dc.contributor.advisor |
Friesen, W |
en |
dc.contributor.advisor |
Neef, A |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Munga, Hyrine |
en |
dc.date.accessioned |
2020-03-26T19:43:07Z |
en |
dc.date.issued |
2020 |
en |
dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/2292/50162 |
en |
dc.description.abstract |
Rural regions of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are the most energy-poor globally, with over 90% of the households dependent on traditional biomass fuels which are directly linked to environmental degradation, poor human health, social injustices, and gender inequalities. Because the challenges of providing centralised grid energy to rural households in SSA are insurmountable, off-grid renewable energy technologies (RETs) are one way of increasing access to energy. However, dissemination of off-grid RETs has had limited success because techno-centric approaches used to deploy them tend to ignore potential end users’ sociocultural contexts. My thesis investigates the low uptake of domestic biogas technology (DBT) in rural Kenya, a renewable energy that not only promises household energy security but also food security, livelihood improvement, and climate change mitigation. DBT has huge potential, realisable markets, and donor nation support. While a lot is known about barriers and enablers to the uptake of biogas, little is known about the sustainable use of biogas digesters in households. I draw upon the translation principle of actor-network theory to explain the low uptake and sustainability of biogas in rural Kenya. I analyse the biogas actor-network buildup by evaluating network roles in introducing biogas to rural households. Using two rural case studies, I identify the dynamics of biogas development, analyse the discourses that stabilise or destabilise actor–networks, establish the role of socio-cultural factors influencing the uptake of biogas, and evaluate the gendering of biogas use. I conclude that biogas can no longer be adopted by linear transfers through which experts in the Global North develop technologies and pass them to users in the Global South, without consideration of socio-cultural contexts. I recommend that biogas promoters work synchronously with rural Kenyan communities to fully integrate biogas technology into local communities, local economies, and local ways of thinking and living. |
en |
dc.publisher |
ResearchSpace@Auckland |
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dc.relation.ispartof |
PhD Thesis - University of Auckland |
en |
dc.relation.isreferencedby |
UoA99265271313402091 |
en |
dc.rights |
Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. |
en |
dc.rights.uri |
https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm |
en |
dc.title |
Adoption and Deployment of Household Renewable Energy Technologies in the Global South: The Case of Biogas in Rural Kenya |
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dc.type |
Thesis |
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thesis.degree.discipline |
Environmental Science |
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thesis.degree.grantor |
The University of Auckland |
en |
thesis.degree.level |
Doctoral |
en |
thesis.degree.name |
PhD |
en |
dc.rights.holder |
Copyright: The author |
en |
dc.rights.accessrights |
http://purl.org/eprint/accessRights/OpenAccess |
en |
pubs.elements-id |
797021 |
en |
pubs.record-created-at-source-date |
2020-03-27 |
en |
dc.identifier.wikidata |
Q112953161 |
|