Household transitions to clean energy from traditional biomass in Nepal: Challenges and opportunities

Authors

  • Sunil Malla Independent Researcher

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/nppr.v1i1.43420

Keywords:

Clean energy transitions, Biomass, Electricity, Nepal, Households

Abstract

In recent years, the Nepal government has recognized and prioritized several clean energy initiatives in its national plans and policies. Despite this, more than two-thirds of households still rely on traditional biomass, as their primary source of energy, for cooking and heating, making the household fuelwood consumption per person in Nepal among the highest in the world. However, why households’ transitions to clean energy for cooking is slow has been poorly understood. Using energy-specific information from the World Bank’s Multi-Tier Framework (MTF) survey and the Nepal government’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), the cooking and heating energy consumption situation of households across the provinces by rural and urban areas is analyzed briefly. Also, a simple levelized cost of cooking is estimated using different fuel-technology combinations. The main findings of this paper are: limited availability, unreliable supply and high costs are hindering households’ transitions to clean energy from traditional biomass; the combination of fuelwood, liquified petroleum gas and other clean energy sources (multiple fuel stacking) are common within the same household; and, the use of biogas, and to some extent, solar power, for cooking is limited to scale and geographical location. It is expected that electricity will be the most economic and common primary clean cooking energy option for households in the future provided that the government has the policy to address the reliability concerns of electricity and that it is affordable for lowincome households.

Author Biography

Sunil Malla, Independent Researcher

Sunil Malla is an independent research consultant. Sunil is also currently working as a shortterm consultant for the World Bank. Before becoming an independent consultant, he worked as a senior researcher and faculty (adjunct) at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand. He has also worked as a researcher and a consultant for United Nations Environment Programme and Asian Development Bank. His multidisciplinary research focuses on modeling, management, and policy options in innovative sustainable energy development, energy markets, energy efficiency, air pollution, and access to clean energy cooking with special emphasis on developing countries. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Hawai’i – Manoa (USA), M.E. in energy technology from AIT (Thailand), and B.E. in electrical engineering from the National Institute of Technology – Rourkela (India)

References

Acharya, B., and Adhikari, S. (2021). Household energy consumption and adaptation behavior during crisis: Evidence from Indian economic blockade on Nepal. Energy Policy 148. doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111998

Acharya, B., and Marhold, K. (2019). Determinants of household energy use and fuel switching behavior in Nepal. Energy 169, 1132-1138. doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.12.109

ADB (2017). Nepal energy sector assessment, strategy, and road map. Manila: Asian Development Bank (ADB).

AEPC (2021). Policy documents. Kathmandu: Alternative Energy and Promotion Centre (AEPC). https://www.aepc.gov.np/

AEPC (2015). Biogas As Renewable source of energy in Nepal: Theory and development. Kathmandu: Alternative Energy and Promotion Centre (AEPC).

Amacher, G. S., Hyde, W. F., and Kanel, K. R. (1999). Nepali fuelwood production and consumption: Regional and household distinctions, substitution and successful intervention. The Journal of Development Studies 35(4), 138-163. doi: 10.1080/00220389908422584

Baland, J.-M., Libois, F., and Mookherjee, D. (2018). Forest Degradation and Economic Growth in Nepal, 2003–2010. Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists 5(2), 401-439. doi: 10.1086/695690

Baland, J.-M., Bardhan, P., Das, S., Mookherjee, D., and Sarkar, R., (2003). The environmental impact of poverty: evidence from firewood collection in rural Nepal. Economic Development and Cultural Change 59(1), 23-61. doi: 10.1086/655455

Bhandari, R., and Pandit, S., (2018). Electricity as a Cooking Means in Nepal-A Modelling Tool Approach. Sustainability 10, 2841. doi: 10.3390/su10082841

CBS (2020). Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2019, Survey findings report. Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

CBS (2021). Provincial GDP 2019/20. Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Clements, W., Silwal, K., Pandit, S., Leary, J., Gautam, B., Williamson, S., Tran, A., and

Harper, P., (2020). Unlocking electric cooking on Nepali micro-hydropower minigrids. Energy for Sustainable Development 57, 119-131. doi: 10.1016/j.esd.2020.05.005

Das, K., Pradhan, G., and Nonhebel, S., (2019). Human energy and time spent by women using cooking energy systems: A case study of Nepal. Energy 182, 493-501. doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2019.06.074

DoFRS (2018). Forest cover maps of local levels (753) of Nepal. Kathmandu: Department of Forest Research and Survey (DoFRS).

Fox, J., (1984). Firewood Consumption in a Nepali Village. Environmental Management 8, 243-249. doi: 10.1007/BF01866966

Gross, T., Zahnd, A., Adhikari, S., Kaphre, A., Sharma, S., Baral, B., Kumar, S., and Hugi, C., (2017). Potential of biogas production to reduce firewood consumption in remote high-elevation Himalayan communities in Nepal. Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability 2, 8. doi: 10.1051/rees/2017021

Hurni, K., Van Den Hoek, J. and Fox, J. (2019). Assessing the spatial, spectral, and temporal consistency of topographically corrected Landsat time series composites across the mountainous forests of Nepal. Remote Sensing of Environment 231, 111225. doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2019.111225

IEA. (2020). World energy balances and statistics. Paris: International Energy Agency (IEA).

