Expanded use of cooking and lighting: The Nepal Biogas project signed by the Government would reduce emissions and was expected to expand the country’s use of cooking and lighting in rural households.
Non-commercial price for biogas: Biogas units would be sold at a non-commercial price to help displace traditional fuel sources like fuel wood, kerosene and agriculture waste. Each household biogas unit would be able to reduce nearly five tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) annually, Nepalnews.com reported.
First project in Nepal under CDM: "This is the first greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reductions project in Nepal under the CDM of the Kyoto Protocol," according to a press statement by the World Bank country office in Nepal.
Only 15 per cent with access to electricity: Only 15 per cent of Nepal’s rural population has access to electricity. The country’s dependence on fuel wood contributed greatly to deforestation and it was hoped the switch to biogas will change that.
Project seen as major breakthrough: "This project is a major breakthrough," said Ken Ohashi, World Bank country director of Nepal. "It is the result of years of painstaking work by visionary Nepalis who saw that clean environmental practices would eventually bring economic and social payoffs."
Reference: Digest of latest news reported on website of Climate Change Secretariat of United Nations Framework on Climate Change Control (UNFCCC). 4 May 2006. Address: PO Box 260 124, D-53153 Bonn. Germany. Phone: : (49-228) 815-1005, Fax: (49-228) 815-1999. Email: press@unfccc.int
http://www.unfccc.int