<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2023020814028/63e39f2d9c7e80680e0d6fdfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="900"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>In Nepal, the new year coincides with a newly elected federal Parliament being installed. And as the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/new-year-challenge-to-new-government/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new government</a> takes shape, there is a lot at stake.Besides improving governance and service delivery, one of the most urgent tasks is to manage Nepal’s energy policy in 2023 and beyond.Nepal must do this not just to meet its own pledges under the Nationally Determined Commitment to decarbonise that it made to the international community, but to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/global-crisis-local-solutions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">save its economy from collapse</a> and to protect public health.The rate at which Nepal’s petroleum import is growing is economically unsustainable. It is now 20% of total imports, and more than all its exports combined. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/warning-breathing-is-hazardous-to-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Burning fossil fuels</a> is also endangering the lives of Nepalis, reducing the average lifespan of city-dwellers by up to 4 years.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/can-nepal-go-from-hydro-to-hydrogen/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Can Nepal go from hydro to hydrogen?</a>, Kunda DixitThe <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/oli-dahal-political-deja-vu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new coalition government</a> has very little excuse for not accelerating the country’s energy transition from petroleum to renewables. Nepal has all the resources, sufficient budget, and a vast array of clean energy possibilities with multi-dimensional benefits.The energy crisis must be placed front and centre in the new government’s agenda because it has implications on so many fronts, including making Nepal more politically dependent on India.Among the alternatives, Nepal’s vast hydroelectric resources can be used to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/potholes-in-the-highway-to-nepals-ev-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">power public transport</a>, domestic cooking, and industries. There are greater value-added benefits if Nepalis can use domestically-produced hydroelectricity rather than exporting it for cheap to India.Every Nepali high school student’s social studies textbook has an entire chapter devoted to the country's hydropower potential from its perennial rivers, and it is presented as the resource that will safeguard the country’s future.Ironically, it is climate-induced disasters like as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-climate-crisis-is-a-water-crisis-in-the-himalaya/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">glacial lake outburst floods</a> and high runoff that can destroy the very hydropower plants that we need as an alternative to greenhouse gases. We have seen the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-smarter-himalayan-infrastructure/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">destructive debris flows on the Melamchi </a>and Dordi Khola. Risk assessment prior to construction should now be mandatory for all riverine projects.Even though a switch to renewables is important to save the economy, nearly 70% of Nepalis still depend on biomass for domestic energy — firewood, dried dung and other farm residue. This comes with the dangers of indoor pollution, which means alternatives like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/more-bullshit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bio-CNG</a> hold much promise.Besides helping energy self-sufficiency, expanding <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/this-is-bullshit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bio-CNG and biogas production</a> in all seven provinces can generate side jobs for farmers, help in waste management, and produce organic fertiliser to reduce dependence on imported chemical fertilisers.Another much-delayed policy measure is Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)'s plan to install net metering for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/an-energy-windfall-for-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">solar power generation</a> which will allow households to feed surplus energy into the national grid, and get paid for it. Not only would this ensure energy security, it would also be an incentive for businesses to switch to clean energy. We have no idea why such a win-win policy has not been implemented yet.It is not that Nepal is moving in the wrong direction with its energy sector. There is increased awareness about the benefits of clean energy and the public, already coping with record high fuel prices, wants alternatives. But the pace at which Nepal is moving is so slow that petroleum imports are growing faster than ever.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ukraine-climate-and-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">war in Ukraine</a> has shown the world that a self-sufficient energy sector is the best thing a country can have at times of geopolitical turmoil. As far back as April 2022, the European Council had already realised the impact of a stoppage of Russian gas supply to Europe.The EU announced economic sanctions on Russia and its oligarchs, but imports of gas continued. A quarter of Europe’s gas imports were from Russia, and it needed time to switch to alternative supply sources.Much of the EU's dependency on Russian gas is fuelled by countries like Germany, Italy, France, and Spain. And Germany imported more than half of its gas from Russia before Putin’s war. Today, despite pressure to stop imports, it still imports a quarter of its gas from Russia.What has happened in Europe in the past year has been replicated across the world, including in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ukraine-crisis-hits-nepal-economy-hard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal with inflated fuel prices</a>. This shock is the right opportunity to spur policy decisions to accelerate the switch to renewable energy.Depending on fuel from abroad means that a country's economy is, to some extent, in the hands of the exporter. The exporter can choose how and when to pressurise and increase prices, as we have seen Russia doing this past year, or with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/autopsy-of-a-blockade%20,2863" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India’s Blockade of Nepal in 2015</a>.But it also means that fossil fuel exporting countries should now start planning for peak oil, and declining petroleum demand worldwide, as Europe is already seeing.Sooner or later, things will change around the world. But for Nepal, there is no sooner or later. Things must change now.

