The financial sustainability challenges of an energy efficient intervention project in a low-income earning urban community: lessons from the Kuyasa clean development mechanism (cdm)

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Date

2024

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Publisher

Universty of the Western Cape

Abstract

This research study explores using a mixed method approach the energy-efficient intervention project situated in the Kuyasa low-income community, Khayelitsha, in Cape Town. The renewable energy-efficiency project was an initiative that utilized renewable energy sources and minimized energy consumption through efficient technologies and practices. I constructed an IntegratedParticipatory Sustainable Framework. This theoretical study framework drew on the theories of sustainability, systems theory, energy transition and access, and community empowerment and participation. The implications of the theoretical framework are that for a renewable energy-efficiency project to be sustainable, it must have (a) a guaranteed revenue stream, (b) a repayment plan, (c) a contribution mechanism, and (d) an empowerment plan that takes into consideration community complexities. The study investigated the Renewable Energy Efficiency Technologies (REETs) energy-saving interventions that aimed to address South Africa’s electricity challenge, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), add value to Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses, change consumer behaviour and attitudes towards energy-efficient technologies, create employment, and to alleviate poverty.

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Keywords

Clean Development Mechanism, Financial Sustainability, Low-income community, Renewable Energy-efficiency technology, Kuyasa

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