Energy and development: the political economy of energy choices

Energy and development: the political economy of energy choice

Speaking in riddles: The Panama Papers and the global financial services sector

In 2007, on the cusp of the economic crisis, a paper was published in Growth and Change (June 2007) entitled “Shadow Europe: alternative European financial geographies,” which began to tackle the idea of shadow finance in Europe and the size and inseparability of what was regarded as “shadow” from “normal” financial flows. A number of the observations made have proved remarkably prescient and one particular phrase stands out in the light of the recent revelations about the so-called Panama Papers in 2016: “Strategically important flows of capital derived from complex underground production systems that have seldom been analyzed in detail move through the European financial networks that connect to offshore tax havens (Christensen, 2003). These havens are not a separate and distinct entity from the financial networks that connect world cities but rather a vital counterpart on which the functioning of the cities connected via those networks depends” (2007, p. 319). The revelation of the Panama Papers constitutes a new critical juncture from which to re-visit that 2007 paper and to re-examine the state of knowledge on shadow and formal financial flows

A review of the behavioural change challenges facing a proposed solar and battery electric cooking concept

This paper evaluates the behaviour change aspects likely to affect the uptake of a proposed electric cooking concept, which consists of a simple battery and 500W electric hob. The battery storage enables households with unreliable electricity supplies to cook at a time that is convenient to them. The specific focus is on the potential uptake of the eCook concept within the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) context, although where appropriate the paper draws upon relevant examples from other parts of the Global South (and beyond) and also makes some commentary upon the potential prospects for electric cooking within these contexts. The paper is organised into two main sections. The first comprises a literature review focusing on a range of related energy transitions, with the aim of drawing out the key lessons learned and highlighting their relevance to the assumptions underlying the proposed eCook concept. The second section draws on the review of experiences presented in the first section to make recommendations for how the eCook concept might be taken forward in ways that make transition more likely. The main findings of this study indicate that the eCook concept offers significant potential for a transition towards emission free cooking, with time/money saving for adopters and broader environmental benefits from reductions in fuelwood collection/purchase of charcoal/wood. The high upfront cost is predicted to be the most significant barrier that will affect household uptake, however recent developments in micro-loans and fee-for-service business models (particularly when combined with mobile phones) have the potential to overcome this. In contrast to other technologies such as solar cookers, where the adaptation of cooking practices has been a substantial barrier, the behaviour change required to use an electric hob is relatively minimal. The paper considers where this transition is likely to take place first, how it can be supported and what further research needs to be conducted

Governance, decentralisation and energy: a critical review of the key issues

Governance, decentralisation and energy: a critical review of the key issue

Two birds, one stone—reframing cooking energy policies in Africa and Asia

For the past 40 years, the dominant ‘policy’ on cooking energy in the Global South has been to improve the combustion efficiency of biomass fuels. This was said to alleviate the burdens of biomass cooking for three billion people by mitigating emissions, reducing deforestation, alleviating expenditure and collection times on fuels and increasing health outcomes. By 2015, international agencies were openly saying it was a failing policy. The dispersal of improved cookstoves was not keeping up with population growth, increasing urbanisation was leading to denser emissions and evidence suggested health effects of improved stoves were not as expected. A call was made for a new strategy, something other than ‘business as usual’. Conventional wisdom suggests that access to electricity is poor in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), that it is too expensive and that weak grids prevent even connected households from cooking. Could a new strategy be built around access to electricity (and gas)? Could bringing modern energy for cooking to the forefront kill two birds with one stone? In 2019, UK Aid announced a multi-million-pound programme on ‘Modern Energy Cooking Services’ (MECS), specifically designed to explore alternative approaches to address cooking energy concerns in the Global South. This paper outlines the rationale behind such a move, and how it will work with existing economies and policies to catalyse a global transition