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Nepal’s energy policy in 2023 and beyond

<figure><img width="640" height="480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161128/636d191b9c7e80680e0ac7fejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: LENA QUENARD </figcaption></figure>Nepal’s diverse climate and topography favors a maximum number of species in such a small area, but this biodiversity is threatened by a climate induced water crisis. For a country that occupies only 0.1% of the total land area on the planet, Nepal is home to 3.2% of the world’s flora and 1.1% of its fauna. Its 31 national parks, six conservation areas and nature reserves extend from the Tarai plains to the high Himalaya, covering nearly a quarter of the Nepal’s area. But there is growing concern about water sources inside national parks going dry because of the impact of the climate crisis. Pumping water also needs energy, which can be expensive.This is why a pilot project in Nepal has found it useful to use solar energy to pump up groundwater to fill perennial watering holes that have gone dry.  Wild elephants require about up to 100 litres daily, and the bigger animals can drink up to  212 litres of water in less than five minutes. A tiger needs 70 litres per day, depending on the season. Tigers also need water courses to cool off during the summer months. The rhinoceros is highly dependent on water and will drink up to 72 litres per day. With Nepal’s conservation success story, national parks are getting crowded with predators and prey, increasing competition along oxbow lakes, lakes and ponds. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/naturally-nepal/">Weather extremes due to the climate</a> crisis has also made water availability more acute. Unpredictable precipitation patterns have resulted in a shortage of water in national parks, which have resulted in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke/">unprecedented wildfires</a>. The decline in water courses has also led to a drop in birdlife, including stopovers by migratory birds.Now, Bardia National Park in the western plains is experimenting with pilot solar water pumps to keep watering holes filled up so that wildlife have a place to wallow and drink. The Park has been seeing <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/its-a-jungle-out-there/">a drop in prey density mainly due to a water shortage</a>, and this is forcing tigers, rhinos and wild elephants in the park to venture out.The diversion of the Karnali River for quarrying upstream from the Park has also meant that a channel of the river that used to feed into the Park has less water in it, leading to a drop in ground water which means ponds and lakes have gone dry.Solar water pumps use photovoltaic panels to pump out the water from rivers and reservoirs, wells or boreholes and feed it directly onto fields or into a storage tank. The  water can then be used for irrigation, water livestock, household and drinking purpose.  <figure><img width="274" height="365" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161128/636d191d9c7e80680e0ac7ffjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>A solar water pump in the premises of Bardia National Park. Photo: ROSHAN KUMAR CHETTRI</figcaption></figure>Bardia’s experience has shown that solar pumps provide a more sustainable, clean, cheap and reliable source of water for wildlife and also for the indigenous communities living near the protected areas, while simultaneously reducing the carbon footprint and providing the animals with a quieter eco-friendly habitat.  This solar water pump project could be replicated in Chitwan, Parsa and other national parks which are also facing water shortages in the dry months. Solar pumps can work up to 8 hours a day to refill partially dried-up ponds and lakes while allowing the excess water to flow downstream. Studies have shown that adequate water in ponds and streams inside parks draw deer and other prey species, which means predators like tigers and leopards also have less of a need to venture out to attack livestock. Herbivores like wild elephants and rhinos also have less of a tendency to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/human-animal-interface-in-nepal-wildlife-corridor/">wander outside the park</a> in search of water or grass.All this results in a reduction of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/close-encounters-with-tigers-in-nepal/">human-animal contact</a>, which has been growing in recent years in national parks and buffer zones, especially in the Tarai.The solar pump systems in Bardia have photovoltaic modules, electric pump and a controller. The panels are usually installed up to 4m above ground level and surrounded by a trench to protect them from animals that could harm the devices. Installation, operation and maintenance of the pump is simple, with the only caveat being that the ground water level must be sufficiently high.With the cost of solar panels and pumps having gone down, it is now among the most efficient ways to channel water to the communities and to help wildlife in Nepal’s conservation areas.   <img width="79" height="109" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161128/636d191e9c7e80680e0ac800jpeg.jpg" alt="">Roshan Chhetri is a mechanical engineer, working as a Renewable Energy Officer at WindPower Nepal.

