malawi

Advocacy coalitions and paths to policy change for promoting energy efficiency in European industry.

This paper applied the advocacy coalition framework to explore and explain the political processes creating policies to enhance energy efficiency of European Union (EU) industry. The paper used legislation on energy audits and energy management systems as a proxy for EU policy on energy efficiency in industry. Based on qualitative text analysis of EU policy documents, including a proposal to recast the energy efficiency directive, amendments to the proposal suggested by Member States, the Council and the European Parliament, and reports from negotiations, the paper identified four advocacy coalitions with different core beliefs, spanning from those that want few companies to implement energy audits or energy management systems, and that recommendations from audits should not be mandatory to implement, to those that advocate that many companies implement energy audits and management systems and that it should be mandatory to implement measures recommended in audits. It was further found that policy change followed an external shock, deliberative negotiations, and policy-oriented learning. The identification of core beliefs and advocacy coalitions will help policymakers and other stakeholders become more aware of their own and others' values on energy efficiency and how these could be changed. As important was the differentiation of deep core beliefs, policy core beliefs and secondary beliefs. Which beliefs can be easily changed, which cannot

Accelerating grid-based renewable electricity sector transition in Nigeria.

This paper advances the academic and practice of building urban resilience and sustainable cities by investigating the planning process and governance to identify challenges of on-grid renewable energy deployment across the 36 states of Nigeria. Furthermore, a technology roadmap for building urban resilience of the Nigerian grid is presented. Eighty-five (85) million people have no access to electricity, with about 14% in the urban areas. This is the highest energy deficit in the world, and the country's population is projected to double by 2050. Moreover, those connected to the national grid experience incessant interruptions and blackouts. The lack of urban resilience of the grid has had substantial economic and social costs losing about $26.2 billion yearly. Renewable energy policies were formulated in 2015 to address these issues, but until now, no renewable energy technology (wind and solar) has been connected to the grid. This study investigates these issues through an in-depth interview with 31 policymakers, subject matter experts and practitioners, adopting the Transition Management and Multi-Level Perspective frameworks and incorporating accountability and transparency concepts. The study identified that several multifaceted challenges impact renewable energy development. These span infrastructural, policy and regulatory, socio-cultural, economic, political, market-related, institutional, financial, legal, administrative, and technological/technical barriers. Furthermore, the study argues that the planning process and governance structure must be reconfigured with accountability and transparency measures and an independent agency established to implement on-grid renewable energy. The findings will aid policymakers and planners in accelerating the transition in Nigeria

U-Pb zircon dating of basement inliers within the Moine Supergroup, Scottish Caledonides: implications of Archaean protolith ages.

Basement gneiss inliers within the Scottish Caledonides have been conventionally correlated with the Archaean Lewisian Gneiss Complex of the Caledonian foreland. Alternatively, the inliers could represent allochthonous terranes accreted to Laurentia before or during the Caledonian orogeny. SIMS U-Pb zircon dating indicates that the Ribigill, Borgie, Farr and Western Glenelg basement inliers are characterized by late Archaean protolith ages, and a period of isotopic disturbance in the late Palaeoproterozoic. The data are broadly consistent with correlation between the inliers and components of the Lewisian Gneiss Complex of the Caledonian foreland. The c. 2900 Ma protolith ages support correlation of the Borgie and Farr inliers with the Assynt terrane, and a younger, c. 2800 Ma age for the Ribigill inlier supports correlation with the Rhiconich terrane.None of the studied inliers shows a complete match of protolith and early metamorphic histories with any of the Lewisian basement terranes, but differences between the inliers and the foreland are no greater than those recorded within the foreland basement terranes themselves. Therefore, it remains probable that the dated inlier gneisses formed a distal part of the Laurentian margin prior to final telescoping during the Caledonian orogeny