Bioenergy for Sustainable Development

Abstract

Bioenergy deployment will be a central part of clean energy strategies across the Global South. It can be achieved in a way that compliments wider sustainable development goals however the socio-technological elements of this transition are not yet well understood. Previous research has been focused on the developing and demonstrating the technologies necessary to enable such a transition but has not yet widely considered the social implications of upscaling bioenergy in an emerging economy. This thesis considers a contextual case study, the Malawian bioenergy sector, using a heuristic conceptual and methodological framework that combines elements of the Multi-Level Perspective, Strategic Niche Management, Social Network Analysis and Grounded Theory. This thesis details the extent of activities and dynamics of historical and contemporary regime, and niche level actors within the Malawian bioenergy sector to reveal inherent barriers to, and opportunities for, niche empowerment and regime change. It identifies the integration of expertise (both through academic and indigenous context specific knowledge) into decision making to maximise potential project synergies with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the importance of sectoral network institutions, and the empowerment of decentralised power structures to enhance democratisation and visioning of niche innovations as key governance targets. It concludes by proposing a series of recommendations and regime priorities that could optimise system structure and promote wide-scale deployment of emerging technologies and increasing the impact of bioenergy transitions as contributing to the SDGs for use in wider emerging economies in sub-Saharan Africa and refines them for specific use in the Malawian context.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Sarah Mander (Supervisor) & Admos Chimhowu (Supervisor)