Water for Nepal’s wildlife

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb60e9c7e80680e07bc3cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="502"/><figcaption>The 100kWp Solar Mini Grid in Gutu of Surkhet. All photos: Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC)</figcaption></figure>We are at a critical moment for the future of our planet. Temperatures are rising, storms are raging, and crops are failing across the world.In the 14 months in the run-up to the next United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, we must increase climate ambition around the world to protect our planet. Nepal has an opportunity to lead the region by developing an ambitious strategy for a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/turning-green-policies-into-greenbacks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">zero-carbon economy</a> in the next 10 years.Accelerating the transition to renewable energy sources is a key part of the puzzle. Nepal is already leading the way with 95% of its electricity generation coming from <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/decentralising-hydropower/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">clean hydropower</a>, and plans in place to increase hydro production from the current 1,000MW to an ambitious 5,000MW in the next five years.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb6109c7e80680e07bc3djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><figcaption>Solar Wind Mini Grid in Mityal of Palpa.</figcaption></figure>But globally, despite the rapidly falling cost of renewables so that they are cheaper than coal and gas in most countries, over 50 countries are still planning new coal plants whilst one coal power station needs to close every day until 2040.That is why, alongside leaders in the politics, finance and technology of the global power sector, we have launched the COP26 Energy Transition Council. The UK COP26 President, Alok Sharma, will chair the council alongside the co-chair Damilola Ogunbiyi, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Sustainable Energy. The Council will harness multilateral convening power and sector expertise to more rapidly find solutions to drive forward a transition to clean energy in developing countries.The arguments for a clean energy transition are clear for Nepal. The UK is helping to invest in clean energy including hydropower where Nepal has already mobilised around $6 billion of investment. We now want to help mobilise a further $22.5 billion for hydropower investment. Investment that can create over a hundred thousand construction jobs in the next decade and generate revenue of over Rs1 trillion ($9 billion) per year if fully exploited through power exports to the region.UK Solar power support is also helping Nepal reach the government’s target of 500MW of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-biggest-solar-power-plant/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">solar production</a> and solar home systems for 600,000 households in the next five years that will reduce drudgery and air pollution impacts for women.Speeding up the move to renewables is not just good for the environment and for health, it is good for jobs and growth, too. Both <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/an-energy-windfall-for-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">solar and wind power</a> costs fell by 13% in 2018 -- and soon it will be cheaper in all countries to install new renewable capacity than to continue to run existing coal plants.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb6139c7e80680e07bc3ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><figcaption>The 80kWp Solar Wind Hybrid Mini Grid in Narakot of, Jumla.</figcaption></figure>As the International Renewable Energy Agency has shown earlier this year, boosting investment in renewables would increase jobs in the sector to 42 million globally by 2050, four times more than today.Importantly for Nepal, both hydro and solar power have the potential to attract significant private investment. This is investment that can reduce the burden on government resources whilst creating jobs in these sectors, if more investor-friendly policies are put in place.By speeding <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/build-back-greener/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the development of renewables</a>, we can both reduce emissions and support a green and resilient economic recovery.At this critical turning point for our planet, there is no time to waste.Nicola Pollitt is the British Ambassador for Nepal.

Nepal can lead in zero-carbon

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71769c7e80680e0600d1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4032" height="3024"/><figcaption>Photos: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>The increased frequency of climate-induced weather extremes and public opinion pressure are forcing even major fossil fuel exporting countries in West Asia to make a big push towards renewable energy.In January alone, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosted <a href="https://twitter.com/gulf_intel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Gulf Intelligence</a> <a href="https://www.landmark.solutions/Portals/0/LMSDocs/2020-UAE-Energy-Forum.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UAE Energy Forum</a>, the <a href="https://www.worldfutureenergysummit.com/#/">World Future Energy Summit</a>, the <a href="https://10times.com/abu-dhabi-sustainability-week">Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week</a> and a <a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/events/future-sustainability-summit/">Future Sustainability Summit</a>. February onwards, Dubai will have the <a href="https://10times.com/rseic-dubai">International Conference on Renewable and Sustainable Energy</a>, <a href="https://10times.com/icgeet-dubai">International Conference on Green Energy and Environmental Technology, </a>with a Green Week and a Congress on Biofuels and Bioenergy later this year.The UAE is the world’s 7th largest exporter of crude oil, with 5.5% of market share, but is promoting itself as a low-carbon country. <a href="https://visitabudhabi.ae/en/see.and.do/attractions.and.landmarks/iconic.landmarks/masdar.city.aspx">Masdar City</a>, a model for sustainable urban living is coming up outside Abu Dhabi which is designed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foster_and_Partners">Foster and Partners</a> architects.A 10MW solar farm outside the city provides solar power for the office buildings, which includes the regional headquarters of Siemens and <a href="https://www.irena.org/">IRENA (the International Renewable Energy Agency)</a>. Oil industry conclaves that used to focus on global price trends, prospecting and new oil fields now have plenary panels on solar and wind.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJdWiUWkDvk&amp;feature=youtu.be<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71799c7e80680e0600d2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4032" height="3024">“We are serious about energy security, and we have a strategy for an energy mix that includes renewables,” said Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy and Industry at the opening of the UAE Energy Forum earlier this month. That decarbonisation plan would mean the country by 2050 will be producing 38% of its energy from gas, 44% from renewables, 6% from nuclear and the use of clean coal will drop to 12%.In the rest of the oil-rich Gulf region, petroleum-based energy will drop from the current 91% to 41%, and renewables will go up from 9% today to 59% .Of the UAE’s 10 million population, 90% are expatriates and the country’s per capita carbon footprint is 23 tons per year. Although a low carbon trajectory would reduce total emissions, the UAE will remain a major exporter of fossil fuels into the future.Even so, the writing was on the wall in Abu Dhabi throughout January – conference delegates felt there is no option but to move from oil to more a more efficient fossil fuel like gas, and promote utility scale solar and wind.Even oil industry executives called for a green approach. Raoul Restucci, Managing Director of Petroleum Development Oman says: “Rising energy needs … climate change pressures and technological innovation mean that national oil companies must gravitate towards renewables for longer-term competitiveness and sustainability.”This year, Oman is commissioning a 100MW solar farm. Saudi Arabia is turning into ‘Solar Arabia’ by integrating Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) with its existing thermal plants to generate nearly 2GW. It is adding 300MW solar photovoltaic and a 400MW wind project, and is thinking big: generate 200GW of solar power by 2030.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b717d9c7e80680e0600d3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4032" height="3024">The UAE itself is aiming to cut CO2 emissions by 70% with Dubai installing the largest single-site solar park in the world to produce 1,000MW, which will be upgraded to 5,000MW in the next ten years. Another CSP plant will generate electricity 700MW even after dark with molten salt storage. Elsewhere, solar plants balance the fluctuation in generation by pumping water to hydropower dams, releasing the water through turbines at night.“However much we shift to renewables from transportation or electricity, we will still have to rely on oil and gas because we have to balance the baseload at night,” explains Jan Zschommler of the <a href="https://www.dnvgl.com/about/index.html">DNV GL</a>, the Norway-based sustainability consultant group.Projections show that although oil will supply 17% of the energy around the world in 2050, petroleum gas will be the primary energy source from the mid-2020s and in the next 20 years there will be a shift to non-fossil biogas.The cost of solar photovoltaic panels have dropped by more than 90% in the past ten years, and the price of lithium ion batteries have dropped by 80% and onshore wind turbines by 75% in the same period. By 2025, it will be cheaper to build and run electric cars than a petrol vehicle.However, even if half of all the cars in the world are electric, the demand of oil and gas will grow into the near future. Says Nobuo Tanaka of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation: “Peak oil will not happen before 2040 because even if light vehicles go electric there will be increased demand from aviation, ships and trucks as well as the petrochemical industry. That may be good news for the Middle East, but it bad news for the planet.”

