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Kenya shares its learnings with Tanzania and Uganda on the 2050 Carbon Calculator

By | News

At the end of September, Kenya hosted a webinar for the Tanzania and Uganda academic, corporate, and government energy experts to share its key learnings and experience while developing a localized 2050 Carbon Calculator, the Kenya Carbon Emission Reduction Tool (KCERT) 2050.

 

KCERT 2050 is an engineering-based modelling tool that uses scenario analysis to look at different pathways for decarbonisation and their impact on reducing overall and sectorial greenhouse gas emissions. During its development, the team modelled six sectors: Transport, Industry, Buildings, Land Use and Bio-energy, Electricity and CO2 Removal, and Gases, with 2015 as the base year and emissions projected to 2050 and 2100.

 

The KCERT 2050 tool is open-source and allows its users to address fundamental issues on climate change. It looks at future energy demands for Kenya and the impact at an individual, corporate, and government level. Built for Kenyans by Kenyans, the tool is a platform where decision-makers, policy makers, and administrators can co-design a locally based solution for climate and energy issues. The tool was developed under the patronage of the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and will be hosted and updated by the same team.

 

“In Kenya, the development of the tool was led by the government and anchored at the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum. This was a strategic move as the public sector has access to data that is credible, certified and verifiable,” said Peter Thobora, Assistant Director, Renewable Energy, Ministry of Energy and Petroleum. “At the heart of the development of this tool were all key stakeholders in the public, private, and academic sector to ensure ownership of the tool,” he added.

 

KCERT 2050 will provide quantities of energy supply, demand, emissions, and potential implications for key sectors in Kenya on matters such as import dependence and land requirements. It will also offer a platform to facilitate policy debate about the possible future pathways for the Kenyan energy sector and enable policy interventions for deeper analysis. Further, it could help Kenya meet its updated National Determined Contribution (NDC) of 32% for greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

 

There are three different tools within KCERT 2050 for different categories of people. We have my2050, a simplified animation of the web tool and excel for the general public and students. The second tool is the web tool, a front end version of the Excel spreadsheet used by policy makers, stakeholders and well-informed individuals. The final tool is the detailed Microsoft Excel model targeted at technical experts.

 

During the webinar, Dr. Betsy Muriithi-Ochieng’ explained how the tool works. “The KCERT 2050 model is based on an Excel spreadsheet which feeds the more user-friendly web-based interface. This model captures all inputs and outputs, as well as the different calculations needed to measure energy supply and demand, and greenhouse gas emissions.” Excel, she added, is a simple, easy and accessible tool, making the learning curve for the majority not too steep.

 

After a glimpse on the journey of developing the KCERT 2050 tool, David Orr, Emerging Markets Trade and Investment Lead at Mott MacDonald and Programme Country Manager for Kenya reiterated the importance of exploring how the 2050 Carbon Calculator could be applied at the regional level. He told participants that decarbonization at the country level needs to be locally-led, transparent, and verifiable with a global focus.

 

The webinar was closed by Prof. Izael da Silva, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation, Strathmore University, who credits the success of the 11-month development process to the government of Kenya. The collaboration among government, private sector, and academia was visible and the fruits can be seen.

 

 “This project, by its nature, continues to grow, create more interest and bear more fruit. We at Strathmore are considering including the KCERT 2050 tool as a unit in the Masters in Sustainable Energy Transition,” he added.

 

This project is led by Dr. John Olukuru, Head of Data Science, Strathmore University, and Patrick Mwanzia, Ag. Director, Strathmore Energy Research Centre. It is developed through the UK Government’s International 2050 Calculator programme, funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ, formerly BEIS) and implemented by Mott MacDonald, Imperial College London, Strathmore University, CLIMACT and Ricardo.

 

The author of this article is Anne Njeri Njoroge, Communications Officer, Strathmore Energy Research Centre.

