Routledge Building Innovation Capabilities for Sustainable Industrialisation: Renewable Electrification in Developing Economies (Pathways to Sustainability)

This book argues that renewable electrification in developing countries provides important opportunities for local economic development, but new pathways are required for turning these opportunities into successful reality. Building Innovation Capabilities for Sustainable Industrialisation offers a novel input into the debate on development of capabilities for sustainable industrialisation and delivers key insights for both researchers and policy makers when it comes to the question of how to increase the economic co-benefits of renewables expansion. The chapters in the book use a tailored analytical framework in their studies of renewable electrification efforts in Kenya and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. They draw on a mix of project, sector and country level case studies to address questions such as: What capabilities are developed through on-going renewable electrification projects in developing economies? How can the expansion of renewable electrification be supported in a way that also encourages sustainable economic development? What role do international linkages (South-South and North-South) play and what role should they play in the greening of energy systems in developing economies? The authors provide a new understanding of how green transformation and sustainable industrialisation can be combined, highlighting the opportunities and constraints for local capability building and the scope for local policy action. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of development studies, energy studies, sustainability and sustainable development, as well as practitioners and policy makers working in development organisations and national governments. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003054665, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Review Capacity mobilisation and capacity building are central to achieving the goals of the climate regime of the Paris Agreement. However, capacity building initiatives have largely failed as they were hitherto not sufficiently focused on local agendas and self-reliance. This timely book provides useful guidance for change in this respect. Putting local actors first, it provides fresh perspectives to the debate about the economic co-benefits of climate action, especially business development, jobs and technological learning. Focusing on insights from renewable electrification experiences in East Africa, the authors provide compelling arguments and guidance for ambitious policies and capacity-building initiatives to capture the gains from the greening of energy systems. It is a must read for scholars and policymakers who are interested in local determination and participation in the transition to low carbon energy regimes.Youba Sokona, Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Innovation and Renewable Electrification in Kenya (IREK) project’s book on Building innovation capabilities for sustainable industrialization is a great insight of the capability development in renewable energy processes in East Africa and the challenges faced in renewable energy access and adoption in today’s fast changing and evolving East African market. The book provides excellent advice on how to build effective and resilient renewable energy systems that create manufacturing jobs and whose deployments generate highly skilled service employment that can contribute to the economic growth of the East African states. A book well worth reading by academic researchers as well as policy makers and practitioners with an interest in renewable energy pathways and related discussions on capabilities for sustainable industrialization.Dr. Edward Mungai, CEO Kenya Climate Innovation Group The effective development and diffusion of green technologies is critical to development in sub-Saharan Africa. The major strength of