News

SCENE developing a flexible model to address the energy gap

9th April, 2021

SCENE are CESET’s delivery partner for work package 4 and technical specialists in community energy and energy access. They have identified an energy access gap between solar-home systems and traditional minigrid infrastructure. To address this, they are working with their colleagues on another project (Emblem) to develop the models and technology to fill it. The solution centres around developing flexible infrastructure that can leverage existing assets (e.g.

New briefing on financial aspects of micro- and pico- community energy systems

30th March, 2021

The CESET team have produced this briefing to outline the basic financial features of CES development as they are planning to put them in practice within the CESET project. The review raises some important questions of general interest for understanding CES. The main question is whether a CES can be integrated within a community in a way that the community can reduce its operating costs and support its long term viability.

New CESET briefing paper on research ethics after COVID-19

15th March, 2021

CESET is an international project with partners in the UK, Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic we wanted to understand the ethical challenges the team were now facing. This briefing provides an overview of a survey undertaken with the CESET team concerning the project’s core ethical challenges, the emerging risks, and the anticipation of new challenges after COVID-19.

3rd RELA webinar on access to electricity in Ethiopia available to watch

11th March, 2021

On Thursday 11^th March 2021 our CESET partner Professor Getachew Bekele of Addis Ababa University delivered the 3^rd webinar in our Regional Energy Learning Alliance series.

The 2nd RELA webinar - rethinking energy poverty - now available to watch

15th February, 2021

Last week Professor Benjamin K. Sovacool of Energy Policy at the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex Business School and the Director of the Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand and of the Sussex Energy Group gave a presentation at the Regional Learning Alliance webinar series. Chair, Lorraine Howe, introduced Ben whose presentation focused on “Rethinking energy poverty and best practices for the governance of distributed renewable energy access”.

Top 10 insights in climate science in 2020

3rd February, 2021

The 10 New Insights in Climate Science 2020 report was prepared by a consortium of 57 leading researchers from 21 countries - including our CESET partner Professor Vanesa Castán Broto. As a partnership of Future Earth, the Earth League, and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), the series synthesizes the latest sustainability research for the international science-policy community, with annual installments since 2017.

This year’s top insights are below:

New chapter on the European Green Deal and the challenge of systemic change in urban areas

27th January, 2021

Our CESET partner Vanesa Castán Broto has written a chapter entitled “The European Green Deal and the challenge of systemic change in urban areas” in the new book “Towards a European Green Deal with Cities” published by CIDOB.

Watch the 1st RELA webinar on YouTube!

25th January, 2021

The first Regional Energy Learning Alliance (RELA) webinar was a great success! Our CESET partner Professor Yacob Mulugetta of University College London gave a great presentation on community energy in East Africa which stimulated a fascinating Q&A session. Questions included:

Interventions Essay on climate urbanism in IJURR

14th January, 2021

CESET team members Enora Robin and Vanesa Castán Broto have recently published a new journal article entitled ‘Towards a postcolonial perspective on climate urbanism’ in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.

A new article in Axon: Creative Explorations examines the complexity involved in developing collective voice

12th January, 2021

A ‘Minifesta’ as the promise of collective voice is an article that reports the experience of writing a collective manifesto by a group of urbanists and activists from Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and the UK in a workshop in Kampala in November 2019. The initial purpose to write a manifesto became a 'minifesta,' a collective engagement with minor theory and feminist readings of urban equality.

Joshua Kirshner presents at the 3rd Generation PV in the Developing World Conference

6th January, 2021

This morning our CESET partner Dr Joshua Kirshner from The University of York presented on 'Energy justice and sustainability transitions: Prospects for solar PV in southern Africa' at the 3rd Generation PV in the Developing World Conference organised by the North East Centre for Energy Materials, School of Engineering, Newcastle University, UK.

Article on decentralization published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences

15th December, 2020

CESET member Dr Collen Zalengera from Mzuzu University, Dr Long Seng To of Loughbrough University and their colleagues have long been working on the practicalities of implementing community energy on the ground. Below you can download the first in a series of journal articles.

Report on Impacts and Coping Mechanisms for the Covid-19 Pandemic in Malawi’s Energy Sector

10th December, 2020

Our CESET partners Collen Zalengera from Mzuzu University and Long Seng To from Loughborough University have been working with their colleagues (Chitedze, Chitawo, Mwale and Maroyi) to demonstrate how energy is critical to managing the COVID-19 pandemic. It is expected of the energy systems and infrastructure that are crucial for modern life that they be resilient to natural disasters and other unintended occurrences and risks.

Dr Enora Robin awarded Leverhulme Trust Fellowship

1st December, 2020

Huge congratulations to our CESET researcher Enora who has been awarded a 3 year (2020-2023) Early Career Fellowship!

“Off-Grid Cities: the financial mediations of life off the grid in African cities” will explore how different forms of finance mediate the uptake of off-grid solar energy in cities and contribute to the low-carbon restructuring of urban infrastructure systems.

To find out more visit the project page.

Workshop Series: Energy Resilience in Pacific Island Countries and Territories

1st December, 2020

Our CESET partner Dr Long Seng To from Loughborough University led a workshop series on Energy Resilience in Pacific Island Countries and Territories on 1-4 December 2020 in collaboration with the University of New South Wales, University of the South Pacific and University of Papua New Guinea. The workshops focused on planning and investment, the political economy of off-grid solar and community energy resilience strategies in response to disasters.

New edited book on climate urbanism published by Palgrave

29th November, 2020

CESET members Vanesa Castán Broto and Enora Robin with Urban Institute colleague Aidan While have edited a new book on climate urbanism.

Infrastructure networks and Climate Public Seminar

26th November, 2020

Professor Vanesa Castán Broto of the Urban Institute, University of Sheffield, delivered a public seminar on ‘Infrastructure networks and Climate’ as part of The Human Geography and Environmental Social Science Seminar Series at the University of Kent.

CESET Project is 'official'!

20th November, 2020

The UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund - which aims to accelerate clean energy transitions in low and middle income countries - has officially announced its Collective Programme brochure.

CESET is one of 18 projects to receive funding, having been awarded £1.3 million to develop their research exploring the transition to inclusive, clean energy in Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique.

Climate urbanism as critical urban theory in Urban Geography

17th November, 2020

Vanesa Castán Broto and Enora Robin have published a new paper in Urban Geography. “Climate urbanism as critical urban theory” discusses how urban actors reshape not just the urban built environment but also the organization of social life through engaging in climate action. The authors invite readers to reimagine what it means to be urban in a climate-changed world.

New paper on COVID-19 and energy access

16th September, 2020

We are pleased to announce that our CESET partner- Dr Mulualem G. Gebreslassie - from the Ethiopian Institute of Technology-Mekelle at Mekelle University, has published a timely article “COVID-19 and energy access: An opportunity or a challenge for the African continent?” in Energy Research and Social Science.

You can download the article for free here.