Kunda Dixit

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Oil-rich Gulf turns to renewable energy

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108111156/636a369c9c7e80680e04831ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"/><figcaption>RENEWABLE TRANSPORT: Symbolic gestures like President Bidya Devi Bhandari using an electric limousine, and more practical tax breaks for EVs have won Nepal international praise for a proactive energy policy. However, reforms are still needed to encourage electric public transport. Pic: THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE</figcaption></figure>Residents of Kathmandu by now know that they breathe some of the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/every-breath-you-take-air-pollution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dirtiest air in the world</a>. But unlike elsewhere, that awareness has not created the public opinion pressure to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/open-air/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">force politicians to act</a>.Up to 35,000 Nepalis lose their lives annually due to diseases caused by air pollution. One in every 10 people in Kathmandu suffers from chronic lung diseases like COPD, bronchitis and emphysema. The average life expectancy of Nepalis <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/air-pollution-decreases-life-span,3999" target="_blank" rel="noopener">is reduced</a> by over two and one-half years because of air pollution.“We have seen that electric public transportation <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/guest-editorial/public-transport-is-equal-to-public-health,844" target="_blank" rel="noopener">can improve public health by reducing pollution</a>,” says Sajha Yatayat Executive Director Bhushan Tuladhar. “Recent advances in electric transport provide the solution. What is sorely lacking in Nepal is political will, long-term commitment and strategic planning for electric mobility.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=25485&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Life in the time of tornados</a>, Ajaya DixitIndeed, Nepal’s policy makers no longer have an excuse to do nothing about air pollution: they can follow the example of China and India and announce a national campaign to switch to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/cleaner-air-with-greener-buses/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">electric public transport</a>.India is rolling out 7,000 electric buses this year. The Delhi Metro is now powered by solar energy and plans to go fully solar by 2021.All 16,000 public buses in Shenzhen are electric. China has replaced all its petrol two-wheelers with electric motorcycles and scooters.Global demand for electric vehicles is rising rapidly, and manufacturers are having a hard time meeting demand, mainly because of the shortage of lithium ion batteries. The sale of electric vehicles overtook fossil-fuel cars in Norway last month.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/electri-city-cars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Electri-City Cars</a>, Sikuma Rai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/20-electric-by-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">20% electric by 2020</a>, Om Astha RaiHere in Nepal, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/electri-city-cars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">electric cars</a> now make up 10% all of all new sales. The first 40 Hyundai Kona EV sold out as soon as they arrived, and the next batch of 40 are already booked. In fact, Hyundai launched Kona in Nepal before it did so in Australia and the US. The Korean car-maker listed Nepal as a top priority market in the Asia- Pacific because of tax breaks for electric vehicles here.“We were able to convince the manufacturers that Nepal was ready to go electric because of our hydropower potential and the tax difference between electric and non-electric vehicles that showed a strong government commitment,” explained Nirakar Shrestha of Laxmi InterContinental, which represents Hyundai in Nepal.While the retail price of petrol and diesel reaches up to 261% above the cost price, electric vehicles carry just a 10% tax on the purchase price.  Electric cars are exempt from road tax, which can be Rs30-50,000 per year for fossil-fuel cars. Nepal is the only country in the world with such a huge relative tax difference.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-a-fossil-past-to-an-electric-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">From a fossil past to an electric future</a>, Om Astha Rai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/cleaner-air-with-greener-buses/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cleaner air with greener buses</a>, Bhushan Tuladhar<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108111156/636a369f9c7e80680e04831bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>However, there are still challenges to overcome before electric vehicles gain greater public acceptance, including the lack of charging stations, undependable electricity supply, and inadequate parking lots. A fast-charge electric station costs a minimum of $30,000 and can charge only 25 vehicles a day. Establishing one requires a government subsidy as well as a regulator to permit the charging of different EV models.Kathmandu Valley alone has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">750,000 motorcycles</a>, which are a major source of toxic gases like carbon monoxide and ozone. Introducing tax incentives for bikes and scooters similar to those for private cars could be a pivotal move. Also, at the moment there is no registration policy on electric two-wheelers, discouraging buyers.In October last year, Prime Minister KP Oli unveiled an <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/20-electric-by-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">electric mobility action plan</a>, proposed to transform at least 20% of the fleet of public vehicles into battery-operated ones by 2020. Amidst much fanfare he inaugurated the first five Chinese, BYD electric buses inducted by Sajha Yatayat. President Bidya Devi Bhandari herself has a BYD electric limousine.Last year, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/mayoral-airs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kathmandu Valley’s 