Abstract
This paper focuses on barriers and opportunities for the adoption of modern renewable energy technologies by low-income households in the light of energy requirements for household well-being; household prioritization of energy services; household purchasing power for energy; and households’ experiences with traditional and conventional energy sources. Approaches for addressing the identified barriers to the adoption of renewable energy solutions by low-income households are discussed as well. Our findings show that low-income households will continue to use traditional and conventional energy sources and technologies unless modern energy solutions come with integrated financing mechanisms that enable households to pay for good-quality systems capable of meeting their energy needs. The work is based on empirical evidence from Likoma Island in Malawi.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Geothermal and small hydropower plants are also eligible for feed-in tariffs, but are not included here because of the scope of this paper.
- 2.
We assumed that one energy-efficient 15-W compact fluorescent light bulb is sufficient for a room; the Malawi government distributed energy-efficient bulbs to replace incandescent bulbs in all households with access to electricity. Two additional compact fluorescent lights are required for outdoor lighting from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.; and the lighting for toilets and bathrooms was assumed to be equivalent to one 15-W bulb operating for one hour.
References
Practical Action. (2010). Poor people’s energy outlook 2010. Rugby, UK: Practical Action.
Curwin, J., & Slater, R. (2004). Quantitative methods for business decisions (5th ed.). London: Thomson.
Dodge, R., Daly, A. P., Huyton, J., & Sanders, L. D. (2012). The challenge of defining well-being. International Journal of Well-being, 2(3), 222–235.
Eggoh, J. C., Bangake, C., & Rault, C. (2011). Energy consumption and economic growth revisited in African countries. Journal of Energy Policy, 39(11), 7408–7421.
Global Environment Facility [GEF]. (2013). What is GEF? http://www.thegef.org/gef/whatisgef. Accessed July 15, 2014.
Jumbe, C. B. (2004). Cointegration and causality between electricity and GDP: Empirical evidence from Malawi. Journal of Energy Economics, 26(1), 61–68.
Laws, S., Harper, C., Jones, N., & Marcus, R. (2002). Research for development: A practical guide. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Leech, N. L., Barrett, K. C., & Morgan, G. A. (2008). SPSS for intermediate statistics-use and interpretation (3rd ed.). New York, London: Psychology Press.
Lindner, K. (2011). Quality issues in the market based dissemination of solar home systems. In M. Schafer, N. Kebir, & D. Philipp (Eds.), Micro Perspectives for Decentralized Energy Supply, (pp. 220–229). Proceedings of the International Conference, Technische Universität Berlin, 7–8 April.
Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority. (2012). Malawi feed-in tariff: Renewable energy resource generated electricity in Malawi. Lilongwe: Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority.
Mikkelsen, B. (2005). Methods for development work and research: A new guide for practitioners. New Delhi, London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Morgan, G. A., Leech, N. L., Gloeckner, G. W., & Barrett, K. C. (2004). SPSS for introductory statistics—use and interpretation (2nd ed.). Mawwah, New Jersey, London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
National Statistics Office. (2008). 2008 population and housing census. Zomba, Malawi: National Statistics Office.
Rogers, E. M. (1995). Diffusion of innovations (4th ed.). New York: Free Press.
Rogers, E. M. (2001). Innovation, theory of. In Neil J. Smelser & Paul B. Baltes (Eds.), International encyclopaedia of the social & behavioral sciences (pp. 7540–7543). doi: 10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/01900-8.
Sanchez, T. (2010). The hidden energy crisis: How policies are failing the World’s poor. Rugby, UK: Practical Action Publishing.
Scheyvens, R., & Storey, D. (2003). Development fieldwork: A practical guide. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCC]. (n.d). What is the CDM. http://cdm.unfccc.int/about/index.html. Accessed May 24, 2014.
Zalengera, C. (2015). A study into the techno-economic feasibility of photovoltaic and wind generated electricity for enhancement of sustainable livelihoods on Likoma Island in Malawi. PhD thesis, Loughborough University, Loughborough.
Zalengera, C., Blanchard, R. E., Eames, P. C., Juma, A. M., Chitawo, M. L., & Gondwe, K. T. (2014). Overview of the Malawi energy situation and a PESTLE analysis for sustainable development of renewable energy. Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 38, 335–347.
Zingano, B. W. (2001). A discussion on thermal comfort with reference to bath water temperature to deduce a midpoint of the thermal comfort temperature zone. Journal of Renewable Energy, 23(1), 41–47.
Acknowledgments
The research project to which this work is part was sponsored by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission with funds from the United Kingdom Department for International Development.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Zalengera, C., Blanchard, R.E., Eames, P.C. (2015). Putting the End-User First: Towards Addressing Contesting Values in Renewable Energy Systems Deployment for Low-Income Households—A Case from Likoma Island, Malawi. In: Hostettler, S., Gadgil, A., Hazboun, E. (eds) Sustainable Access to Energy in the Global South. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20209-9_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20209-9_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-20208-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-20209-9
eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)