The Energy Transition and Implications for Sustainable Urban Development in Africa: Case of Household Cooking Energy in Kampala City

Abstract

This research sought to examine the factors which affecting the adoption of sustainable energy sources in Kampala City using the case of briquettes and the implications of the continued reliance on wood charcoal as a source of cooking energy on the city’s ambition to transition to a low carbon development path. Globally, cities consume up to 75% of energy and emit between 50-60% of the world’s greenhouse gasses. The situation is particularly worse for the rapidly growing African Cities which typically rely on the use of traditional biomass mainly wood charcoal for cooking. In the case of Kampala City, charcoal accounts for over 90% of Household cooking energy. A transition from the traditional biomass to more efficient and sustainable sources of energy in cities is seen as a major pathway to achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals. The study was based on primary data and adopted qualitative and quantitative methods. Data collection was done through semi-structured questionnaires which were administered to a sample of 390 respondents. Using cross tabulations analysis the research finds out that; lack of awareness, limited availability and price of briquettes, emerge as the major factors inhibiting the uptake of briquettes as an alternative source of cooking energy. These factors were found to cut across all the five Divisions of the city. Consistent with earlier studies, the quality of briquettes and type of food cooked were not significant in influencing the choice of cooking energy by households. Therefore City policies and programmes such as radio and television talk shows, dedicated energy days and community awareness campaigns focusing on raising awareness and increasing the access to briquettes among the city residents would provide the greatest potential for scaling up. Supply side interventions like affordable credit to briquette producers will increase supply and competition in the market resulting in lower prices to the final consumers.