The rising powers, clean development and the low carbon transition in sub-Saharan Africa

Power, Marcus and Newell, Peter and Bulkeley, Harriet and Smith, Adrian and Prasad, Gisela and Baker, Lucy and Kirshner, Joshua (2017). The rising powers, clean development and the low carbon transition in sub-Saharan Africa. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-851967

There is a more recent version of this item available.

This interdisciplinary research project seeks to examine how, why and to what extent the Rising Powers (specifically China, India and Brazil) are enabling the transition to low carbon energy systems in Southern Africa. The project will explore the range of actors, institutions, partnerships and policy-making processes involved in these contemporary forms of ‘South-South’ co-operation and technology transfer and aims to identify the key interests and beneficiaries being served here. Empirically focused on case studies of Mozambique and South Africa, the project will assess the implications of the growing involvement of the Rising Powers in Southern African energy systems for the affordability, accessibility and sustainability of energy services in the region and will analyse how the Rising Powers are shaping the provision of energy services for productive uses (e.g. cooking, lighting and mobility). The project also seeks to assess the implications for the wider governance of energy and climate change at the local, national, regional and global scales. Using a combination of semi-structured interviews and community-based participatory research methods the research will also explore the dynamics of the low carbon transitions being created and enabled by the Rising Powers in Southern Africa, which are uneven and differentiated technically, socially and spatially.

Data description (abstract)

Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with a range of key informants and stakeholders in Mozambique, South Africa, China, India and Brazil. These were conducted to enable us to gain an in-depth understanding of why and how clean energy policy or investment decisions have been made and the different views and perspectives of the key actors involved. This included the following:

(1) interviews with representatives of relevant government agencies based in China, India and Brazil and concerned with clean energy and overseas development cooperation;
(2) interviews with representatives of relevant government agencies in South Africa and Mozambique concerned with energy policy and infrastructure;
(3) Interviews with representatives of Chinese, Indian and Brazilian energy companies active in Southern African energy systems;
(4) Interviews with representatives of national civil society organisations (CSOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) concerned with energy issues in Mozambique and South Africa
(5) Interviews with representatives of multilateral development agencies and international development donors active in the energy sectors of Mozambique and South Africa.

Data creators:

Creator Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Power Marcus	University of Durham
Newell Peter	Sussex University
Bulkeley Harriet	University of Durham
Smith Adrian	Sussex University
Prasad Gisela	University of Cape Town
Baker Lucy	Sussex University
Kirshner Joshua	University of York

Sponsors:

Economic and Social Research Council

Grant reference:

ES/J01270X/1

Topic classification:

Natural environment
Politics
Science and technology

Keywords:

alternative energy, renewable energy, rising powers, mozambique, south africa, development

Project title:

The Rising Powers, Clean Development and the Low Carbon Transition in Sub-Saharan Africa

Grant holders:

Marcus John Power (Principal Investigator) , Adrian Paul Smith (Co-Investigator) , Wei Shen (Co-Investigator) , Peter Newell (Co-Investigator), Harriet Bulkeley (Co-Investigator), Gisela Prasad (Co-Investigator)

Project dates:

From	To
1 September 2012	31 May 2015

Date published:

06 Oct 2015 14:51

Last modified:

14 Jul 2017 12:11

Coverage and Methodology

Access and Administration

Data sourcing, processing and preparation:

From the outset the project involved the construction of a database of clean energy projects in Mozambique and South Africa and this was then used to identify specific projects where China, India and Brazil are involved or are investing in the energy systems of these case study countries. Working together with our in-country partners in China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mozambique we then regularly reviewed this evidence and began to identify key informants and local stakeholders both in China, India and Brazil and in Southern Africa with whom we would undertake semi-structured interviews in phase one of our research. Where possible all interviews were then recorded (unless the interviewee specifically requested that this did not happen) before being transcribed, checked and an anonymised copy made. In order to ensure anonymity all references to personal information about the interviewee were then removed during the transcription process. Qualitative data analysis on our semi-structured interviews involved categorising and coding the sources as a means of comparing and contrasting interpretations of events. We then triangulated between the different data collected to verify both facts and/or processes and to interrogate differences thrown up by contrasting interpretations.

Rights owners:

Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Power Marcus	University of Durham
Newell Peter	Sussex University
Bulkeley Harriet	University of Durham
Smith Adrian	Sussex University

Contact:

Name	Email	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Power, Marcus John	marcus.power@dur.ac.uk	University of Durham	Unspecified

Notes on access:

The Data Collection is available for download to users registered with the UK Data Service. All requests are subject to the permission of the data owner or his/her nominee. Please email the contact person for this data collections to request permission to access the data, explaining your reason for wanting access to do the data. Once permission is obtained, please forward this to the ReShare administrator.

Publisher:

UK Data Archive

Last modified:

14 Jul 2017 12:11