bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Efficiency Improvement on a Distribution Feeder: A Case Study
Authors: Dhakal Megha Nath , Ghimire Rudra
Published: October 2020

Electricity is a necessary requirement for accelerating the economic development of any country and is considered an important input to improve quality of life. Electricity supply to consumer end is possible by the combine function of power generation, transmission and distribution instantly. One of the most chronic areas of power loss in power system is power distribution feeder. Loss in feeders are identified mainly due to overloaded conductors and transformers, long distance feeder, unbalance load on transformer, low power factor load, uses of energy inefficient load, hooking etc. The distribution losses which are more predominant can be categorized as technical losses and non-technical losses. The main target of the study is to improve the technical and overall efficiency of a distribution feeder. A high loss feeder is selected for efficiency study. Direct method of loss calculation is used to calculate total losses of the feeder and indirect method is used to find the technical losses on the feeder in existing condition. Technical losses of existing feeder and improvement on same distribution system through technical loss reduction options is analyzed by implementing the conductor replacement, rerouting and optimum capacitor placement (OCP) methods using electrical transient analyzer program (ETAP) simulation. Technical efficiency and overall efficiency for the different non-technical loss values are calculated and analyzed. Implementation of results will improve financial health of the power distribution company and provide reliable electricity supply to the consumers. In addition, it provides further inputs to energy planners and managers for a number of remedial measures to loss reduction and improvement of overall efficiency of the power distribution system.
Renewable Energy for Rural Development in Bangladesh
Authors: Fyza Nashiyat , Sarkar M. A. Rashid
Published: October 2020

Energy is the key component to the development of a society. The demand for energy is increasing day by day. Around 16 percent of the global population does not have access to electricity. Around 64.96 % of the population of Bangladesh lives in the rural area. This large portion often suffers from substandard quality of electricity. But electricity production by conventional fossil fuel power plant gives rise to greenhouse gas emission including carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. These gases cause global warming and climate change. This has a detrimental effect on every living thing on the planet. Such consequences put Bangladesh in a perilous position, as most of the land is less than 10 m above the sea-level. As lands become more prone to be inundated, this poses a threat to our agriculture, health, sanitation and causes scarcity of clean water. Initiatives must be taken to popularize low carbon climate resilient energy sectors for sustainable development. A brief study of different forms of renewable energy sources is dealt in this paper. In this study, the present scenario and future prospects of renewable energy in Bangladesh has been presented.
Investigation on Wintry Thermal Comfort in Traditional Houses of Nepalese Three Climatic Regions
Authors: Gautam Basudev , Rijal Hom Bahadur , Shukuya Masanori
Published: October 2020

The traditional houses are well adapted to the climate and socio-culture using local building materials and techniques. However, traditional practices are being replaced by the artificial materials, modern design and new technology. It requires strong policies to sustain the traditional architecture. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the thermal condition of traditional houses and to estimate the comfort temperature of residents. The thermal comfort survey was conducted during winter in the traditional houses. The thermal sensation votes were collected from 275 people in cold, temperate and sub-tropical climatic regions. This study was revealed that the mean indoor air temperature in cold climatic region is 12.3°C, which was 9.5K and 4.4K lower than sub-tropical and temperate climates. The comfort temperature of the residents in the cold climate was 13.9°C, which was 8.8K and 3.8K lower than sub-tropical and temperate climates. The mean clothing insulation in cold climate was 1.63 clo which was 0.48 clo and 0.31 clo higher than sub-tropical and temperate climates. It concludes that the people were well adapted to each climate with clothing adjustments and made themselves satisfied with the thermal condition of their houses.
Enhancing Access to Energy Services for Sustainable Development in Rural Communities
Authors: Gyawali Surya , Bajracharya Sushil Bahadur , Tiwari Sudarshan Raj , Skotte Hans Norve
Published: October 2020

Access to energy has been based on physical availability, acceptability, adequacy, affordability, reliability, and quality of supply. In addition to physical access, real access to energy services can be limited by the purchasing power of the household, the cost of energy and cost or energy-using equipment. However, ensuring adequate energy for a healthy life implies that the types and amount of energy should meet basic minimum needs without adverse health impacts. The purpose of the paper is to explore the dimensions of energy access to rural communities in developing countries for enhancing sustainable development objectives. The systematic literature review methodology has been used to define approaches of sustainability of energy access and try to understand the linkage between modern energy access to sustainable development for rural communities. The study is stabilized that, redefinition and standard thresholds for sustainable energy services in local community level are crucial for human welfare and health, efficiency and productivity, as well as impacts on the environment, must be linked with sustainable development. Measuring sufficiency or adequacy is harder to define because this may vary from amazingly from region to region depending on climate, customs, and living standards. The study provides a unique insight into the needs, feelings and capabilities of people living with and without modern energy and related innovations and it contributes how these are mobilized and constrained in ways that may extend existing inequalities and the barriers to meaningful access, but also may signify means to overcome them.
Moving from Fossil Fuels to Electric Cooking: An Option for Clean Cooking Access in Nepal
Authors: Kafle Samikchhya , Mishra Arabinda Kumar , Maharjan Amina , Panday Arnico Kumar
Published: October 2020

