
What’s your story? We’d like to hear it. Contact us via communications@strathmore.edu
What’s your story? We’d like to hear it. Contact us via communications@strathmore.edu
Kenya now has a scientific tool for calculating national carbon emissions up to the year 2100 – and the possible sustainability pathways. The Kenya Carbon Emission Reduction Tool (KCERT) allows for identifying and exploring various scenarios for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, including net zero by 2050.
The scenarios are based on accounting for how energy is produced, converted, and consumed showing the extent to which energy technology, behaviour and land-use change might impact the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The tool, developed by Strathmore University in consultation with diverse stakeholders, will be hosted by the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum for use by government officials, policymakers, and other stakeholders. It is publicly available and open-source, allowing anyone to explore decarbonisation pathways.
Strathmore Energy Research Centre (SERC) quality engineer, Thomas Bundi, says interested parties can interact with the web tool through the Ministry of Energy portal and download the detailed Excel tool.
SERC is finalising the training of Ministry officials this month. This will pave the way for the Ministry of Energy to host KCERT on its web site.
KCERT is funded by the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Strathmore University is the implementing institution, with additional support provided by the global engineering firm Mott MacDonald and Imperial College London.
KCERT uses scenario analysis, supported by expert stakeholder engagement activities to forecast and quantify carbon emissions.
SERC consulted hundreds of experts. It held workshops and meetings during the year-long development phase.
Mr Bundi says KCERT was adapted to the local context following the general model structure of the MacKay Carbon Calculator developed by the UK Government to calculate UK carbon emissions and future carbon pathways. Over 60 countries have a Calculator; Kenya’s is the first in East Africa.
KCERT is built in Kenya by Kenyans for Kenya. Kenyan-specific data on energy demand and supply, and social and economic indicators based on extensive literature review were included in conjunction with expert consultation.
The tool covers five energy demand and supply sectors of the economy namely electricity generation, transport, industry, land use, and residential and commercial buildings.
The pathways for reducing emissions are based on a set of parameters or variables called “levers,” which constitute the backbone of KCERT. The levers represent different effort levels or trajectories towards sectoral decarbonisation.
The tool depicts the emission reduction scenarios, based on the country’s ambition. The least attractive scenario is where the country maintains the business-as-usual stance. Other options denote different levels of ambition, including the highest, 4, which promises rapid emission cuts in the run up to 2050, when the country hopes to have become a net zero economy.
The tool is currently available at https://kcert.ilabafrica.ac.ke/
This article was first published in the Sunday Nation under the Climate Action series on 27th August 2023 by eongwae@ke.nationmedia.com
What’s your story? We’d like to hear it. Contact us via communications@strathmore.edu
In East Africa alone, wood and charcoal remain heavily relied upon to meet the demands of heating, leading to negative effects on the environment. Further, the continued use of wood and charcoal has led to increased deforestation, contributing to 10 percent of global warming and poor health conditions such as respiratory infections when used indoors, and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, the use of electricity for heating is expensive for households and businesses and substantially increases the demand on the grid, resulting in carbon emissions where fossil fuels are used.
Some of the key barriers of adopting solar thermal technology in East Africa include: high cost and complex installation, difficulty in transportation, and lack of suitable and well trained technicians to install and maintain solar thermal technology. The local manufacture of solar thermal collectors also requires significant capital investment.
To mitigate this challenge, the project will develop the following key components, over the next two years, to enhance the penetration of solar thermal technology in East Africa. This will be implemented while reducing the impact of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, which need to be halved to reach net zero by 2050.
The solar thermal collector developed by SolarisKit is the world’s first flat-packable solar thermal, a unique device which has a lower manufacturing cost, easier to transport, and simpler to install; addressing key barriers which have prevented the adoption of solar thermal technology. The intelligent, low-cost solar pump controller developed in this project will be suitable for global solar hot water applications, with the ultimate goal of reducing global greenhouse emissions linked to heating.
The SolarisKit solar collector is manufactured flat-packed for assembly on site, reducing shipping costs and challenges. It is small and light enough to be installed by a single person, making it much easier to install than current solutions in the market.
This project is funded by UK Innovate, under the Energy Catalyst Competition, and is led by Ignatius Maranga.
This article was written by Anne Njeri Njoroge, Communications Officer at Strathmore Energy Research Centre.
What’s your story? We’d like to hear it. Contact us via communications@strathmore.edu
Dates: T1/T2 : 28th Aug – 1st Sept & 23rd – 28th October
T3 Grid Tie : 30th Oct – 3rd Nov & 4th – 8th September
Cost: T1/T2 : Ksh 50,000 & T3 Grid Tie: Ksh 60,000
Email: spvtraining@strathmore.edu
Tel: +254(0)703034900
Date: 2nd to 6th October 2023
Venue: Strathmore Energy Research Centre
Cost: Ksh 50,000
Email: spvtraining@strathmore.edu
Tel: +254(0)703034900
Date: 23rd – 27th October 2023
Venue: Strathmore Energy Research Centre
Cost: KShs. 50,000
RSVP: spvtraining@strathmore.edu
Tel: +254(0)703034900
The first 15 applicants will receive a 80% scholarship
Around 19 young energy professionals from East Africa participated in the 30th training edition of the RES4Africa Academy Technical and Vocational School (former MGA), supported by the knowledge partner Enel Foundation and carried out in person for the first time since the end of the pandemic in Kenya, from the 10th to the 14th of July 2023.
The lectures hosted at Strathmore University’s Energy Research Centre (SERC) provided trainees with first-hand capacity building on decentralised renewable energy solutions and a wide set of technical topics (i.e., renewable and non-renewable generation solutions, energy needs worldwide, RE potentials in Africa, solar energy radiation and resource characterisation for DRE design micro-grid architecture, energy procedures for productive uses in rural communities, etc.).
As a crucial part of the learning path, on the 13th of July, students had the opportunity to be involved in a field visit to Nairobi, Kenya. During the practical experiences conducted at St. Kizito VTI, the participants were able to benefit from hands-on demonstrations and exercises on system installation, commissioning, and decommissioning. The aim was to bridge the gap between theory and practise as well as deal with technical topics in line with this edition’s content for Module 1: Decentralised Energy Systems (DRE).
The activities were organised in collaboration with the RES4Africa Academy’s Technical and Vocational School Network: St. Kizito Vocational Training Institute, AVSI Foundation, and Enel Foundation, while the lectures were delivered by experts from Strathmore University, St. Kizito VTI, AVSI Foundation, The Companionships of Work Organisation CoWA, Enel Green Power, Enel Grids, and Sapienza University.
This article was first published on RES4Africa.