Handling Available Resources Responsibly Case Study of a Renewable Energy Project with aRemote and Poor Mountain Village in the Nepal Himalayas

摘要

Almost all of the 2 billion people with no access to electricity live in developing countries, and four outof five live in rural areas. Nepal is a clear example of that relationship. Families in the remote areasuse precious trees for cooking, room heating and light. These activities, especially the indoor cookingon open fireplaces, have a direct chronic impact on the health and extremely low life expectancy ofthe women and children along with devastating deforestation. In a remote and poverty strickenmountain village in the northwestern district of Humla Nepal, Kathmandu University and the ISISFoundation are trying new ways to utilize the locally available renewable energy resources in a moreaffordable, sustainable and appropriate way. The rich solar energy resource is tapped to generateelectricity for an elementary lighting system. A self-tracking solar PV system in the center of thevillage powers three 1-Watt WLED (white light emitting diode) lights per household throughunderground wiring. Additionally, in each household an efficient, smokeless, metal stove for cookingand heating is installed. It consumes only half the usual amount of firewood, enabling a smoke free,and save environment in the home. A pit latrine per house, and a common village drinking watersystem are also an intrinsically part of the holistic community development project. Project planning,installation, training for operation and maintenance, are all implemented in close partnership with thecommunity and are part of the excitement. Renewable energy resources are a foundation for holisticcommunity development of our poor and marginalized 2 billion neighbors. This paper describes theprocess, implementation and partial evaluation of the project.