Nepal has abundant hydropower potential and generation capacity under construction that should be able to meet the growing energy need of the country. Although access to electricity in the country is increasing, adoption and access to clean cooking facilities remains insignificant, as about 85% of the population still rely on solid fuels to meet their daily cooking needs. In this regard, energy generated from hydropower can play the dual role of providing access to modern energy as well as providing a clean cooking alternative that is clean and sustainable. Having realized this, the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has issued a white paper (point 73) for the ‘Electric Stove in Every House’ Programme, which is expected to encourage the use of electric cooking. This gives an opportunity not only to make use of Nepal’s hydropower resources but also to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuel. Our paper discusses the challenges and opportunities for introducing electricity in the cooking fuel mix in Nepal from the policy perspective. We draw upon the review of lessons learned from other countries including Ecuador, Bhutan and South Africa, to illustrate the potential pathways for the transition of fossil fuel-based products to electricity in Nepal. These countries have used a combination of approaches in including electricity in their cooking fuel mix, such as favourable electricity pricing, import tariff reductions in cooking appliances, and developing national policy and programmes to facilitate the integration of electricity in cooking fuel. These lessons from these countries are used to recommend pathways for moving from fossil fuel-based products to electricity in Nepal’s context.
Transdisciplinary Collaboration in Renewable Energy Projects - A Case Study from Mustang, Nepal
Authors: Keitsch Martina Maria , Gurung Nyima Tsering
Published: October 2020

In the recent years, transdisciplinary research and development have received increased attention, also in renewable energy planning and design. In contrast to theory-driven research, transdisciplinary approaches relate to the real-life phenomena and societally relevant problems. Transdisciplinary collaboration (TDC) emphasizes the mutual learning process between researchers and actors from outside academia, and the common creation of knowledge that is solution-oriented, socially robust and transferable to both scientific and societal practice. The following article discusses a transdisciplinary collaboration project on planning and designing a Solar Street Light solution in the village of Jhong, Mustang. The project is part of the MSESSD program at IOE, which has the goal to plan and implement renewable energy solution in rural areas in Nepal. The goal of the solar street light project was to contribute to Jhong’s approach of becoming a sustainable settlement. The article analyses three TDC phases of the project: 1. Gather information, discuss the problem with stakeholders and translate material, functional, operational requirements into scientific researchable questions. 2. Documenting strategies to develop a mutual learning process and 3. Assessing results for both for the stakeholders and for academic practice. Findings of the project indicate that transdisciplinary collaboration in renewable energy projects can help to operationalize learning between different actors and realize applicable results on contextualized levels. However, planned outcomes may vary and from a scientific perspective, methodologies for TC are not clearly defined or systematized yet, terminologies are vague, and de facto power relations in the field can obstruct the collaboration process. The last part of the article will point out some of the future challenges and possibilities for transdisciplinary research and development.
Sub-national Energy Access Planning Model for Sustainable Development Goals: A Case Study of Barpak
Authors: Khanal Kshitiz , Baral Bivek
Published: October 2020

As most nations have adopted the Sustainable Development agenda to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, it is vital that planning of energy systems at local, regional and national levels also align with the agenda in order to achieve the goals. This study explores the sustainability of primary energy resources of a rural community to meet growing demands of the community, in order to achieve SDGs for energy access Goal no. 7 (SDG7) at local level. Using a linear back-casting techno-economic energy access model that informs the expected change in energy demand in order to reach SDG7 targets, this study examined whether local energy resources would be enough to achieve the targets for Barpak VDC (named such at the time of data collection before Nepal’s administrative restructuring), and explored the possibility of importing electricity from national grid to attain SDG7 targets. By analyzing the outputs of the model for Barpak, we found that currently assessed local energy resources are insufficient to meet the energy access targets. Importing electricity from national grid, in addition to the mini-hydropower plant currently in operation at Barpak is needed to achieve the targets. Huge cost investment and timely expansion of transmission and distribution infrastructure is crucial. By 2030, total energy demand is expected to grow up to 50,000 Gigajoules per year. Electricity import from national grid grows steadily, reaching up to 45,000 Gigajoules in 2030. The social costs of energy will continue to be dominated by household sector till 2030, reaching up to 30 million Nepali Rupees per year in total. Use of wood as fuel, the only significant source of emission in the model is modeled to decrease linearly and stop by 2030, as required by SDGs. Emission of 17 Metric Tonnes of Carbon-dioxide and 4.5 million kg Methane equivalent is reduced to zero at 2030. This model serves as an innovative approach to integrate SDG targets to local and regional energy planning process, and can be adopted for energy systems and policy planning for various regions in Nepal.
Comparative Study of Characteristics of Dye Sensitized Solar Cells Fabricated Using Substrates Coated with Fluorine Doped Tin Oxide and Titanium
Authors: Maharjan Arbin
Published: October 2020

