Why do low-income urban dwellers reject energy technologies? Exploring the socio-cultural acceptance of solar adoption in Mumbai and Cape Town

TY - JOUR

T1 - Why do low-income urban dwellers reject energy technologies? Exploring the socio-cultural acceptance of solar adoption in Mumbai and Cape Town

AU - Haque, Anika Nasra

AU - Lemanski, Charlotte

AU - de Groot, Jiska

PY - 2021/4/1

Y1 - 2021/4/1

N2 - In the global context of reducing carbon emissions and shifting towards sustainable modes of urban infrastructure,strategies that provide decentralized access to renewable energy technologies for the urban poor areincreasingly promoted. However, while innovative energy technologies are introduced in order to support globaltargets for sustainability and service-delivery while also directly benefiting low-income households (e.g. byreducing the monetary costs of energy), there is widespread evidence that low-income urban dwellers do notalways readily accept these technologies. Typically, the urban poor are blamed for failing to adopt new technologies,with little consideration for underlying socio-cultural causes. Using examples drawn from qualitativeresearch in low-income settlements in Mumbai and Cape Town, this paper demonstrates the role of socio-culturalattitudes and practices in affecting social acceptance of domestic solar energy interventions. Focusing specificallyon perceptions of normality and practices of social capital, both of which are connected to collective social influence,the paper reveals how these concepts affect the socio-cultural acceptance of new energy technologiesamongst low-income urban dwellers in the global South. Furthermore, we argue that adopting a socio-culturalperspective is a crucial, but often overlooked, aspect of scholarly and policy analyses of, and strategies for,energy transitions in the global South.

AB - In the global context of reducing carbon emissions and shifting towards sustainable modes of urban infrastructure,strategies that provide decentralized access to renewable energy technologies for the urban poor areincreasingly promoted. However, while innovative energy technologies are introduced in order to support globaltargets for sustainability and service-delivery while also directly benefiting low-income households (e.g. byreducing the monetary costs of energy), there is widespread evidence that low-income urban dwellers do notalways readily accept these technologies. Typically, the urban poor are blamed for failing to adopt new technologies,with little consideration for underlying socio-cultural causes. Using examples drawn from qualitativeresearch in low-income settlements in Mumbai and Cape Town, this paper demonstrates the role of socio-culturalattitudes and practices in affecting social acceptance of domestic solar energy interventions. Focusing specificallyon perceptions of normality and practices of social capital, both of which are connected to collective social influence,the paper reveals how these concepts affect the socio-cultural acceptance of new energy technologiesamongst low-income urban dwellers in the global South. Furthermore, we argue that adopting a socio-culturalperspective is a crucial, but often overlooked, aspect of scholarly and policy analyses of, and strategies for,energy transitions in the global South.

U2 - 10.1016/j.erss.2021.101954

DO - 10.1016/j.erss.2021.101954

M3 - Article

SN - 2214-6296

VL - 74

JO - Energy Research and Social Science

JF - Energy Research and Social Science

M1 - 101954

ER -