There is a well-established link between household access to energy and poverty alleviation. There is also a strong link between household poverty and vulnerability to climate change impacts. In turn, household dependence on fire wood can impact negatively on ecological resilience of an area to climate change.
Increasingly there is also an understanding that an integrated approach to energy services, rather than just supplying electricity, is an important poverty and services approach in the country.
The project has three areas of focus:

1. Developing research and a research network with a focus on urban energy poverty;
2. Undertaking pilot implementation of alternative energy services within the municipalities of Polokwane and Cape Town;
3. Supporting local and national integrated household energy services policy and national capacity in this area.