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted many researchers because it has potential to supplement and compete with other solar cell technologies like Silicon (Si) and Cadmium Telluride (CdTe). The fabrication of DSSCs requires a photo electrode and a counter electrode of transparent and conducting nature. The commercial DSSCs uses electrodes of fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrates. These electrodes are expensive and hence, possible alternative materials that are cheaper and that would provide better performance under similar environmental condition should be explored. In this paper, titanium (Ti)-coated glass substrates were prepared and then used to prepare electrodes for fabricating DSSCs. Similarly, DSSCs were fabricated using electrodes of conventional FTO-coated glass substrates. Performance characteristics like cell efficiency (η%), fill-factor (FF), short circuit current density (JSC) and open circuit voltage (VOC) of both fabricated DSSCs were obtained using their respective J-V characteristic curves under similar illumination of 100 mW/cm2 and with comparable transmittance under the visible transmission spectrum of 300-850 nm. The obtained results showed that DSSCs prepared using electrodes of FTO coated glass substrates have 1.557 times better cell efficiency and 2.172 times better fill factor than that of DSSCs fabricated using electrodes of Ti-coated glass substrates.
Municipal Solid Waste Management in Nepal: Opportunities and Challenges
Authors: Maharjan Mohan Krishna , Lohani Sunil` Prasad
Published: October 2020

Solid waste management at municipalities of Nepal is one of the major issues that require a sustainable solution. The preliminary survey and review suggested that waste management practices including collection, transport and resource recovery in most of the municipalities are ineffective and almost all collected waste finally disposed to the dumping site. Taking baseline data from solid waste management in Nepal report of Asian Development Bank 2013, estimated waste projection of 2017 has been made. The projected data shows waste generation in municipalities of Nepal is about 3023 tons per day and the average per capita waste generation is 0.223 kg/person/day. On average the composition of waste is primarily decomposable about 60% and about 25% is recyclables such as plastics, papers and metals. With the help of Multi Criteria Decision Matrix (MCDM), this paper suggests that the suitable methods of waste management for Nepalese municipalities are waste to bio-energy and fertilizer production. It further proposed and discussed a holistic model of waste management for municipalities and an appropriate waste to bio-energy technology in context of Nepal.
Solar Greenhouse as an Energy Alternative Solution for Growing Vegetable in High Altitude Region: A Case of Baragaon, Mustang
Authors: Pandey Dip
Published: October 2020

In cold and dry high desert climate such as in Mustang, Manang or Dolpa growing green vegetables is a challenging task despite solar radiation throughout the whole year. Harsh and snowy winter, turbulent wind, limited availability of arable lands and water impedes plant growth. Solar greenhouse (SGH) is a renewable energy-based alternative for growing vegetables in these zones round the year in surplus quantity. At present, a large quantity of vegetables is purchased from nearby market towns (Pokhara and Beni) at double the price. Promotion of greenhouse vegetable farming has not only potential to relieve local people from such financial burden but can even create new business opportunities. As vegetables produced at these altitudes use only organic manure, their quality is desirable for a market where demand for organic products is constantly increasing.

From a literature study of SGH cases in Ladakh, Humla and Khumbu region it was found that varieties of vegetables could be grown even during winter when temperatures drop to -25°C. For instance, owners of specially designed SGHs in Ladakh ate eight times the volume of vegetables they had eaten prior to acquiring these SGHs and have seen their incomes rise by 30%.

The following article presents a study on SGH possibilities for vegetable farming in the Baragaon rural municipality of Mustang district, applying methods such as observations, informal interviews and stakeholder inclusion. Currently, there exists only rudimentary samples of plastic greenhouses in most villages, where only green leafy vegetables grow during winter. During summer, vegetable growth is conducted in open fields rather than inside the greenhouses. This is mainly due to their overheating caused by lack of ventilation. In Chhengor, one of the villages in Baragaon, organic farming is already taking a promising leap towards organic vegetable business. After discussion with farmers and other stakeholders appropriate design of SGH seems a good solution for durability of SGH structure and to ensure that varieties of vegetables grow in surplus quantity round the year. The article presents possibilities for SGH design and discuses factors for SGH establishment such as affordability, monitoring and maintenance. Additionally, it pinpoints infrastructural support such as agriculture policy at local level, for example in forms of subsidies and training of farmers to grant successful implementation of SGH approaches for high altitude settlements.
Techno-Economic Feasibility Study of Net-metering Implementation in Rooftop Solar PV in Nepal
Authors: Pokhrel Hardik
Published: October 2020

