Kathmandu, November 9

Energy experts are scheduled to meet in Kathmandu next week for an international workshop on bioenergy development in Nepal.

The World Agroforestry, together with Centre together with the Ethnobotanical Society of Nepal and the University of Leeds, is organising two-day international workshop on ‘Scaling up modern bioenergy production and use through sustainable agro-forestry systems in Nepal’ beginning from November 16.

ESON president Prof Krishna K Shrestha today said that the main goal of this multistakeholder consultation is to articulate the key outcomes for 2030 related to sustainable and productive energy, review the inter-relations among different sectors within the national government and other stakeholders that support sustainable productive energy pathways.

He said, “The workshop clarifies mechanism to scale up sustainable productive bioenergy production to ensure resilient food and energy system in Nepal.” Professor Shrestha said access to clean and renewable energy in rural and urban areas is one of the essential dimensions that can contribute to changing their reality towards enhanced food and nutrition security and sustainable environmental function.

“Energy is required for basic human needs, such as for cooking and household heating as well as for improving agricultural productivity, allowing for mechanisation, irrigation and post-harvesting processing among other critical livelihood activities,” he said.

He further said that energy experts from various ministries in Nepal, non-government organisations such as ICIMOD, DFID, SNV and others and university professors will be joining the workshop to develop a work plan for bioenergy development in Nepal.

Stating that inadequate energy supply continues to hinder social and economic development in Nepal, he said, “While Nepal does not have its own fossil fuel reserves, the country has made use of only one per cent of its vast hydropower potential.”

According to Nepal government’s Nepal Energy Efficiency Programme traditionally biomass is by far the most utilised primary energy source and the electrification rate in the country is only about 55 per cent a number that drops to 43 per cent in rural areas.