Semantic Sandbox
[Show/hide] Introduction
Nepal has no known major oil, gas, or coal reserves, and its position in the Himalayas makes it hard to reach remote and extremely remote communities. Consequently, most Nepali citizens have historically met their energy needs with biomass, human labor, imported kerosene, and/or traditional water powered vertical axis mills, yet per capita energy consumption is thus “startlingly low” at one-third the average for Asia as a whole and less than one-fifth the worldwide average. In 2010, Nepal’s electrification rate was only 53 percent (leaving 12.5 million people without electricity) and 76 percent depended on fuelwood for cooking (meaning 20.22 million people placed stress on Nepali forests for their fuel needs). This situation has led some experts to call the country’s energy portfolio “medieval” in the fuels it uses and “precarious” in the load shedding that occurs throughout Kathmandu, due to an imbalance between electricity supply and demand. Nepal, however, has all it needs to escape these problems. Large markets for improved cookstoves, biogas digesters, and solar lanterns exist throughout the country. Independent scientific studies have calculated that the country could meet all if its own energy needs—indeed, even the potential needs of Nepal plus many of its neighbors—if it tapped its solar resources or its hydroelectric resources (and potentially its wind resources). These efforts could be complemented with attempts to strengthen energy efficiency planning, with significant potential for transmission upgrades and retrofits and more efficient lighting practices.[1]
[Show/hide] Energy Situation
Nepal's total energy consumption in 2010 was about 428 PJ (10,220 ktoe). New renewable energy sources (excluding large hydropower) such as biogas, micro hydro and solar energy contributed about 0.7% to the national balance in 2008/09 altogether. Although the share is still small, it has increased by 40 % since 2005.
[1]The use of primary energy sources is distributed as follows: [2]
Energy Consumption
Nepal's total energy consumption in 2010 was about 428 PJ (10,220 ktoe). New renewable energy sources (excluding large hydropower) such as biogas, micro hydro and solar energy contributed about 0.7% to the national balance in 2008/09 altogether. Although the share is still small, it has increased by 40 % since 2005.
[1]The use of primary energy sources is distributed as follows: [3]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 _ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "UNDP Country brief" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "UNDP Country brief" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) Clean Energy Information Portal, Energy Profile Nepal (Vienna: REEEP Secretariat, 2012)
- ↑ Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) Clean Energy Information Portal, Energy Profile Nepal (Vienna: REEEP Secretariat, 2012)