While a plethora of new hydro generation capacity are, being constructed, other forms of energy like solar is still undeveloped in Nepal. As of May 2018, the total installed capacity of Nepal stands at 1060 MW, among which mere 0.68 MW (0.06%) is solar. Solar Rooftop holds potential for development of solar and recognizing this, AEPC had urban solar program with capital subsidy element. In addition, NEA announced Alternative Electricity Connected to Grid 2018, with Feed in Tariff of NRs 7.30 for 3 years paving way for net metering in solar rooftop. This paper discusses the techno-economic feasibility of solar net metering across domestic (both individual and high-rise apartments), commercial and institutional consumers with the FiT offered. The analysis is done in both scenarios; where there is no export to grid and where there is export to the grid possible. Sample data on LCOE and kWh demand for each segment are collected and system size and solar production is calculated using Helioscope. Along with this, rate of return and payback years is calculated with current benchmark pricing and industry wide assumptions. The results of these analyses show higher payback period (6-9 years) and unattractive return (<15%) in the BOOT model for rooftops. Even in segments like high-rise apartments and commercial consumers with minimum 500 kW size where returns are higher (>20%), limitations as rooftop space makes net metering an un-attractive proposition. This paper also provides current policy landscape and envisages addressing policy gaps, and learnings from international arena on success of net-metering including financial incentives and regulations provided to drive the net-metering growth in Nepal.
Technical and Economic Assessment for the Promotion of Non- Carbonized Pellets in MSME Sector in Nepal
Authors: Prajapati Suyesh , Malla Aadit , Adhikari Narayan Prasad , Shrestha Shubha Laxmi
Published: October 2020

Pellets are densified biomass fuel compatible for household as well as industrial use. Pellets can be potentially used as an alternative fuel source in many medium, small and micro enterprises (MSME) such as dairy, dyeing, laundry, khoa making, pickle making, yogurt making, soap making enterprises etc. in Nepal. Despite of the presence of large number of such industries and abundant biomass resources, production and application of pellets as a fuel source is almost non-existent in Nepal. Hence, to assess the benefits of using pellets as alternative fuel, an applied research of pellets application was carried out in a dyeing industry. Energy, environment and economic performances of the dyeing industry was compared between the baseline scenario of utilizing sawdust and wood chips mixture in loose form with that of non-carbonized pellets application as an alternative fuel. Results showed decrease in specific energy consumption by 6% on utilizing non-carbonized pellets compared to baseline. In terms of the environmental performance, emission of CO decreased from 100 Mg/L to 10 Mg/L and CO2 emission decreased from 7.5% to 4%. Similarly, suspended particulate matter (SPM) emission decreased from 37.4 mg/Nm3 to 14.8 mg/Nm3 but the negligible increment of NO2 emission was observed. However, emission of SO2 increased significantly from 3.3μgm/m3 to 33.7μgm/m3. High Sulphur content was found in the pellet which could be from the lubrication used in the pellet machine, but this could not be confirmed. The economic analysis revealed that the energy cost was almost twice with pellet application which was mainly because of the higher cost of imported pellets. If the production could be initiated in Nepal, utilizing the abundantly available local biomass resources, the cost could be considerably lowered thus making use of such fuel economically feasible.
Overview and Feasibility of Floating Solar Photovoltaic System in Nepal
Authors: Rai Ashuhang , Timilsina Ashutosh , Nepali Beni
Published: October 2020

As a next generation technology, Floating Solar Photovoltaic (FSPV) System has had a remarkable growth in the field of Renewable Energy since 2014 with an installed capacity of more than 200 MWp as of 2017. Interest in FSPV system is on the rise compared to its land-based counterpart due to significant benefits like an increased efficiency of the panel, omission of land-related cost and cost of the mounting structure along with environmental benefits like water conservation of the reservoir through a reduced rate of evaporation and containment of algae boom. In this paper, the overall benefit of exploiting FSPV system in case of Nepal has been explored and the techno-economic feasibility of such system in Nepalese scenario has been analyzed. Improvement in efficiency of the panel has been calculated mathematically which also seems to support results from previous works. After analyzing the techno-economic benefits, it was found that FSPVs, even though having a marginal financial profit at current PPA rate of Rs. 7.3/kWh, can still prove beneficial if used concomitantly with storage type hydropower plants.
Demand Characteristics of Electricity in Residential Sector of Kathmandu Valley
Authors: Rajbhandhari Utsav Shree , Poudel Laxman , Bhattarai Nawraj
Published: October 2020

