After I came to the United States, circumstances back home appeared bleak. The amenities, petrol and electricity, that are so scarce in Nepal, are taken for granted here in the US Although the US has been successful in fulfilling its energy demands, the question about its sustainability lingers, as its primary sources of fuel are fossil fuels (oil and coal), non-renewable sources of energy. A remedy for this situation could be emulating Brazil’s path to fuel independence by switching to bio-fuels. This solution is not only viable for US, but also for Nepal and every country in the world.

About a decade ago, Brazil’s situation was very similar to Nepal. Over the past 10 to 12 years, by switching to bio-fuel, Brazil has become fuel-independent and has a stable economy. Studies have shown that depletion of fossil fuels at the current rate is unsustainable. Realizing fossil fuels are not here forever and observing Brazil’s transformation have made me realize that alternate and renewable energy sources like bio-fuels, solar power, and wind power could be meant to achieve fuel independence in every part of the world.

Nepal’s chances of achieving fuel independence is by changing its primary source of fuel from fossil fuels to bio-fuel. I am inclined towards bio-fuels because a variety of crops can be used to produce them. For instance, the two biggest producers of bio-fuels, Brazil and the US, use sugarcane and corn respectively.

Yes there are challenges to this. The two biggest I see are picking the right crops to produce the fuel and having vehicles that can use this fuel. The first issue of picking the right crop is a matter of research. One has to know which crop can be grown in high quantity and throughout the year. Understanding Nepal’s geographical location and production capabilities are vital in choosing the right crop. The second issue is a technical one and with the right training and equipment can be solved in Nepal. The same vehicles that take petrol can be tuned or modified to run on bio-fuel. Once tuned these vehicles can not only take bio-fuel but can run on any combination of petrol and bio-fuel.

In addition to producing fuel, biomass can also be used to produce electricity. Nepal’s energy demand for 2014 was around 1200 MW and total installed capacity in 2013 was 782 MW. Most of the installed capacity, 733 MW, was produced from hydropower plants.