18 mayors gathered for a workshop</a> organised by ICIMOD to discuss an air pollution reduction strategy. Since then, beyond lip service little has been done to establish electric public transport and make emission tests for fossil vehicles more effective.Local and provincial governments have shown an interest in providing financial support to develop electric public transport, but the plans are sketchy and ad hoc. A case in point is the confusing and conflicting proposals for electric bus rapid transit, monorail and light rail transit along the Ring Road. The proposals are restricted to speeches and slogans, but nothing concrete has been done.One reason is the high investment cost of electric public transport, which requires government to step in with subsidies.Over the years, revenue from the Petroleum Tax has grown to a whopping Rs5.2 billion. Some of this could be invested in a clean-energy electric transportation strategy.The Seoul-based Global Green Growth Institute (<a href="http://gggi.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GGGI</a>) has been helping the central government with just such a strategy on electric mobility, and to find potential investors. General Director Frank Rijsberman was in Kathmandu last week to sign an agreement to implement e-mobility in Nepal. GGGI is keen to help Nepal with its first purchase of 300 electric buses for cities across Nepal.  (See interview below)“Operating an electric transport fleet is more complex, requires higher initial investment and more infrastructure than traditional buses, but in the longer-term, renewable energy sources are not only ecologically but also economically viable,” said Rijsberman. “We believe that it is not only the right thing to do but also the best way of growing in the 21st century. In the coming years we hope to see a breakthrough and electric buses on the streets of Kathmandu.”Electric vehicles are now a necessity, not just an environmental statement. Neighbouring India and China have committed to manufacturing only electric automobiles by the year 2030. This means Nepal will be forced to go electric since most vehicle imports are from those two countries.Said Bhushan Tuladhar of Sajha Yatayat: “Like it or not, Nepal will have to go all electric in about a decade. So we may as well start planning for it. That way, the transition will be much smoother, efficient and advantageous.”<h2>Investing in renewables</h2><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108111156/636a36a29c7e80680e04831cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="799"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Frank Rijsberman of the Korea-based <a href="http://gggi.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global Green Growth Institute</a> was recently in town to sign an agreement with the government and Sajha Yatayat on electric mobility. Nepali Times asked him about the future of electric public transport globally and in Nepal.Nepali Times: Why is your Global Green Growth Institute so involved in electric mobility around the world?Frank Rijsberman: We are a young intergovernmental organisation set up in 2012 with 32 member countries and 20 more in the process of becoming members, like Nepal. We help governments plan green growth, a model of economic development that is both more environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive. In Nepal, we helped the government develop a national electric mobility strategy, and we have also helped members mobilise $1 billion in climate finance.We are also working to make cities greener by managing water, sanitation and solid waste. I met with Nepal’s minister of forests and environment and he asked us if we could start working on forests as our next priority. We have done similar work in Indonesia and Myanmar, and that is likely to be our next priority here.Do you see Asian countries moving towards renewable energy?It is challenging to switch from big investments in coal and nuclear energy, because all those investments have become stranded assets. China and India are making enormous progress in renewable energy. Many other Asian countries are a bit behind — Vietnam is still planning to build 25 new coal fire power plants. We are working with governments to introduce large-scale renewable energy sources. The private sector will invest only if the government has the right policy, so we work with governments for that.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/from-playing-victim-to-proactive-leadership-on-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">From playing victim to proactive leadership on climate</a>How can Nepal mitigate on carbon, while adapting to climate change?Adaptation is still very much the number one priority for Nepal but it must grow to middle-income status by 2030, without increasing emissions, by investing in renewable energy. This is now the cheapest form of energy and decentralised solar energy is a much easier way to reach remote communities that were very poorly served by a centralised grid.So I would call it adaptation with mitigation co-benefits. It may well be possible to trade those emissions with countries that should reduce more but cannot on their own. You can have mitigation measures too, but the first priority for countries like Nepal that rely on agriculture is to make sure that society is no longer vulnerable and is more resilient to climate change.Also, many governments still want growth. But the quality of growth really matters; it should be environmentally sustainable. It used to be the right thing to do, but being sustainable is also commercially attractive.What progress are other Asian countries making to become low-carbon economies?China has become a real leader in electric transport. Shenzhen is the first city in the world with an all-electric fleet of buses. Beijing has also taken big steps in curbing air pollution. India has also made considerable progress in renewable energy. The next big thing will be energy efficiency in buildings.What are the prospects for electric public transport in Nepal?We have done electric bus projects in a number of countries and while it is more expensive initially, and also for infrastructure like charging stations and batteries, its operational cost is much cheaper. We are helping the Nepal Government find interested investors, and hope to see a breakthrough in coming years with electric buses on the streets of Kathmandu.

