1.
Children and Energy
26 MARCH 2018
Jiska de Groot, Shanon Lusinga, Debbie Sparks and Mascha Moorlach
Energy Research Centre University of Cape Town

2.
THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION
IS DRAWN FROM THE THESIS
“ An exploratory study into energy
consumption activities, energy-saving
activities, and the factors that influence
energy saving among grade 7 children in
Khayelitsha, Cape Town”
BY MS SHANON LUSINGA AS PART OF HER
MPHIL IN ENERGY STUDIES (2017)
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3.
CONTENTS
 BACKGROUND
 OBJECTIVE
 METHOD
 CASE STUDY SITE
 KEY FINDINGS
 FURTHER RESEARCH
 QUESTIONS
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4.
BACKGROUND: THE ROLE OF ENERGY IN
SOCIETY
 Energy drives most daily activities and
economies
 Energy access plays a role in the development
of children
 Mitigation has focused on reducing carbon
based fuel use and increasing renewables &
energy efficient technologies
 Behavioural change also encouraged
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5.
BACKGROUND: ABSENCE OF CHILDREN IN
CURRENT ENERGY RESEARCH
 Energy use and saving studies have focused on
adults
 Children are an important group of energy users
 Recent research has focused on developed
countries.
 Little is known about children’s energy behaviour
in developing countries
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6.
WHAT DOES THIS STUDY SET OUT TO DO?
 To explore energy behaviour in children using a
case study and mixed-methods methods in a low-
income community in SA
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7.
METHOD
Research participants
Methods Children Parents Educator
Survey √ (n=90) √ (n= 57)
Focus group
discussion
√ (n=12)
Interview √ (n=1)
Dairies √ (n=43)
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8.
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9.
South Africa’s Energy Landscape
 Fourth most unequal society in the world - Gini
coefficient: 0.63
 Electrification rate increased from 36% in 1996 to 85.5% in
2015
 Energy poverty remains prevalent: a quarter of SA
households indicated energy available to them inadequate
 Multiple fuel use: biomass, coal, paraffin and kerosene
are common
 +/- 43% of SA households use multiple fuel sources for
lighting, cooking, space-heating and heating bath water.
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10.
CASE STUDY SITE:
KHAYELITSHA
 Established 1983, hosts approx. 400 000
people
 55% made up of shacks in informal areas or
the backyards of formal dwellings
 Most formal houses in Khayelitsha are small:
2 to 4 rooms.
 Largely black South Africans and African
migrants.
 28.1% of the population is aged 0–14 years.
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11.
ENERGY USE IN KHAYELITSHA
Electricity Gas Paraffin Wood Candles Coal Dung Solar None Other
Cooking 75.2% 12% 12.1% 0.1% - 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.3% 0.1%
Lighting 80.8% 0.4% 14.6% - 3.8% - - 0.2% 0.2% -
Heating 20.6% 3.4% 55.6% 0.3% - 0.3% 0.1% 0.3% 19.4% -
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 Electricity used mainly for cooking and lighting and paraffin for heating
 Other essential services poor

12.
FINDINGS: A SNAPSHOT
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13.
Behavioural Settings
Energy use inside the home environment
 Cooking
 Lighting
 Heating
 Appliance Use
Energy use outside the home
 School (computers, switching on/off lights)
 Church (switching on/off lights)
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14.
Cooking behaviour
 43 diaries submitted
 88% of children cooked/preparing a meal
 Consistent with studies in developed countries.
 BUT children in this study prepared meals for
families independently, using electric stoves.
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15.
Lighting behaviour
 All 42 children used energy for
lighting
 Almost all children used
electricity
 Switching on lights the most
common behaviour among the
children studied.
 In the home environment and
outside
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16.
Heating behaviour
 Space-heating
35.7% of the 42 children wrote in their
diaries about the use of heaters.
Most used electric, gas or paraffin stand-
alone units
 Water-heating
Children use geysers or kettles to get hot
water.
33.3% reported using a geyser.
52.4% mention boiling water with a kettle
to wash themselves, their dishes and
clothes. ERC

17.
Appliance Use
 50% reported ironing clothes and some
used hairdryers.
 Studies in the literature did not report
ironing as part of children’s energy use.
 Switching on TVs, video games and
radios were recorded as part of energy,
consistent with studies abroad.
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18.
Computer Use
 Computers did not feature in energy
behaviours of reporting period,
despite computer lesson at school.
 Possibly computers already started up
when children used them?
 Children do not necessarily
personalise their energy activities
outside the home environment (other
studies support this).
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19.
FURTHER RESEARCH
 Socio-cultural differences in energy use between
the different geographical areas (e.g. ironing)
which could be further explored.
 Gaining insight on differences between children
who take responsibility for energy used outside
the home environment and those who do not.
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20.
We are looking to build further on this research
theme and would welcome collaboration with
interested researchers.
JISKA DE GROOT
Email: Jiska.degroot@uct.ac.za
University of Cape Town
Energy Research Centre
Private Bag X3
Rondebosch, 7701
ERC
Going forward