Beyond hardware financing: Pro-poor pathways to low carbon energy access Dr David Ockwell

1. Beyond hardware financing: Pro-poor pathways to low carbon energy access • Dr David Ockwell • June 2013 • D.G.Ockwell@sussex.ac.uk

2. www.steps-centre.org/project/low_carbon_development

4. Overview • Pathways to low carbon development (Stirling 2012) • Dominant framing: Hardware financing • Alternative 1: Building innovation capacities • Alternative 2: Socio-technical nature of change & development • Implications for policy and research

5. Multiple Pathways to “Low Carbon Development” - What? For who? How?

6. Multiple Pathways to “Low Carbon Development” - What? For who? How? - Multiple configurations of energy services, access, behaviour, technologies….

7. Intended and unintended processes and power ‘close down’ pathways Social expectations, cultural norms

8. Intended and unintended processes and power ‘close down’ pathways Historical contingency: Path dependence

9. Intended and unintended processes and power ‘close down’ pathways Politics: Interests, power – who frames the problem?

10. Intended and unintended processes and power ‘close down’ pathways Economics: Lock-in to inferior technologies – even in competitive markets

11. Dominant framing: Hardware financing

12. CDM registered projects and accumulated investment value, as at end of February 2010 Source: Bryne et al. based on figures from UNEP Risø (2010)

13. Number of registered CDM projects as of the end of February 2010, disaggregated by project type (2062 total registered projects) Source: Bryne et al. based on figures from UNEP Risø (2010) • Over 75% registered CDM projects use just five types of technology • Only one new renewable energy technology – wind – although mature relative to other new renewables

14. Building innovation capacities Technology suppliers Technology transferred Technology importers New production capacity Supplier firms’ engineering, managerial and other technological capabilities Flow A Capital goods, services & designs Skills & know-how for operation & maintenance Flow B Knowledge & expertise behind technology Accumulation of innovation capacities Flow C

15. Technology transfer National Innovation System New production capacity Capital goods, services & designs Skills & know-how for operation & maintenance Indigenous support for technological capabilities Accumulation of innovation capacity Knowledge & expertise behind technology Building innovation systems

16. CDM registered projects and accumulated investment value, as at end of February 2010 Source: Bryne et al. based on figures from UNEP Risø (2010)

17. Socio-technical nature of change & development

18. Socio-technical nature of change & development

19. Socio-technical nature of change & development

20. Socio-technical nature of change & development

21. Different framings: Different distribution of benefits • Funding for one-off, international hardware investments Funding distribution of externally manufactured, culturally inappropriate technologies

22. Different framings: Different distribution of benefits • Building innovation capacity & systems, e.g. • - Nurturing niches of low C energy • - Brokering knowledge flows • - Sourcing local labour & parts • - Cementing networks Participatory technology development & implementation e.g. - Capabilities to build & maintain cook stoves - Locally available materials - Fit with social practices - Facilitate knowledge transfer within & beyond communities

23. Different framings: Different policy, practice & research

24. Conclusion: Pro-poor pathways to low carbon development? www.steps-centre.org/project/low_carbon_development