Sonia Awale

Nepal’s electric transport future is here

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108111156/636a36999c7e80680e048319jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Tornado in Bara. Photo: RSS</figcaption></figure>This is the season for windstorms, and even though the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/groound-zero-in-pheta/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whirlwind</a> that hit the central Tarai on 31 March killing 28 people was a freak event, it was not the first to touch down in our part of the world.Novelist Amitabh Ghosh begins his 2016 non-fiction book, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/book-reviews-new-year-2074,3654" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable</a>, with his personal encounter with a funnel-shaped tornado that struck New Delhi on 17 March 1978. It killed 70 and injured 700 in just 2 minutes.Ghosh writes that the Indian Meterological Service said at the time: ‘This was, in effect, the first tornado to hit Delhi—and indeed the entire region—in recorded meteorological history.’Birganj-based journalist Chandra Kishore remembers a similar devastating vortex that destroyed parts of his Tarai village in the mid-1980s. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/toll-expected-to-double-to-50-in-tornado/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In Pheta</a> on the night of 31 March, most of the deaths were due to poorly built structures, not the actual tornado, proving once again that it is shoddily-built houses that kill people not natural events.When Ghosh encountered the tornado in 1978 in New Delhi, the Earth’s atmosphere had 334ppm (parts per million) of carbon dioxide. In the 19th century, before the industrial age, it was 280ppm. By 2019, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has increased to 411ppm, most of it because of fossil fuel emissions.With so much carbon in the atmosphere, climate change is no longer something that will happen in a distant future — <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-terrifying-assessment-of-himalayan-melting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">it is happening now</a>. Events like the Tarai tornado are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-new-normal-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our new normal</a> and highlight the growing impacts of an erratic climate and its rising social and economic cost. No country is immune, all countries have to adapt and also cut their emissions by switching to renewable energy.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=25490&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal's electric transport future is here</a>, Sonia AwaleNepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) collects wind speed data at the airport to assist flight operations, for academic assessment of wind energy potentials and for designing buildings and infrastructure. Wind hazards have always been there, but death and destruction of the scale that Pheta witnessed has not been part of our understanding.As an under-budgeted and under-staffed entity, the DHM has the lowest priority from the Nepali state, preventing it from becoming a repository of climate knowledge. As one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, Nepal needs to upgrade its weather forecasting and early warning.The Pheta tragedy revealed a major gap in the DHM’s ability to ‘nowcast’ weather, the process of warning people about what is likely to happen in the next few hours at a spatial resolution of a few square kilometres. The department needs to be able to provide local, short-term forecasting, perhaps by collaborating with others like Tribhuvan University’s Physics Department.The twister also exposed gaps in our <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/disastrous-management-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disaster management institutions</a>. Nepal’s 2017 Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act has replaced the 1982 Natural Calamity Relief Act, so there are now 15 legal tools and guidelines covering the entire disaster cycle. However, these have not been contextualised for our local situation, where the understanding of national policies and laws is still limited.The Ministry of Home Affairs held a meeting of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committee on 5 April, chaired by the Home Affairs Minister himself. It issued a 13-point decision to expedite relief and increase preparedness for the coming monsoon season.Province 2 has also taken a number of decisions including one to build prefabricated houses for the Pheta victims within four months. The government in Kathmandu, however, decided to assign the Nepal Army to rebuild the damaged houses. The army played a commendable role in rescue and relief efforts during the 2015 earthquake and in other disasters, but it is worth asking why it needs to be involved in reconstruction of private homes.The Nepal Army is there to defend our borders and be the first responder in a disaster; building houses is not its job. Reconstruction requires working iteratively with local governments to support victims in self-recovery and building back safer without reproducing past vulnerabilities. The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) already has a track record of helping earthquake-affected families build houses, and it could have easily been assigned that responsibility in Pheta.Such complex institutional dynamics often create more constraints than solutions, at a time when there are new challenges due to climate change-induced disasters. Nepal’s national, provincial and local governments, and society by and large, do not have the necessary wherewithal to adapt and are the least prepared. The poor are the most vulnerable, and as Pheta proved, are likely going to pay the highest price.Ajaya Dixit is Executive Director of Kathmandu based ISET-Nepal. His monthly column Climate for Change deals with the impact of global warming in Nepal.