Jain, A., Choudhury, P., and Ganesan, K. (2015). Clean, Affordable and Sustainable Cooking Energy for India: Possibilities and Realities beyond LPG. New Delhi: Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

Joshi, J., and Bohara, A.K., (2017). Household preferences for cooking fuels and inter-fuel substitutions: Unlocking the modern fuels in the Nepalese household. Energy Policy 107, 507-523. doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.05.031

Kandel, P., Chapagain, P.S., Sharma, L.N., and Vetaas, O.R., (2016). Consumption patterns of fuelwood in rural households of Dolakha district, Nepal: Reflections from community forest user groups. Small-Scale Forestry 15, 481-495. doi: 10.1007/s11842-016- 9335-0

Lam, N.L., Upadhyay, B., Maharjan, S., Jagoe, K., Weyant, C.L., Thompson, R., Uprety, S., Johnson, M.A., and Bond, T.C., (2017). Seasonal fuel consumption, stoves, and end-uses in rural households of the far-western development region of Nepal. Environmental Research Letter 12. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/aa98cc

Malla, S., (2013). Household energy consumption patterns and its environmental implications: Assessment of energy access and poverty in Nepal. Energy Policy 61, 990-1002. doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.06.023

Malla, S. (2021). An outlook of end-use energy demand based on a clean energy and technology transformation of the household sector in Nepal. Research article under review in Energy journal.

Malla, S., and Timilsina, G. R. (2014). Household cooking fuel choice and adoption of improved cookstoves in developing countries: A review. In Policy Research Working Papers. Washington, DC: The World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18775

MoEWRI (2021). Strategy, plan and policies. Kathmandu: Ministry of Energy Water Resources and Irrigation (MoEWRI). https://moewri.gov.np/pages/strategy-plan-and-policies

MoEWRI (2018). Present situation and future roadmap of energy, water resources and irrigation sector. Kathmandu: Ministry of Energy Water Resources and Irrigation (MoEWRI).

MoF (2011). Economic Survey 2010/11. Kathmandu: Ministry of Finance (MoF).

MoF (2020a). Budget speech of Fiscal Year 2020/21. Kathmandu: MoF.

MoF (2020b). Economic survey 2019/20. Kathmandu: MoF.

MoFE (2021). Assessment of electric cooking targets for Nepal’s 2020 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). Kathmandu: Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE).

MoFE (2018). Biodiversity conservation in Nepal: 25 years of achievement. Kathmandu: Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE).

NEA (2020). Annual report 2019/2020. Kathmandu: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

NOC (2021). Petroleum product selling prices. Kathmandu: Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).

NPC (2017). Sustainable development goals: Status and roadmap (2016-2030). Kathmandu: National Planning Commission (NPC).

NPC (2020a). 15th plan (FY 2076/77 - 2080/81). Kathmandu: NPC.

NPC (2020b). National review of sustainable development goals. Kathmandu: NPC.

Oldekop, J. A., Sims, K. R. E., Karna, B. K., Whittingham, M. J., and Agrawal, A. (2019). Reductions in deforestation and poverty from decentralized forest management in Nepal. Nature Sustainability 2(5), 421-428. doi: 10.1038/s41893-019-0277-3

Paudel, D., Jeuland, M., and Lohani, S. P. (2021). Cooking-energy transition in Nepal: Trend review. Clean Energy 5(1), 1-9. doi: 10.1093/ce/zkaa022

Pokharel, S. (2004). Energy economics of cooking in households in Nepal. Energy 29(4), 547–559. doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2003.10.015

Pokharel, T. R., and Rijal, H. B. (2021). Energy transition toward cleaner energy resources in Nepal. Sustainability 13(8). doi:10.3390/su13084243

Rhodes, E.L., Dreibelbis, R., Klasen, E., Naithani, N., Baliddawa, J., Menya, D., Khatry, S., Levy, S., Tielsch, J.M., Miranda, J.J., Kennedy, C., and Checkley, W., (2014). Behavioral attitudes and preferences in cooking practices with traditional open-fire stoves in Peru, Nepal, and Kenya: Implications for improved cookstove interventions. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 11, 10310-10326. doi: 10.3390/ijerph111010310

Shahi, D.K., Rijal, H.B., and Shukuya, M., (2020). A study on household energy-use patterns in rural, semi-urban and urban areas of Nepal based on field survey. Energy and Buildings 223, 110095. doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110095

Shrestha, B., Bajracharya, S.B., Keitsch, M.M., and Tiwari, S.R., (2020). Gender differences in household energy decision-making and impacts in energy saving to achieve sustainability: A case of Kathmandu. Sustainable Development 28, 1049-1062. doi: 10.1002/ sd.2055

Soussan, J., Gevers, E., Ghimire, K., and Okeefe, P., (1991). Planning for sustainability: access to fuelwood in Dhanusha District, Nepal. World Development 19, 1299-1314. doi: 10.1016/0305-750X(91)90075-S

Thapa, M., & Subba, L. (2015). Analysis of available models of improved cookstoves and their suitability in different ecological zones in Nepal. Kathmandu: Hariyo Ban Program.

UN (2018). International Recommendations for Energy Statistics (IRES). New York: United Nations.

UNSD (2021). Energy statistics database. New York: United Nations Statistics Division.

Wood, T. S., and Baldwin, S. (1985). Fuelwood and charcoal use in developing countries. Annual Review of Energy 10, 407-429. doi: 10.1146/annurev.eg.10.110185.002203

World Bank (2019). Nepal: Beyond connections. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

World Bank (2020). Tracking SDG7: The energy progress report 2020. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

World Bank (2021). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

Additional Files

Published

2021-09-18

How to Cite

Malla, S. (2021). Household transitions to clean energy from traditional biomass in Nepal: Challenges and opportunities. Nepal Public Policy Review, 1, 48–67. https://doi.org/10.3126/nppr.v1i1.43420

Issue

Section

Regular Articles