Planning for electricity demand is a vital as the characteristics of different electricity generation systems vary temporally – both hourly in a day as well as seasonally in a year. Thus, this study focuses on evaluating the demand characteristic of electricity in residential sector within urban boundaries of three districts in Kathmandu Valley. It has addressed variations in demand in form of load curve based on hourly peak demand during a day. The demand characteristics have been affected in recent years are primarily influenced by two factors – the trade debacle in 2015 and the end of load-shedding. A typical family with owned household would have highest demand with loads spread over various time of the day. While the one in rented family would have least demand level with most characteristic peaks. But in overall, there are peculiar morning and evening peaks, in addition to small early morning peak. The current technology interventions and electricity consumption pattern with reference in earlier years depicts the change in energy technology preference. The reduction in daily demand pattern as well as total electricity demand are majorly due to replacement of older technologies with more efficient appliances as well as reduced use of inverters for battery charging. Thus, it can be said that a stringent condition can enforce people to change to efficient technologies as well as proper supply can reduce unnecessary demand in battery charging. On other hand, similar trend, and hence the increase in electricity demand, can be anticipated in other flourishing urban areas of the country. Additionally, it is beneficial to have the demand characteristics of each sector separately - which can be useful to design the decentralized systems for specific sector.
Assessment of Urban Rooftop Grid Connected Solar Potential in Nepal
Authors: Shrestha Jagan Nath , Raut Debendra Bahadur
Published: October 2020

The power shortage problem faced by Nepal since last two decades is one of the major hurdles for its socio-economic development. At present load shedding is being managed by significant import of electricity from India thus increasing trade deficit of Nepal. The accelerated alternative methods of generation of electricity in Nepal need to be explored. This paper assesses the potential of rooftop solar Photovoltaic (PV) system in residential buildings in their major cities namely Kathmandu valley, Pokhara and Biratnagar of Nepal. The data indicated in this paper are collected from the predefined set of questionnaire and field survey in the randomly sampled households in 2016. Form the quantitative analysis of the data, it is found that the average roof top area available for PV installation in residential buildings are 14.5 sq.m, 12.45 sq.m and 19 sq.m for Kathmandu, Pokhara and Biratnagar cities respectively. Considering 557,027 residential buildings in Kathmandu; 77,523 in Pokhara and 33,075 in Biratnagar, total PV power potential is estimated to be 810 MWp, 96.5 MWp and 63.5 MWp in respective cities. To estimate the energy potential the annual average peaksun hours considered are 5.54, 5.58 and 5.13 for Kathmandu, Pokhara and Biratnagar city respectively, data taken from Solar and Wind Resource Assessment (SWERA) report. The total power potential in all three cities is found to be 970 MWp which could generate 1,310 GWh that comes out to be 24% of the electricity sold by Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in fiscal year 2017/18. If shade free roof top space available of the 50% residential buildings are utilized for PV installation (333,762 numbers), about 12% of the Nepal’s utility electricity sold in the fiscal year 2017/18 could be saved annually. The technical barriers for the grid connection of roof top solar is not a major issue now as NEA has set the guidelines for it.
Study on Behavioural Adaptation for the Thermal Comfort and Energy Saving in Japanese Offices
Authors: Rijal Hom B , Humphreys Michael A , Nicol J Fergus
Published: October 2020

Office workers use a variety of adaptive opportunities to regulate their indoor thermal environment. The behavioural adaptations such as window opening, clothing adjustments, heating/cooling use are one of the important factors for the adaptive thermal comfort. It is well-known that they are the most important contributors in the adaptive thermal comfort model. Thus, if we understand the behavioural adaptation properly, we can explain the mechanism of the adaptive model. In addition, the indoor thermal environment is often adjusted using the air conditioning in Japanese office building to improve the thermal comfort and productivity. Thus, it is necessary to conduct research on the behavioural adaptation in the offices because the occupant behavior is different to the dwellings.

In order to record the seasonal differences in behavioural adaptation and to develop an adaptive algorithm for Japanese offices, we measured temperatures in 11 office buildings and conducted the thermal comfort and occupant behaviour survey for over a year in Japanese offices. We collected 4,660 samples from about 1350 people.

The proportion of ‘open window’ in the free running mode (neither heating or cooling being used) is significantly higher than that of the air-conditioned mode. The behavioural adaptation is related to the outdoor air temperature. The behavioural adaptation predicted by the regression analysis is in good agreement with the measured data. These findings can be applied to the building thermal simulation to predict the behavioural adaptation and energy use in office buildings.
Review of Indicators for Localizing Environmental Goals at Sub National and Local Level in Nepal
Authors: Sigdel Ek Raj , Keitsch Martina Maria
Published: October 2020

