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Renewable Energy Technology

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Access to sources of energy is still a major limiting factor to sustainable development in may part of the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region. Large areas are still not electrified, and where there is electricity it is often unreliable or prohibitively expensive. Fossil fuels are often not easily available or are too expensive for daily use. Mountain people have always relied on renewable energies like wood, animal dung, and draught power for survival – be they for cooking food, keeping the house warm, milling grain, ploughing fields, or transporting goods; bu the traditional energy sources are no longer sufficient to meet people’s needs, and there is increasing concern about the negative impacts associated with their use. Wood is becoming scare increasing the time spent in collection; deforestation is leading to land degradation and loss of groundwater recharge amongst others; and indoor pollution from wood and dung smoke is a major cause of respiratory and other health problems.

However, mountain areas have vast untapped source of potential energy in the form of running water and long hours of sunshine. Recent development in technologies for renewable energy, offer possibilities for using this energy on a small-scale at low cost to reduce household drudgery, provide electricity for domestic use, and support and sustain income-generating activities. Overall, the potential for sustainable use of renewable energy resources in the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH) exceeds by far the total energy consumption in the region.

The activities at the Knowledge Park at Godavari focus on the demonstration of simple low-cost renewable energy technologies that can be used by farmers to support agricultural, domestic, or small-scale income generating activities. Most of the demonstrations are provided in partnership with different local NGOs. We welcome other groups to use this site for demonstration of appropriate technologies that complement the ongoing demonstration and training activities.

 

11 Dec 2019 Scientific research
Soil Erosion Monitoring

Detailed scientific research is carried out at the site to acquire better information about the conditions that favour or hinder ...

11 Dec 2019 Soil management
Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT)

Sloping agricultural land technology (SALT), otherwise known as contour hedgerow intercropping (agroforestry) technology (CHIAT), is a system in which dense ...

11 Dec 2019 Biodiversity
Biodiversity

ICIMOD has a number of ongoing activities in biodiversity conservation. At the Knowledge Park at Godavari, the emphasis ...

11 Dec 2019 Scientific research
Meteorological Monitoring

Agroclimatic conditions are extremely variable across the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, and microclimatescan have a major effect on the ...

11 Dec 2019 Water management
Gravity sprinkler irrigation

Water from the reservoirs passes through high-density polythene pipes laid-out with hydrants in different experimental plots and nurseries covering approximately five ...

23 Oct 2020 Income generation
Fibre plants plantation and demonstration

We are proud to collaborate with Nepal Knotcraft Centre to establish a fiber plant species demonstration ...

3D or Vertical Farming

Taking vegetables to a third dimension seems like the stuff of sci-fi movies, but in reality there are very effective ...

11 Dec 2019 Soil management
Shelter/Protection Belts

Planting and maintenance of shelter or protection belts is another important method of soil and water management. Shelter belts are ...