SERC

Globally, we continue to witness adverse weather conditions in the form of floods, heavy snow, forest fires, drought, blizzards among others due to climate change. As a country, we need to rethink how we contribute to the effects experienced globally especially in the roads sector which is powered mostly by fossil fuels and 72 percent imported petroleum products. It is projected that the roads sector will increase greenhouse gas emissions by 3 percent in 2030 up from 13 percent in 2015 not to mention the effects it will have on our health.

It is with this sobering reality and a bid to reach Kenya’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to abate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by thirty two percent by 2030, that the Ministry of Roads and Transport established the Electric Mobility (e-Mobility) Taskforce to develop a National e-Mobility policy, Strategy, Legislations and Regulations for Kenya in August 2023.

On 27^th March 2024, the e-Mobility taskforce launched the draft National e-Mobility policy with a mission to create a pathway towards transportation that is more sustainable, efficient, and equitable, powered by e-Mobility with a vision to position Kenya as a leader in e-Mobility transition in Africa.

The draft policy is guided by seven key objectives that includes developing legal and regulatory frameworks, promoting local manufacturing and assembly of electric vehicles, enhancing e-Mobility infrastructure, building local technical capacity, scaling up socioeconomic measures, reducing over reliance on Road Maintenance Levy (RML) and improving fiscal and non-fiscal measures to promote fast adoption of electric vehicles in Kenya.

During the launch, Cabinet Secretary (CS), Kipchumba Murkomen EGH stated that the Ministry of Roads and Transport has begun the process of assigning green-coloured number plates for all electric vehicles including electric motorbikes. Special plates he added will help raise awareness about electric vehicles.

The use of green number plates as a non-fiscal incentive is a good start but more needs to be done to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles. The draft national e-Mobility policy highlights the importance of also having fiscal incentives as part of the policy packages that can encourage Kenyan’s make the ultimate switch from internal combustion engine (ICE) to electric vehicles (EVs).

Currently, to import a fully built electric bus will cost around Kshs 60 million (USD 453,000) while a fully built imported ICE bus will cost around Kshs 25 million (USD 188,000). In the two-wheeler sector, a new electric motorbike costs roughly Kshs 240,000 (USD 1,800) and an ICE motorbike costs about Kshs 200,000 (USD 1500).

During her speech, Rebecca Miano, EGH reiterated the importance of incentives and affirmed stakeholders that the Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry is working to incentivize EV manufacturers, assemblers especially batteries which is the most expensive component in the manufacturing of electric vehicles. This policy she added will guide the ministry in the implementation of this.

The draft national e-Mobility Policy is now publicly available. We urge all Kenyans to acquaint themselves with the future of sustainable transport in Kenya by reading the policy and chiming their thoughts as we move the process forward.

The e-Mobility taskforce will now embark on public participation meetings in six regions, commencing mid-April. These meetings will be open to the public, providing an opportunity for them to gain deeper insights into the policy and share their thoughts.

Strathmore University continues to play a pivotal role in developing the policy, with three members of staff actively participating in the e-Mobility taskforce. Professor Izael Da Silva leads the team, alongside Ignatius Maranga and Anne Njoroge.

This article was written by Anne Njoroge, Communications Officer at Strathmore Energy Research Centre, and a member of the e-Mobility Taskforce.

As part of our goal to care for people and the planet, we must look at sustainable methods of living. It is for this reason that the Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) organises an annual Workshop that look into considering a path of low carbon development whilst simultaneously unlocking profitable investment in green infrastructure, opening up new markets and supporting delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals. This year the workshop was a collaboration of Strathmore University through the Strathmore Energy Research Centre and the CCG Research Team themed, Nurturing cross-sectoral connections for a climate-compatible future. The workshop venue was the serene environment of Maanzoni Lodge, which aligns with the theme of sustainability by recycling water from all the output sources.

The two-day workshop kicked off with assurance from government stakeholders from the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and EPRA, that the government is committed to renewable energy matters. Dr Faith Wandera highlighted that the government is keen on using the same approach where there is cross-sectoral collaboration on integrated national energy planning, from electricity planning to whole energy systems planning that includes clean cooking which is one of the government’s key agendas by 2028. It was also mentioned that awareness is key in policy-making to ensure the ordinary person gets to understand the impact of CCG.

Robina Abuya from the British High Commission assured of the British government’s support towards this course. She also stated that the British High Commission’s goal was towards Green Urbanization, Green industrialisation and Sustainable Development. The deliverable is to create a cleaner, greener environment.

Dr Lara Allen from the University of Cambridge says CCG has networks in 6 countries. Kenya is the leader and the frontier of these programs. The goal is to create special interest groups of researchers and people who will be able to continue with this mission. She also highlighted that the plan is to position Kenya as a State that will be able to receive research funding from diverse financial institutions that will have a positive long term impact on the people in Kenya.

From  Strathmore University we had Dr. Eng. Julius Butime from the School of Computing and Engineering Sciences. He assured that Strathmore is ready to support this project and it has been at the forefront of research in CCG. He also intimated with enthusiasm the strategic position that Strathmore University is at in ensuring sustainability of the CCG programme in Kenya as a center of excellence and capacity building to ensure sustainability.

The discussions now delved into Kenya’s Clean Cooking Sector led by Dr Faith Wandera. It was noted through research that 68.5% of Kenyans rely on traditional methods of cooking and of the 68.5% which is equivalent to 9.1 Million households 1.7 million households are urban and 7.4 million households are rural. Firewood, Charcoal and LPG are the 3 key primary sources of fuel in Kenya. Within this discussion, they have developed an action plan which includes;

1. Promote local manufacturing
2. Clean Cooking subsidy program
3. Reframe Awareness

Next, we had a presentation from Mungai Kihara from the Directorate of Electricity and Renewable Energy. He remarked that Kenya has the opportunity to grow. 90% of Kenya’s power comes from green energy, and since Kenya’s GDP is mostly built by agriculture, green hydrogen has a good capability to grow. Anne Kiburi Senior Specialist Energy Transition Plan “ Kenyas is at its turning point and has the opportunity to grow”. The discussion was based on the just launched Nenya Energy Transition Investment Plan that provides a harmonized roadmap for the energy sector with a  holistic approach that includes the investment requirement for its implementation. Also, It sets the stage for the development of energy sector targets to be incorporated into future National Blueprint. Martin Mutembei from SERC stated that the Kenya CCG Network programme  takes a holistic and cross-sectoral approach to addressing climate-compatible and inclusive growth.

The programme’s ambition is driven by strong and enduring national, international partnerships and co-creativity. He also mentioned of the current focus in terms work with the concept of “Data-to-Deal” where the term Data-to-Deal refers to actions taken throughout an entire process that runs from data collection, system modeling, and development planning, all the way through to national financing strategies and project finance arrangements to the agreement of a deal (investment), all driven by a strong stakeholder engagement process.

The workshop later went into different panel discussions that were built around the Ppecial Interest Groups (SIGs) discussing:

1. National Level Planning
2. County Level Planning
3. Transport Sector
4. Policy Pathway
5. Clean Cooking
6. Climate Entrepreneurship
7. CLEWS- Climate, Land, Energy and Water Nexus

Article written by:  David Kimathi

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.