Life in the time of tornadoes

<figure><img width="1000" height="1500" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101128/636a213f9c7e80680e041736jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Kim So-young, a leader of Seongdaegol energy transition movement in climate litigation fundraising night. Photo: SEULKI LEE</figcaption></figure>Helplessness and depression. That was how the Fukushima Disaster in 2011 affected middle-aged Seoul resident Kim So-young. A mother of teenage twin girls, Kim recalls the day of the nuclear meltdown in neighbouring Japan as a metanoia in her life.Now, other women like Kim are reacting the same way to the impact of climate change on erratic weather patterns in the Korean Peninsula.“I was actively mobilising mothers to run children’s library, but the moment I heard about Fukushima, I felt children’s education was futile if there was not going to be a future,” Kim, 47, said. “My instinct told me that what matters for our childrenis not a success but a physical survival.”The Fukushima nuclear disaster revived Korea’s mass environmental movement, and reset it to deal with the country’s energy transition away from fossil fuels to renewables. South Korea’s anti-nuclear movement since 1987 following the Chernobyl disaster resonated with public, especially mothers.A senior feminist researcher and current Gender Equality Minister Jung Hyun-baek notes that women in their 30s and 40s have emerged as key players in the anti-nuclear movement because of their concern about radioactive contamination. She notes in her 2013 paper in the Korean feminist journal Feminist Research that the anti-nuclear activism has now taken on climate change. <figure><img width="960" height="720" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101128/636a21429c7e80680e041737jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Women in anti-nuclear action in Seoul. Photo: SEONGDAEGOL ENERGY SUPERMARKET / FACEBOOK </figcaption></figure>South Korea has 24 nuclear power plants in service, and two of these were commissioned after the Fukushima accident. According to Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, five additional nuclear plants are under construction and all to be completed by 2030.Even after witnessing the nuclear power plant accidents in neighboring Japan, South Korean government has added nuclear power and is eying the export of nuclear energy technology to other countries like UK and Saudi Arabia.“In fact, current electricity supply exceeds our demand. We don’t need another nuclear power plant, we could actually shut down some of existing plants,”said Kim Bok-nyeo, a director of Won Buddhism Environmental Solidarity Institute of Anti-Nuclear Information Research.Total electricity consumption in South Korea was 497TWh while the total supply was 540TWh with a 43TWh surplus in 2016. Kim argues that the country can immediately close down all 24 nuclear plants when its total electricity generation is 22.5GW.Civil society is dismayed that the current Moon Jae-in administration is planning to expand nuclear power till 2022 when there will be 27 nuclear plants of 27.5GW, and only then reduce them to 18 nuclear plants of 20.4GW capacity in 2030.In July 2011, Kim So-young from Seongdaegol, home to 24,000 households in Seoul, started to call and send emails asking for support to environmental groups in the country drawing attention to nuclear energy but to no avail. So, Kim just got her community to conduct a nuclear energy study group with youths in the children’s library during summer vacation.Her initiative took off after securing a seed fund of $2,000 from the local environmental NGO Green Korea. Since then ‘Seongdaegol Energy Supermarket’ under Kim’s leadership went viral as a success story of community-based energy transition and climate change action in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. <figure><img width="960" height="720" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101128/636a21459c7e80680e041738jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Seodaegol Energy Supermarket is a renewable energy cooperative led by community women. The main project is to sell micro-solar panel with financing package. Photo: SEONGDAEGOL ENERGY SUPERMARKET / FACEBOOK</figcaption></figure>The Supermarket is a renewable energy business cooperative, designed to make profit by selling energy-saving home appliances, installing micro-solar panels with financing packages and giving extracurricular classes on climate change and energy to secondary school students. The cooperative now employs five full-time staff, all mothers, and strictly keeps to the founding motto ‘make profit from energy transition to renewable energy in the community’.“We could continue doing this for last eight years because our approach was to establish a community energy business model and we never worked for free. If we did it as public service and one-time campaigns, we will not be able to penetrate the mind of busy and practical Seongdaegol community,” explained Kim.Visitors to Seongdaegol notice the relatively large number of female elderly population. The Seongdae traditional market is crowded with old women in shopping trolleys. The alley ways between houses could become an open kitchen for mothers when making Kimchi in a large volume.“There used to be a big traditional market along the main road, but it lost its vitality. However, the traditional ‘Maeul’ or village community spirit of mutual help lives on,” said Park Il-woo the owner of Daeryuk bookstore in Seongdae Market.With this community bond, women gave birth to three energy cooperatives in the community, middle school, and traditional marketwith 600 members. The Seongdaegol model inspired the Seoul metropolitan government to officially launch the Energy Self-reliant Villages Project and One Less Nuclear Power Plant policy in 2012.Kim So-young emphasised the importance and benefits of women’s leadership in the community-level movement. “Mothers hold the remote control and the knife. Which means they can control day-do-day  energy and material use,” said Kim So-young.For 2019, the Seongdaegol community is looking at the first-ever Korean youth climate litigation. About 50 youths and nine lawyers are studying the similar cases from US and Japan. The decision came after local legislative election in June 2018 when young Koreans learnt that not a single candidate addresses climate change issue in their manifesto.Unlike in 2011, the youth climate litigation team now has support of members of environmental NGO, Seoul metropolitan government, the Green Party, and presidential advisory board. After the fundraising event ‘Hotter the Love, Cooler the Earth’, the team raised over $10,000.The litigation team foresees challenges in every step of the process. The social stigma of anti-government civic group toward youth is another concern of supporting adults.“We are talking about possible consequences based on our experience in history, but the youth are very cool and fully committed because the climate change is about their future and a matter of justice,” said Kim.