Nepal, as a member of the United Nations, is committed to achieve the global initiatives of Sustainable Development Agenda by 2030. Toward translating the commitment into action, Nepal has produced preliminary SDGs Report in 2015, even before the formal adoption of the 2030. Moreover, Voluntary National Review Report, Sustainable Development Goals, Status and Roadmap: 2016-2030, and Sustainable Development Goals 2016-2030 National (Preliminary) Report were developed. Further, Nepal has initiated mainstreaming the 2030 Agenda into national policies and plans. The 14th periodic plan, the national budget, and other sectoral plans have been closely aligned with the SDGs and the approach paper for 15th five-year plan is intended to achieve the SDG. The upcoming 15th periodic plan will basically aim to support the government in achieving all the SDGs by 2030 and help Nepal emerge as a middle-income country by 2030. The indicators comprise of renewable energy for electricity and vehicles, injuries due to disaster (number), greenhouse gases, adaptation plans, trained man power, climate change educations, and climate smart villages and farming are identified as indicators under climate and energy goals. Similarly, under forest goals proportion of forest land, forest under community-based management (% of total dense forest areas), protected area (including forest, in % of total land area), handover of forests to leasehold forest groups (000 hectare), wild tigers (number), rhino (number) etc are included. Likewise, conservation of lakes, wetlands, and ponds (number) and potentially dangerous lakes (%) are included under fresh water goals. However, there was no scientific basis how the indicators were derived for the environmental goals. In this backdrop, a study in identifying site specific, measurable, time bound, relevant and attainable indicators was paramount. Based on the secondary literature review, stakeholder consultation at sub national and local level, the indicators were verified and suggested strategies that help localizing the environmental indicators at sub-national and local level in Nepal. The study was therefore centered on reviewing the environmental indicators and suggest appropriate strategies so that it helps expediting localization of SDG in Nepal.
Field Study on Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Naturally Ventilated Secondary School Buildings in Nepal
Authors: Shrestha Mishan , Rijal Hom B , Shukuya Masanori
Published: October 2020

Most of the classroom in Nepalese school buildings are thermally less acceptable due to the poor thermal insulation. They are extreme cold in winter and extreme hot in summer season leading for the discomfort in classroom. Thermally uncomfortable classroom causes the negative impact in the academic performance of students. Therefore, there should be serious attention to improve the indoor thermal environment of classroom. There are limited indoor thermal environment studies conducted in Nepalese residential buildings but not at all in school buildings yet.

This study investigated the students’ perceptions on thermal comfort inside the classroom of secondary school buildings during the autumn season of 2017 in a temperate climate (Dhading, Kathmandu and Nuwakot districts) of Nepal. 22 classrooms (33 students in average in each class) of 8 school buildings with a total of 818 students aged 12-18 years, 329 (40%) males and 489 (60%) females were participated in the survey. The two simultaneous surveys: questionnaire survey and thermal measurement survey were conducted during the regular lesson periods in each classroom. Students voted at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the class in minutes’ lecture.

About 76% responses were found to be in either of slightly cold, neutral or slightly hot. The results show that the comfort temperature of students was around 28 °C, 26°C and 24°C in Dhading, Kathmandu and Nuwakot districts, respectively. However, the mean comfort temperature and preferred temperature was found to be around 27 °C and 26 °C respectively. The findings of this study may hopefully invoke the awareness of the school building designers, teachers and students to maintain the thermally comfortable school buildings without using mechanical system.
Study on Winter Indoor Thermal Environment of Temporary Shelters Built in Nepal After Massive Earthquake 2015
Authors: Thapa Rita , Rijal Hom Bahadur , Shukuya Masanori , Imagawa Hikaru
Published: October 2020

Natural disasters and wars are main reasons that force people to leave their homes and consequently require urgent needs including temporary shelters. After massive earthquake 2015, thousands of Nepalese who lost their home were doomed to live in temporary shelters, mostly self-built by using zinc/tarpaulin sheets which can hardly provide sufficient thermal comfort. We need to analyze the thermal characteristics of the temporary shelters for creating a better environment for their own sake. Thus, this study tries to evaluate the winter indoor thermal environment of different types of local materials used for insulation in these investigated shelters. The indoor and outdoor thermal environment was measured by digital data loggers at the 10-minute intervals for winter in thirteen different shaped shelters in main three earthquake affected districts: Gorkha, Sindhupalchowk and Lalitpur. The mean indoor and mean outdoor air temperatures were found 12.3°C and 10.1°C. The total heat loss coefficient estimated in thirteen shelters ranges from 74.8 to 325.9 W/K and their specific values with respect to the ranges from 8.1 to 20.4 W/ (m2.K). These values are very large in comparison to those in ordinary houses; this is the major reason of low indoor air temperature especially during nighttime. This suggests that some insulating materials need to be added or replaced with the materials used for the improvement for better indoor thermal environment.
Paper Modeling of Wind-Solar Hybrid Power System for Off-Grid in Nepal and a Case Study
Authors: Thapa Khagendra Bahadur , Maharjan Arbin , Kaphle Kishor , Joshi Kishor , Aryal Tara
Published: October 2020

