Are High initial costs of renewable energy installation hampering mitigation efforts?
A decision on May 21, 2018, by a Nakuru court in Kenya to temporarily ban the Energy Regulation Commission (ERC) from cracking down on landlords who fail to install solar water heaters on their property has turned the spotlight on whether cost could be a barrier to the adoption of practices that promote climate change mitigation. In 2012 Kenya came up with the Energy (Solar Water Heating) Regulations, aiming to increase the use of renewable energy by residences and institutions whose occupants use more than 100 litres of heated water per day. These include residential apartments, universities, hospitals, schools and commercial laundries (dry cleaners) among others. This move was in tandem with Kenya’s desire to adopt a low carbon development pathway, having developed its National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS) in 2010. At the time of coming up with the regulations, the country had just embarked on the development of the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCAP), wh