 

Helping entrepreneurs in the cookstove industry to professionalise their businesses

By | News

 

By Evans Ongwae

 

Through a GIZ-Green Climate Fund (GCF) project, Strathmore University Energy Research Centre (SERC) is empowering stove producers and last-mile entrepreneurs with skills to help them improve their access to productive resources and sustainable earning potential. These include market-oriented technical, entrepreneurial and managerial skills, confidence building, and other areas of expertise.

 

The project is systematically linked and integrated with other complementary interventions, such as access to markets, appropriate technology, microfinance, entrepreneurship development and follow-up technical assistance, as well as mentoring and coaching services. It adopts a comprehensive, demand-driven, and gender responsive strategy to help entrepreneurs in the cookstove sector to professionalise their businesses.

 

Under the quality assurance work package, the project further seeks to improve the efficiency, durability and safety of biomass cooking stoves in the country, which directly results in better quality of life in terms of health (reduced carbon emissions), time (reduce period of cooking), money (reduced cost of cooking) and climate (reduced deforestation). All the benefits are aligned to the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum (MoEP) goal of “Universal Access to Modern Cooking Solutions for all Kenyans by 2030” (revised to 2028 by the Principal Secretary, in 2019), and to the Sustainable Development Goal (SGDs). 

 

In particular, the project supports SDG 7 on affordable and clean energy; SDG 3 on good health and well-being, with respect to reducing the number of household air pollution-related deaths, currently estimated at three million deaths annually (WHO 2022 household air pollution burden of disease); SDG 5 on gender equality by reducing drudgery in cooking, particularly for women and the girl child; and SDG 13 on climate action by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). SERC is doing so through quality assurance, and capacity building initiatives targeting the cookstove value chain. 

 

Clean cooking drive

 

Pre-measurement of the amount of charcoal (fuel) used in the Hot Start Phase of the Water Boiling Test.

 

GIZ-GCF Project Coordinator, Teddy Nalubega, says clean cooking is of interest to Kenya. The Government is pursuing the goal of universal access to clean cooking (or climate-friendly cooking) by 2028. 

 

She explains why this matters. “More than 80 percent of rural and urban Kenya combined use biomass for cooking (Sustainable Energy for all Africa hub 2023). This affects people’s quality of life (because inefficient cookstoves cause indoor air pollution, which is unhealthy). It causes loss of time (spent collecting wood fuel), and reduced forest cover.”

 

Ms Nalubega adds: “SERC comes in to provide a solution on how to reduce the sale of biomass cooking stoves that are less efficient, by helping grow the numbers and the sale of more efficient ones.”

 

SERC, she continues, established a lab for testing the efficiency levels of biomass cookstoves sold in the market.

 

She says that the lab initiated stove testing this year and has so far tested four brands and found the efficiency levels could be better.  Three brands scored less than 35 percent.

 

Ms Nalubega says SERC encourages cookstove producers to ask for testing services at the Centre. The facility started testing with stoves brought in through the GCF project implementing partners such as GIZ, who work with producers. The testing lab is open to all cookstove producers for stove testing services, new product design and product improvement under research and development at SERC.

 

“We are working with cooking stoves producers and last mile entrepreneurs,” says Ms Nalubega.

 

The project is supporting these producers, most of them artisanal and others professional, to improve the quality of their stoves and raise efficiency levels to at least 35 percent or more, in line with Kenya Bureau of Standards (KBS) guidelines.

 

An energy-saving rocket stove.

 

Impact

 

Ms Nalubega sees the GIZ-GCF project’s quality assurance initiative at SERC making a major contribution towards clean cooking, with tremendous impact.

 

“It will help improve the quality of life (health and wealth) for cookstove users, especially women and children, save time and money, reduce deaths caused by indoor pollution, and (help) stem climate change,” asserts Ms Nalubega.

 

Professionalising the value chain

 

The Ag Co-Director at SERC, Prisca Atieno, says through the GIZ-GCF project, the centre is helping entrepreneurs in the cooking stoves value chain to professionalise their businesses.

