Browsing by Author "De Groot, Jiska"

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    Open Access
    Crowd sourcing energy poverty data in South African informal settlements: the opportunity of mobile phone technology
    (2015) Pillay, Kimenthrie; Prasad, Gisela; Kruger, Wikus; De Groot, Jiska
    Energy poverty undermines development at a large scale. It is most overtly experienced in informal settlements, where the use of fuels like paraffin, charcoal and wood prove hazardous and harmful to health and wellbeing. The expenditure on and use of energy services in informal settlements are largely undefined, which severely undermines the success of energy access and safety initiatives. Despite the poverty of informal settlements, mobile phone ownership is high in these areas. This research aims to explore the potential and applicability of a digital data collecting systems using a mobile application that is accessible on entry-level mobile phones with basic internet access to collect information about energy access, affordability and multiple fuel use in these areas. As part of this research, a mobile application platform and data collection platform was developed which enables survey design and data collection in real time. The platform allows for creation of weekly surveys that question energy use, expenditure and affordability; it also offers other functions that are designed to increase awareness of fuel safety and efficiency. The application was piloted in lmizamo Yethu in Cape Town. Six weeks of continuous data was extracted from 200 users using airtime incentives with an overall reach of 306 households. The quality and quantity of data received was of high calibre. The results indicate that the potential for using this system and mobile phones as a data-collecting tool in Africa is high.
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    Open Access
    An exploratory study into energy consumption activities, energy-saving activities, and the factors that influence energy saving among Grade 7 children in Khayelitsha, Cape Town
    (2017) Lusinga, Shanon; De Groot, Jiska
    Energy is the engine that drives most human activity and is it very important today in the context of global warming and the high cost of energy. Yet there is limited research focusing on children's energy use in developing countries, including the ways in which they use energy, save energy and the factors that influence such activities. This is a serious deficit in energy literature and problematic because in the near future, today's children will make decisions about energy systems and climate change. This study gained insight into the ways in which Grade 7 children in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, use and save energy, and the factors that influence their energy saving. The study adopted a case study design, and mixed-methods approaches were used, including surveys, energy diaries, an interview and a focus group. The results show that children in Khayelitsha demonstrated a broad understanding of the concept of energy including topics on the environment, basis of life and thermal energy. The children displayed understanding of broader socio-economic, environmental and health issues as they were cognisant of national and community issues, such as limited energy access and the dangers of indoor use of coal. They had lower scores on more abstract and technical topics such as energy transitions and differentiating between renewable and non-renewable sources on energy. 86% of the children in this study acknowledged the importance of saving energy, while more than 50% failed to recognise the importance of caring for the environment and moving away from fossil fuels. The study results show that children use multiple sources of energy at home and that the majority of their energy activities were performed at home, followed by school and church. The children reported several energy consumption activities including cooking for others, using the kettle for bathwater and ironing their clothes - findings contrary to activities reported by children in developed countries. For some of the children, the results suggest that energy use may be accompanied by guilt as children want to reduce financial pressures at home, a finding consistent with existing literature. Energy-saving activities included switching off and removing appliances from the wall plug. Children were found to be motivated to save energy by several factors, of which financial considerations were the most dominant. The children demonstrate altruistic tendencies, as motivation to save energy seems to be influenced by the desire to help their families and communities. The study further identified that parents, the community, the school, peers and the relationship between the school and government departments had either a direct or an indirect influence on children. Parents with a positive attitude towards energy saving and the environment were more likely to talk to their children about energy saving, which tended to focus on related financial issues. A conceptual framework is presented to analyse the data, which incorporates existing psychological and sociological frameworks and theories used to explain energy behaviour in addition to theories on child development.
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    Small scale embedded generation (SSEG) in Cape Town: a case study on the impact of Cape Town's SSEG regulation
    (2021) Oliver, Dominic; De Groot, Jiska
    In recent years, the rapidly diminishing costs of renewable technologies have rendered solar photovoltaics (PV) price competitive at a range of scales. Globally, there has been an increasing proliferation of distributed renewable generation embedded within the electricity network, called Small-Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG). Yet, while such decentralised technologies have taken a central role in discussions on energy transitions in the Global North, their implications in the Global South remain poorly documented. In South Africa, the convergence of a legacy energy system, supply issues, rising electricity prices, and growing environmental awareness as well as rapid urbanisation and persistent poverty is presenting a set of compound challenges for government at all levels and threatens the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon energy system. This study investigates the implications of SSEG on Cape Town's energy transition and assesses the drivers and impacts of regulatory responses. The study adopts a multi-level perspective on sociotechnical transitions deployed at the municipal scale to explore the role of SSEG in a just and sustainable energy transition. This was done along three dimensions using an environmental justice framework proposed by Cock (2004), wherein a green agenda refers to environmental conservation, a brown agenda represents energy impacts on quality of life and development, and a red agenda represents social justice and equality. Achieving a just transition will require attention to each of the three agendas in this framework. Using data from a desktop analysis, policy review and ten semi-structured interviews to investigate the case of Cape Town, the study found that the impacts of SSEG are dependent on the contextual landscape within which this transition is situated. Regulation of SSEG is largely the result of municipal attempts to protect its financial ability to fulfil developmental mandates. Recent regulatory developments have resulted in several unintended consequences which have reduced the extent to which green energy is equitably distributed across the municipal grid, and failed to mitigate revenue impacts of SSEG, and consequently the ability of municipalities to continue developmental agendas. National landscape pressures from increasing electricity prices and continued load-shedding are driving SSEG uptake. In response to these pressures, and municipal regulation, SSEG has adapted to new niches and battery technologies have become increasingly prevalent. Left unregulated SSEG will continue to threaten the financial viability of municipalities and the extent to which the ongoing energy transition in South Africa will be just and equitable. This study contributes to an emerging social-science research agenda into socio-technical transitions and addresses the limited consideration of the implications of disruptive technologies and their regulation at the city regime scale in the Global South.