Essay On Renewable Energy In Nepal

1. Introduction

1.1 Background:

Nepal is a very geographically diverse country as its terrain changes drastically from one end of the country to the other. Ranging from the ‘Tarai or flat river plain of the Ganges in south, central hill region, rugged Himalayas in north.' The Gorkha district is located in the hilly region of Nepal. Majority of the population do not have access to fundamental energy services and are unable to afford commercial fuels such as LPG gas and/or kerosene. Communities in regions where natural resources such as the heat, wind and water offer potential sources of renewable energy, generally lack the knowledge and competence required to make pivotal decisions based on the most relevant systems and their installation

Nepal’s dependence on imported fossil fuels (4.5% of Nepal’s total energy consumption) is slowly reducing due to the locally operated micro hydroelectric projects. Despite Nepal’s hydropower generation potential of 42,000 megawatts, the implementation of large capacity hydroelectric projects has been hindered due to high capital costs, minimal industrialization levels, and poor infrastructure and therefore a total of only 240 megawatts of power are generated by large projects

1.2 Purpose:

The purpose of this report is to investigate alternative renewable energy sources, which can potentially reduce dependence on fossil fuels within the Gorkha community, and develop a solution that satisfies specific criteria and is highly beneficial to the Gorkha community in relation to renewable energy sources.

1.3

Non-refined or unprocessed traditional energy sources are relied heavily on by majority of the non-electrified rural communities. These sources of energy comprise firewood, agricultural residues, animal waste and charcoal in order to satisfy their daily energy demands for cooking, heating and lighting. Nepal is one of the least developed countries in the world with 83% of the population living in rural areas . The pattern of energy consumption in Nepal is negligible, unreliable and dominated by traditional biomass based on generation of energy . The rural population of Gorkha has been forced to use inefficient and health hazardous solid biomass energy for their household purposes, due to lack of financial and technical capabilities

Nepal consists of water resources estimated to possess a theoretical hydropower potential of 83,000 megawatts, of which only 42,000 megawatts is accessible. However despite the country’s large potential in hydropower, it has not been able to effectively utilize this energy due to financial and technical limits. Forests, which are a main resource of biomass energy, have already been utilized beyond its sustainable capacity and are becoming a scarce resource of