Experiences of electric pressure cookers in East Africa

This paper seeks to highlight the emerging opportunity for manufacturers to enter the largely untapped market for efficient electric cooking appliances such as the Electric Pressure Cooker (EPC) in East and Southern Africa. The paper is an output of the UK Aid1 programme Modern Energy Cooking Services, a 5 year programme of work (2018 – 2023) led by Loughborough University. In East Africa, electricity networks are growing stronger and broader, opening up electric cooking to an almost entirely untapped market particularly in urban areas that are still dominated by charcoal. In each country, approximately 10 million people pay for polluting cooking fuels, yet they have a grid connection that is not used for cooking. Historically this has been due to the pricing and unreliability of the grids. As Grids get stronger and appliances more efficient the affordability and convenience of electric cooking is becoming more realistic. In Southern Africa, electric cooking has been and is more popular, however inefficient appliances are placing a heavy strain on national utilities, many of whom are now looking to manage demand more sustainably. Again, the advent of energy efficient appliances changes the dynamic for the household. Cooking is deeply cultural and any new energy efficient cooking devices must be compatible with local foods and cooking practices. This paper presents insights from cooking diaries, focus groups and ‘kitchen laboratory’ experiments carried out in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. The results show that EPCs are not only acceptable, but highly desirable. Over 90% of the menu can be cooked in an EPC and certain foods require just one fifth of the energy of a hotplate. In real homes, participants with EPCs, rice cookers and hotplates chose the efficient appliances for approximately half their menu and for these dishes, they used roughly half the energy of the hotplate. Without training and with limited experience of the new devices, the trial participants in Kenya who cooked solely on electricity had a median daily consumption of 1.4kWh/household/day, and the cooking of 50% of the menu on an EPC utilised 0.47kWh/household/day of that total. Given that EPCs could have cooked 90% of the desired menu, with appropriate training and broader experience, the median could have been reduced to less than 1kwh/day/household. This research feeds into a new UK Aid programme, Modern Energy Cooking Services and concludes with recommended design modifications that could enable users to do more cooking with EPCs and open up sizeable new market segments including strengthening weak-grid and off-grid

Theory and praxis: co-design complexities of community energy projects in Kenya [poster]

Theory and praxis: co-design complexities of community energy projects in Kenya [poster

eCook: what behavioural challenges await this potentially transformative concept?

This paper aims to identify and understand the challenges that may confront the scaling up of a proposed battery electric cooking concept (Batchelor 2013), eCook, which offers the potential for emission free cooking, with time/money savings and broader environmental benefits from reduced fuelwood/charcoal consumption. By drawing on the literature on the transition to electric cooking in South Africa and more broadly, literature from across the Global South analysing the uptake of ICS (improved cookstoves), LPG (liquid petroleum gas) and solar home systems, this study identifies the factors (e.g. successful delivery models and marketing strategies) that have enabled these innovations to reach scale. This knowledge is then related to the eCook concept, by identifying the potential users of this promising technology and outlining potential marketing strategies, as well as a user-focused iterative design process, that will enable social enterprises to reach them. Uptake is predicted to be most rapid in hot climates where fuelwood/charcoal is purchased and low energy diets and low power cooking devices are the standard. Mobile enabled fee-for-service (utility) business models, the establishment of a service network, awareness raising campaigns on the benefits of clean cooking, female-focussed training programs and bundling eCook systems with locally appropriate appliances to enable productive activities are seen as key to reaching scale

Green growth or ecological commodification: debating the green economy in the Global South

This article examines recent institutional thinking on the green economy and the implications of official understandings and structuration of a green economy for the global South. Assertions about the transformative potential of a green economy by many international actors conceals a complexity of problems, including the degree to which the green economy is still based on old fossil economies and technical fixes, and the processes through which the green economy ideation remains subject to Northern economic and technical dominance. The article places the intellectual roots of the green economy within a broader historical context and suggests some ways the strategic economic and ideological interests of the global North remain key drivers of green-economy thinking. The analysis is substantiated through two illustrative Latin American examples: the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor and green economy initiatives in Brazil. These suggest that, if the green economy is to address global challenges effectively, it must be conceptualized as more than a bolt-on to existing globalizing capitalism and encompass more critical understandings of the complex socio-economic processes through which poverty is produced and reproduced and through which the global environment is being transformed, a critique which also applies to mainstream discourses of sustainable development

Bringing economic development and light to those not on the bottom rung of the ladder [abstract]

Bringing economic development and light to those not on the bottom rung of the ladder [abstract