The adaptation of renewable energy has been increasing in a very encouraging way all over the world. Among various renewable energy resources, wind and solar energy are the promising sources of alternative energy. Wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) have been employed in parallel as a hybrid system for better electricity service. This paper presents a case study and modeling of wind-solar hybrid system in Hriharpur Gadi village, Sindhuli District, Nepal. The hybrid system yields 110kWh of energy per day meeting the village’s electricity demand of 87 kWh per day. Moreover, the hybrid power system with battery storage system is modeled using MATLAB simulator. Further, improvising in the existing modeling has been presented to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the system.
Gender and Energy for Space Heating and Cooling
Authors: Tuladhar Prerana
Published: October 2020

Energy is one of the crucial aspects now-a-days to be considered from the household chores to the educational, transportation, industrial and many other sectors. Apart from cooking, space heating and cooling also have greater impact as buildings consume about 40% of world’s energy use and major part of energy is used for space heating and cooling [1]. Gender is another aspect that should be taken in to consideration in the energy sector. Discrimination between men and women, either it may be in the knowledge regarding energy sector, profession, application and practices etc. is seen in our society. Therefore, this paper seeks to investigate the impacts of space heating and cooling in the energy consumption pattern of Residential buildings. This paper explores how the gender issues in the energy sector can be addressed and how can it lead towards the sustainable development of the society and then nation. At the same time, paper highlights the changes and improvements in the energy consumption pattern with the enrollment of women in the energy sector. The conclusions are derived from the several literature studies and explorative data analysis with the concern of gender relation with the energy efficiency in the space heating and cooling of residential buildings.
Stakeholders’ Perception About the Effectiveness of Renewable Energy Subsidy in Nepal: A Review of Biogas Subsidy
Authors: Vaidy Ashma
Published: October 2020

Due to sustainability and climate change concerns associated with fossil fuels, renewable energy (RE) is increasingly being recognized as crucial link between energy access and sustainable development. Growing interest in RE has led many countries to adopt different strategies to promote its growth. Subsidy in various forms is one of the common measures governments around the world have used to support the production and to encourage the use of RE technologies. Renewable energy sector in Nepal is also largely driven by RE subsidies, primarily targeted at potential users. While many argue that subsidy played a major role in the promotion and uptake of RETs, there is little knowledge on the differential impact RE subsidies have had on different stakeholders and actors in the RE sector. Knowledge about broader impact of RE subsidy, its relevance to different RETs and its effectiveness in achieving sustainability of the sector also remains largely fragmented. In order to devise strategies to overcome barriers in the development of RE sector in Nepal, it is important to fill these knowledge gaps. It is also important to better understand challenges and opportunities. To this end, this study uses qualitative research method to draw knowledge from different stakeholders about the effectiveness of renewable energy subsidy policy in Nepal. The primary focus of this study is biogas subsidy that has been in place since the 1990s. The study reveals that the effectiveness of RE subsidy is a function of various factors such as users’ awareness about RET benefits, government policy and provisions, cost-effectiveness of the technology, after-sales-services, long-term access to RE technologies and services etc. The general consensus is that RE subsidy so far has primarily benefited better-off households than the low-income populations. It was also revealed that, without subsidy or some kind of financial intermediation, access of poor farmers to biogas technology is likely to remain a challenge. The high upfront cost of the technology was frequently cited as one of the biggest barriers in the market-led dissemination of biogas technology (particularly the one being promoted by the Government of Nepal). This highlights the need for improvement in resource (land, raw material for its construction and operation) and cost efficiency of the technology for it to remain economically viable for farming communities, to whom the technology might have the greatest utility. Better measures and communication strategy are needed to make targeted subsidies and relevant information about policy mandates and provision accessible to the grass roots.
Experimental Analysis of Thermal Efficiency of Mud Improved Cookstove With Variation of Different Parameters and Economic Analysis
Authors: Darlami Hari Bahadur , Ale Bhakta Bahadur , Pokharel Govind Raj
Published: October 2020

Most of the rural people of Nepal use fuelwood for cooking and space heating in residential sector. Government of Nepal has announced to make Nepal as a smokeless country by replacing traditional cookstoves. Two pot mud improved cookstove is one of the most promoted cookstoves in the context of Nepal. There is a need to study the effects of different parameters on mud improved cookstove for its better performance. The objective of this work is to study the effect of variation of different parameters on two pot mud ICS and identify parameters for its better performance. Power test of cookstove, specially focusing on thermal efficiency, has been performed by changing different parameters. Effect of varying fuel feeding rate, chimney height, opening area of air fuel inlet, inlet area of interconnecting tunnel, combustion chamber height, grate height and insulating material on thermal efficiency have been studied individually. Then cookstove has been developed by different best combinations such as a) geometrical parameters b) use of grate and insulations in best geometrical parameters and formation of channel on the opening. Thermal efficiency of modified cookstove increased from 18% to 25.6%; i.e. the increment of 7.60%. Economic analysis of different thermal efficiencies cookstove has been performed.
Contribution of Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) in Climate Resilient Approach and SDG 7
Authors: Khanal Ram Chandra , Shakya Shree Raj , Bajracharya Tri Ratna
Published: October 2020

Renewable energy can contribute to adaptation to climate change, mitigation and development and may play an important role in resilient development ambition of Nepal. It has been emphasized in Nepal's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and climate change policy but its potential impact on SDGs era has not been fully explored and implemented. The study used employed energy system modelling by using optimization software, reviewed literature and interacted with various experts.

