Energising Kenya's future

The document examines the trade-offs between low-carbon and high-carbon energy pathways in Kenya, highlighting the financial, regulatory, and social challenges of transitioning to renewable energy. It emphasizes the need for a balanced energy portfolio, the integration of decentralized power solutions, and the critical role of stakeholder engagement and transparent benefit-sharing to overcome public resistance to renewable energy projects.

• Kenya's goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030 relative to business-as-usual levels requires the energy sector to follow a low-carbon trajectory, which is complicated by the simultaneous goal of reaching middle-income status.
• The financial costs of transitioning to low-carbon technologies—including grid expansion, demand-side technologies, and transport fuel switching—are estimated to range between USD 5 billion and USD 30 billion.
• There is a tension between low-carbon pathways and the exploitation of domestic fossil fuels (coal and oil), as the latter are often more attractive to governments and industry for achieving rapid short-term economic growth.
• While the Last-Mile Connectivity Project increased electricity access from 27% to 60%, full national grid roll-out is considered economically unfeasible, necessitating a mix of centralized and decentralized (off-grid/mini-grid) solutions.
• Household cooking represents 72% of total final energy consumption as of 2014, creating a policy challenge between using imported fossil fuels like LPG, which is efficient and cleaner, and locally available but potentially unsustainable biomass and charcoal.
• Public opposition to renewable energy projects is often driven by land access disputes, perceived lack of local benefits (such as power being siphoned to the national grid), and distrust resulting from weak stakeholder involvement.

APA

Johnson, O., Wanjiru, H., Ogeya, M., Johnson, F., van Klaveren, M., & Longa, F. D. (2017). Energising Kenya's future. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/180316c-soapbox-energy-pathways-kenya-1707a-pb-1803-13.pdf

Chicago

Johnson, Oliver, Hannah Wanjiru, Mbeo Ogeya, Francis Johnson, Marieke van Klaveren, and Francesco Dalla Longa. Energising Kenya's future. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2017. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/180316c-soapbox-energy-pathways-kenya-1707a-pb-1803-13.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Johnson |first1=Oliver |last2=Wanjiru |first2=Hannah |last3=Ogeya |first3=Mbeo |last4=Johnson |first4=Francis |last5=van Klaveren |first5=Marieke |last6=Longa |first6=Francesco Dalla |title=Energising Kenya's future |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2017 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/180316c-soapbox-energy-pathways-kenya-1707a-pb-1803-13.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{johnson2017energising, author = {Johnson, Oliver and Wanjiru, Hannah and Ogeya, Mbeo and Johnson, Francis and van Klaveren, Marieke and Longa, Francesco Dalla}, title = {{Energising Kenya's future}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/180316c-soapbox-energy-pathways-kenya-1707a-pb-1803-13.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }