Technology meets the low-income consumer in the urban residential sector of South Africa

Abstract

This research focuses on the first energy efficiency CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) project in the residential sector in South Africa and on the African continent as well. The Kuyasa CDM Project has the merit of being the first Gold Standard CDM project in the world. We use the project as our case study and demonstrate how CDM barriers could be mitigated. We will also depict how demand side energy efficiency could be achieved through the CDM. CDM projects like the Kuyasa Project has been implemented in a policy vacuum system and it has had a lot of policy implications at the local and national levels such as stimulating policy development across various departments such as health and environment and the issuing of capital grants and tax reductions or rebates for technology which is uncommon in South Africa. However, integrating the CDM and climate change policies into national policies has been a difficult process due to mainly financial and institutional barriers.