It has been found that renewable energy technologies (RETs) provide socio-economic and environmental benefits to people that contribute to adopting and ensuring a better adaptation to climate change based on the local context. They contribute to adaptation processes by contributing to reducing the vulnerability of people, improving adaptive capacity, and minimizing climate change risk in line with SDG 7. But these are not without challenges either. Financial, technical, institutional, policy and legal issues are major challenges to promote RETs. This study shows that theoretically altogether 4.45 million tons of CO2e of the GHG emission can be mitigated per year if all the remaining technical potential of deploying seven major RETs consisting of biogas, improved water mill, stand-alone micro-hydro plants, mini-grid micro-hydro plants, solar PV home systems, mud-ICS and metal-ICS were installed after 2012. Considering the average annual installation of these RETs, altogether 30.71 million tons of CO2e can be mitigated between the periods of 2013 to 2030 at an annual additional installation equal to average installation done in recent past three years. The initial technology investment required for implementing the above mentioned RETs ranges from NRs 97 to NRs 23,247 per ton of CO2e mitigation. This indicates that though a moderate level of the initial investment is required for promoting RETs, the GHG mitigation potential seems to be quite promising. There is no liberty of inaction, so RETs can be a good case for a triple win strategy to address mitigation – adaptation – development nexus for climate compatible development in Nepal.
STUDY OF POLYCONDENSATION PROCESS OF CARBAMIDE WITH FORMALDEHYDE TO RECEIVE BIODEGRADABLE POLYMERS
Authors: Papava Givi , Gelashvili Nazi , Gavashelidze Eter , Liparteliani Riva , Archvadze Ketevan
Published: October 2020

Biodegradation of polymers of spatial structure is complicated at the impact of soil destructive microorganisms and biodegradation requires long time. We have implemented target-oriented synthesis of a polymer to receive linear structure polymers where labile peptide bonds are preserved.To implement target-oriented synthesis of a polymer and to determine optimal conditions for reaction mechanism we studied the process of kinetics and its regularities – reaction temperature, duration, components ratio, concentration, reaction speed constant and activation energy. The Arrhenius factor and succession of introduction of initial components to the reaction medium were computed, catalyst nature and other properties were determined.High effect of prolongation was achieved, when carbamide and formaldehyde molar ratio was 1:1. In this case linear structure polymer is formed where peptide -CH2 – NH – are preserved.The simplified structure of linear polymer is expressed as followed: – HNCONHCH2[ NHCONHCH2 ]n – HNCONHCH2 – .
СОЗДАНИЕ И ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ ГЕЛИОТЕХНОЛОГИЧЕСКОЙ УСТАНОВКИ С ПОЛИКАРБОНАТНЫМ ПОКРЫТИЕМ
Authors: Archvadze Ketevan , Chachava Ilia , Tsiskarishvili Russudan , Khotenashvili Nanuli , Tabukashvili Zurab
Published: October 2020

The proposed solar dryer (S / D) has a polycarbonate coating, which is actually a combined dryer. By drying an agricultural products in the proposed apparatus, it is possible to get ecologically pure and high quality food. The "greenhouse effect" in S / D ensures the temperature under the glass is 15-25°C, higher than the ambient temperature. In windy weather, the product to be dried cannot be left in the open air due to strong winds, in this device drying in windy weather occurs no less intensively than in hot weather, although the air temperature in S / D is not high. During wind it is recommended to locate the S / D with the inlet towards the wind. The high drying speed occurs due to the increased convective movement. The wind creates a fan effect both at the inlet S / D and at the outlet - at the end of the pipe. In the proposed installation, it is possible to dry various agricultural products, both in direct sunlight and without them.
TECHNICAL TRAINING OF GYMNASTS-ARTISTS AT THE STAGE OF SPORTS IMPROVEMENT
Authors: Akhmedova Jamilya Adizovna
Published: October 2020

The following article discusses the problem of organizing and monitoring the special-physical and technical training of young gymnasts at the stage of sports improvement. It is shown that the main advantage achieved during the training session with objects is the regulation of the number of repetitions at high work intensity.
PHYSIOTHERAPY AS A MEANS OF IMPROVING THE PHYSICAL AND FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE OF YOUNG TRIATHLETES
Authors: Niyazova Regina Rustamovna
Published: October 2020

The article deals with the problem of finding methods of restorative means that increase the body's performance and search for integral characteristics of the effectiveness of adaptation of the athlete's body to high volume and intensity of training and competitive loads.