For Renewable Energy
THOUGH Nepal’s rate of per capita energy
consumption is one of the lowest in the world, the Nepalese in general face great
hardships in meeting their energy needs. The living standards being poor, the average
Nepalese consumes much less energy than what is needed for him and his family, with all
that it implies in terms of privation and productivity. For an average Nepali villager,
fulfilling the partial daily energy needs itself is a difficulty chore, often demanding a
great deal of time and energy from one or more members of the family. Firewood is a major
source of meeting energy needs for the rural Nepalese. With rising population, traditional
non-renewable sources like forest, are just not enough to meet the energy needs. It is
against this background that alternative sources of energy have to be tapped. It is only
logical that as far as practicable renewable sources of energy be utilized. Sadly, in
Nepal, for all the rhetorics in favour of renewable energy, active interventions to
encourage use of such sources are lacking. The fuel import bill of Nepal continues to
balloon. It is not that there are no means to extract renewable energy that are around us.
Worried by a future scenario where fossil fuel is run out by the middle of this century if
the current rate of consumption remains unchanged, the western world has developed
alternative technologies, many of which are getting popular. Naturally, countries like
Nepal where development of renewable energy is crucial and possible, transfer of
appropriate technologies or development of indigenous technologies should receive utmost
priority. As said by a speaker at a four-day awareness programme on Renewable Energy
Technologies (RETs) in Kathmandu on Thursday, an efficient application of renewable energy
technologies would increase the possibilities of the generation of cleaner form of energy,
especially in areas without the national electricity grid.
Considering that only a little over 15 per
cent of Nepalese have access to electricity, promoting such technologies at the village
level is vital if the acute needs of energy of the poor people are to be met. The local
resource for power—for example, small hydels—is best developed and useful if it
is owned and handled by the people themselves. By giving these villagers a tool to go for
renewable energy and thus move away from traditional non-renewable sources for fulfilling
their energy needs, the government could tangibly improve their socio-economic conditions.
In other words, bettering the lives of most of the rural folks of Nepal could actually
mean renewable energy being considered as the main energy source, not just as an
alternative.
Keeping Land Wet
NEPAL was a leading exporter of agricultural
produce in South Asia. There were fewer people and more production. That was about three
decades back. In the later years, the trends reversed. Nepal’s population began to
increase and the gross domestic production went on the decline. The state failed to arrest
the trends. Massive deforestation aggravated the situation further. While the increasing
population meant more hungry stomachs depending on the scarce resources and produce, the
fast depleting forests not only reduced the chances of seasonal rainfall, but also invited
natural calamities. Floods, landslides and long spell of drought in turn reduced the
inherent capacity of the land productivity. Again, the state failed to make appropriate
interventions in the form of agriculture inputs, such as improved seeds and fertilizers,
let alone the most important infrastructure – irrigation to the cultivable lands. In
the absence of irrigation facilities, Nepal’s average production of rice, the staple
food of the people, is merely 2.9 tons/ha. The average production of other food grains and
cereal crops is no better in a country, which has been able to irrigate only a fraction
(one million ha) of the arable land. This has been possible due mainly to the small-scale
irrigation schemes that Nepal has moved on. As of now, there are 231 irrigation systems in
total, about 70 per cent of them managed by the farmers themselves. These schemes, known
as Farmers Managed Irrigation System, are said to be operating satisfactorily and are
responsive to the local needs and services. That is why, according to experts, these
schemes have outperformed the agency managed irrigation schemes all over the world. Nepal,
with 48 such schemes, can not be an exception. While big irrigation projects have either
collapsed or failed to perform up to the level expected, the farmer managed schemes do
keep our farms wet. The sad thing is that the area of coverage of such schemes are low by
their very nature. Farmers in Nepal are badly in need of irrigation facilities, which are
better managed because the stakeholders own them up. Therefore, Nepal should expedite
efforts to establish a nationwide chain of more manageable, effective irrigation schemes
managed by the farmers. Increased irrigation to the barren lands is the only answer to the
needs of the Nepalese farmers. |
