Kathmandu, March 19 The Ministry of Population and Environment is preparing to implement its strategy to promote clean cooking technology in all households across the country as per the plan to make Nepal free of indoor pollution by 2022. The Biomass Energy strategy 2017, which was given a green signal in February this year, was launched by Minister for Population and Environment Jaya Dev Joshi last week. The ministry is also working on policies that will ensure availability of modern clean energy, using solid biomass, in all the households by 2030. Alternative Energy Promotion Centre said the new strategy contributes to increased access to clean cooking technologies for all Nepali households. Currently, over 77 per cent of  energy  consumption  of  Nepal  is  supplied  by  traditional  biomass  energy, which includes firewood, cattle dung and agricultural residue. As per the National Census 2011, nearly 4 million out of 5.4 million households in Nepal are still using traditional biomass energy, including firewood, for cooking. “This strategy is formulated to address the need of an appropriate strategy to support environment conservation through sustainable production of biomass energy for proper and efficient utilisation of available biomass resources and thereby contributing to forest conservation,” the ministry said. According to a study, about 7,500 people die in Nepal annually due to different diseases caused by indoor air pollution.