The city government has identified specific knowledge gaps in sustainable energy development related to: policy, regulatory and mandate uncertainties, coordination amongst levels of government and institutional capacities. Saul’s role as an embedded researcher is to provide analysis of the regulatory and legal regime in which the city operates and to assess the urban energy system in relation to the national energy context with the goal of providing clarity on the City’s goals to disentangle institutional and regulatory related challenges and to provide comparative analysis of other urban energy regimes and examples of pathways to sustainable energy transition.
The research from this Mistra Urban Futures project feeds into the development of several proposed sustainable energy related policies and plans (an Internal Energy Management Protocol, a Resource Efficient Development Policy, an Energy Data and Carbon Management Policy, a five year Energy Efficiency Plan and a long term energy vision for the Cape Town). The research also supports the formulation of City guidelines and operating procedures aimed at streamlining sustainable energy adoption. Research in energy governance engages predominantly with the “Green Focus Area” as it involves supporting local government led green infrastructure development and diffusion. However, energy poverty, access and affordability are critical matters in Cape Town’s context and hence themes related to “Fair” are explored.
image credit: Sustainable Energy Africa