 

“We are honing their entrepreneurial skills,” she says, adding that they are particularly bolstering women-led enterprises “to stand the test of time.”

 

She observes that the traditional biomass cooking stoves business is dominated by artisanal enterprises. “Their businesses can grow once they have been professionalised. They can get loans to expand their operations, and get large orders, for example, from the humanitarian sector,” says Ms Atieno.

 

SERC has developed a business development manual used in training this group of entrepreneurs “to bolster their entrepreneurial skills – such as developing sustainable business models, marketing and branding, calculating costs and pricing, financial planning and management, record-keeping, business planning, and ICT skills for business, among other modules.”

 

So far, SERC has trained 200 entrepreneurs, both men and women, with women-led enterprises accounting for 44 percent.

 

Ms Atieno adds: “We plan to reach out to more people and share knowledge with them. The training takes four to five days and most of it takes place at the county level.”

 

The project targets to have trained at least 1,000 by December 2024. Those who have received the training have experienced business growth, according to Ms Atieno.

 

Expansion of the training will involve SERC training Trainers of Trainers (ToTs). These trainers will offer training in the counties. This is through technical and vocational education and training (TVETs) in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA), Ms Atieno explains.

 

The GIZ-GCF project started in September 2021 and ends in December 2024.

 

About SERC

 

SERC is an applied technology laboratory within Strathmore University. Established in 2012, it carries out high-quality research, consultancy, professional training, laboratory testing and project development in the energy sector. SERC effectively offers these services to government agencies, private and public sector players.

 

To learn more about SERC and the services it offers, visit www.strathmore.edu

 

This article was first published on the Daily Nation and was written by Evans Ongwae

 

Strathmore study offers ideas on how to promote e-mobilityin Kenya

By | News

Kenya can accelerate e-mobility uptake by reviewing the taxation, standards, importation and registration of electric vehicles. Policies in favour of e-mobility are expected to significantly reduce the transport sector’s carbon emissions. 

 

Several studies funded by GIZ and conducted by Strathmore University in collaboration with Knights Energy recommend so. 

 

Largely, the studies suggest that tax reliefs or exemptions for electric vehicle components can boost e-mobility in the country. Such measures can spur local assembly, conversion, and manufacturing of electric vehicles, observes the report titled, ‘Importation and taxation of electric vehicles in Kenya: Proposals for alignment of the registration process.’

 

One of the researchers who participated in the study, Ignatius Maranga of Strathmore Energy Research Centre (SERC), says the studies identified barriers that hinder further uptake of electric vehicles in the country. 

 

A report compiled from the study notes that, “since Kenya doesn’t manufacture electric vehicles, importation and taxation plays a key role in the availability and affordability of vehicles. Taxation is a determinant of the final price of electric vehicles.”

 

The study is funded by the Advancing Transport Climate Strategies in Rapidly Motorising Countries project (TraCS). TraCS is a project implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. It is funded through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

 

Kenya aims to reduce its overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30 percent by the year 2030 compared to the business as usual scenario.

 

National data shows that the transport sector accounts for about 20 percent of Kenya’s total GHG emissions. The emissions are increasing at a faster rate than in any other sector, hence the need to reduce them.

 

A TraCS analysis shows that an increased uptake of electric mobility has the second highest mitigation potential.

 

The report identifies electric mobility as a key factor to contribute to Kenya’s nationally determined contribution (NDC) of GHG emissions.

 

Mr. Maranga, quality engineer at SERC, says the year-long study carried out in 2020 looked at the e-mobility status in the country. It examined the existing tax regime, the status of standards on electric vehicles, and the registration of imported EVs by the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA). 

 

The report recommends that the Government establishes an electric mobility inter-agency team consisting of relevant public sector institutions.  The team can comprise institutions such as the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), NTSA, the State Department of Transport, the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Environment, other stakeholders, and the private sector.

 

This article was first published in the Sunday Nation under the Climate Action series on 27th August 2023 by eongwae@ke.nationmedia.com

 

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