Korean women mitigate climate change

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171136/636934be9c7e80680e03e013jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="2250"/><figcaption>Photo: BIKARM RAI</figcaption></figure>Before going to bed, our grandmothers always soaked lentils and beans in water overnight to save energy. The next morning, they put the soaked beans in the sun to pre-heat the water, then wrapped it all up in a clean white cloth and boiled it one pot. The product was tasty, but more importantly, the process saved energy.Today, we change light bulbs to LED, get ‘five star’ energy efficient refrigerators, use rice cookers and induction stoves. All this also has a lot to do with saving energy, just like our grandmothers.At a recent event organised by the Town Development Fund (TDF) for local government leaders to help them plan electricity usage, conduct energy audits and look at financing options for local energy efficiency, it became clear that a watt saved was not a watt generated. It was two watts generated.The reason energy saved is twice generated is the escalating costs of power projects, leakage, pilferage, system losses, over capacity of equipment, wastage, negligence, use of sub-standard equipment – all at the demand end.Local governments have to pay for street lights, water and sewage pumping stations, buildings and offices, space heating and canteens, garbage collection and other vehicles. The bills add up quickly. With elected leadership in 753 local governments, energy saved will not just mean more energy for others but can also help meet more pressing needs.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-a-fossil-past-to-an-electric-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">From a fossil past to an electric future</a>, Om Astha Rai<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Analysis/Generating-more-power-by-saving-energy-loadshedding-Nepal,931" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Generating more power by saving energy</a>, Bishal ThapaSome may argue that this is not on top of our priority list. In reality, given the escalating costs and the fact that many Nepalis depend on regular electricity supply, it would be the right thing to do.The TDF is proposing an award for the most <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19936#.W_-Z3dszbIV" target="_blank" rel="noopener">energy efficient</a> local government. Only 3% percent of our energy needs comes from electricity, 10% from petroleum and the bulk from <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/biomass-energy-for-nepal-plains,2098" target="_blank" rel="noopener">biomass</a>. But no one has forgotten the Indian blockade and how it was used as a geopolitical bargaining chip. We can all do our part by conducting simple energy audits at home and our place of work to find where the leakages, wastage and inefficiencies are, and then invest in minimising them. The payback period for investment in energy efficiency is very quick.Markets can and do change people’s behaviour. During <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/As-It-Happens/blockade-that-benefitted-no-one,660" target="_blank" rel="noopener">difficult times</a> like prolonged road strikes and natural disasters, every home looks for efficient ways to cook, light up, heat and pump. Experience tells us that shifting rooms to the north facing side of the house in summer and moving to the south in winter can mean a difference of 10o Celsius in indoor temperature. The challenge is to scale these ideas across a municipality or the whole country.Land acquisition for building large <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-cost-of-light/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hydropower</a> projects cost money and time, building transmission lines is a complicated and expensive process. Add to this the cost of pilferage and leakage and it is clear that energy saved means energy generated multiplied by two.Indeed, if we continue on the path we are on, this ratio could actually increase over time. This year, the Nepal Electricity Authority celebrated Tihar with lights and no power outage, but few knew it was because of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepal-india-thermal-power,3570" target="_blank" rel="noopener">electricity imports</a> from India. This makes us more and more dependent geopolitically on our neighbour.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/electri-city-cars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Electri-City Cars</a>, Sikuma RaiOver the past decades, we have seen the emergence of companies that implement <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-turns-to-solar-and-batteries-to-meet-peak-demand/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">solar</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nature-calls/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">biogas</a> programs. The time is now right for companies that wish to do energy efficiency projects.Oh, by the way. When was the last time you cleaned the windows to let more sunlight in, or whitewashed the darker walls of the house or office to enable a lower watt light bulb? Every watt counts.Anil Chitrakar is President of Siddharthinc

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