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A novel systems approach to energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa : a South African informal settlement case study

Thesis (PhD (Technology Management))--University of Pretoria, 2020.

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Other Authors: Lalk, Jorg
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2020
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author2 Lalk, Jorg
author_browse Lalk, Jorg
author_facet Lalk, Jorg
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Thesis (PhD (Technology Management))--University of Pretoria, 2020.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:37:14.671Z
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provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2020
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publisher University of Pretoria
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/77373 A novel systems approach to energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa : a South African informal settlement case study Lalk, Jorg pokoye04@gmail.com Okoye, Perpetua Ifeoma Technology Management and Innovation Energy and Policy Geospatial Analysis System Engineering & Systems Thinking UCTD Thesis (PhD (Technology Management))--University of Pretoria, 2020. Mitigating energy poverty requires a multi-criteria decision protocol integrating socio-economic, cultural, environmental, and technical systems, influencing energy access, and consumption. Situations of energy poverty are typical in rural and urban poor households, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. These situations are commonly prevalent in informal settlements, sprawling across the periphery of South African metros. Majorities of informal households lack access to grid-electricity and consume local energy sources for their energy needs. There are ongoing government efforts directed to mitigating energy poverty among energy-poor households, such as informal households, through policies and subsidies. Socio-economic and cultural environments also redefine the extent to which energy poverty is mitigated in these households. At present, informal households are constantly and rapidly growing, and as a result, compromise policy effectiveness and other functional strategies, targeting to mitigating energy poverty in these households, and achieving universal energy access in South Africa. Accordingly, this research study adopted a multidisciplinary approach to understanding related matters of energy poverty based on energy policies; electricity access, and pricing; geospatial analysis; energy use and access; and management strategies, with emphasis on informal settlements in South Africa. The first part of the study reviewed energy pro-poor policies, relevant to improving energy access and energy-use efficiency in energy-poor households in South Africa. The study also investigated electricity access (access rates), connection costs (access costs), and electricity tariffs to understand historical precedents and forecast scenarios, and the relationships to gaining complete electricity access by 2030 in the City of Cape Town. The third part mapped and monitored informal areas to understand landscape processes and poverty with energy poverty propagations by Land Cover (LC) and Land-Cover Change (LCC) in the City of Cape Town. The fourth part of the research investigated energy-use patterns and other energy-related matters in a selected informal settlement - a typical case study of an energy-poor community in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. The last part proposed and designed a novel System Reinforcing Model (SRM), an Energy Access Sustainability (EAS) management scheme, applicable to mitigating energy poverty in any energy-poor community. The study review validated government efforts in improving energy access in energy-poor households through commissioned energy pro-poor policies but not without drawbacks and proposed recommendations to support future policy reforms. The research also revealed iv A novel systems approach to energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa: A South African informal settlement as case study. increasing patterns in historical trends of access rates, costs, and tariffs, and relationships between parameters within the assessment period (from 2010 to 2018). The forecast analyses (from 2019 to 2030) demonstrated that total electricity access could not be reached by 2030 without a shift in Business-As-Usual (BAU) patterns in the City of Cape Town. The LC conversions of informal areas revealed poverty with energy poverty propagations through landscape degradation processes - Persistence and Intensification - in the City of Cape Town. The research study further revealed poor energy use patterns and behaviour in the target Settlement. Informal households in the settlement mainly adopted local energy fuels and appliances in satisfying household energy needs. The novel part of the research study described the application of a systems approach - Systems engineering (SE) and Systems Thinking (SsT) - into energy poverty and access processes to developing the new SRM. SE and SsT concept analyses were employed in identifying and integrating four operating system interfaces in these processes into the new SRM. The new SRM simulated complex systems and elements within the interfaces and categorized them as design decisions and system designs. These systems and elements were grounded in energy-use patterns and behaviour, energy access, and EAS, as well as socio-economic, cultural, technical, and environmental features. Arrays of feedback loops in reinforcing patterns in the new SRM modelled the interactions between, and within, design decisions and system designs, for future energy access rebranding, based on significant sustainability outcomes of favourably coalesced system interfaces. SRM was applied in the target settlement, where the model’s significance was validated. Based on its multi-criteria decision approach, among its many features, SRM revealed system parts instigating energy poverty situations and limiting EAS in the target settlement. SRM tailored energy access solutions, whilst integrating significant outcomes of the whole research study, to advancing energy poverty mitigation and EAS in the target settlement. UP Postgraduate Bursary International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) PhD (Technology Management) Unrestricted 2020-12-11T12:45:59Z 2020-12-11T12:45:59Z 2021-03 2020 Thesis Okoye, PI 2020, A novel systems approach to energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa: A South African informal settlement case study, Ph.D. thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd http://hdl.handle.net/2263/77373 A2021 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/77373 en © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Technology Management and Innovation
Energy and Policy
Geospatial Analysis
System Engineering & Systems Thinking
UCTD
A novel systems approach to energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa : a South African informal settlement case study
title A novel systems approach to energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa : a South African informal settlement case study
title_full A novel systems approach to energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa : a South African informal settlement case study
title_fullStr A novel systems approach to energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa : a South African informal settlement case study
title_full_unstemmed A novel systems approach to energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa : a South African informal settlement case study
title_short A novel systems approach to energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa : a South African informal settlement case study
title_sort novel systems approach to energy poverty in sub saharan africa a south african informal settlement case study
topic Technology Management and Innovation
Energy and Policy
Geospatial Analysis
System Engineering & Systems Thinking
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/77373