Research Notes: Hydrogen In Nepal
Currently I’m reading a couple of peer reviewed article, making use of the library account from my University. There are 1000’s of these resources, but obviously not being a PhD student it doesn't apply to me, however further reading is always intriguing.
Before I start (1st of many) , I would like to say these are all based on Nepal and its development, and how *hopefully* would be able to be a part of in the near future.
The first article is called:
1) Hydrogen energy potential of Nepal by B.B. Alea, S.O. Bade Shrestha
Nepal has the potential to use hydropower, but due to it’s topography it makes it difficult to build a comprehensive electric grid. Only 30% of the population (primarily in urban areas) currently has access to electricity from the national grid and about 5% from non-grid (micro-hydropower and solar). With the addition of “Load factors” which fluctuates the variation of power generated, the maximum recorded was December 8, 2004 was 557.53 MW at 18:16 hour. The article discusses that hydropower is not fully utilised.
The entire vehicle transportation in Nepal runs on fossil fuels, all imported from third countries. Obviously there are health and pollution problem attached with this method especially in urban areas where its most concentrated. Why? As income increases so does the demand for luxury good such as private transportation. According to Department of Transport Management, Ministry of Labour and Transport Management there were 432,264 vehicles registered in Nepal. Majority of which is recorded in Bagmati and Kathmandu Valley. With the addition of this there is a problem of pollution coming from kerosene from people’s cooking.
The demand for energy is rising with the increase in population especially in the capital. Nepal can be one of the most hydroelectricity installed countries with the economically viable potential of 43,000 MW out of the total potential of 83,000 MW in future. * In comparison to developed countries such as France: 25K and China (Top producer) with 128k).
Nepal is importing petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation oil, furnace oil and LPG (cooking gas). These products come from Indian refineries as per mutual agreement between Indian Oil Corporation and Nepal Oil Corporation.
Diesel is mostly consumed by heavy-duty vehicles like buses and trucks. Microbuses which also run on diesel are growing means of city transportation.
The main concern for this research article is whether the use of petroleum can be decreased and if so can it be use at minimal? The more hydrogen is produced the more petroleum products can be replaced in Nepal. So what does this mean? This means that demand can be met by electric companies, and the problem of load shedding can be minimised, also it can drastically reduce pollution and carbon emission especially that of urban areas.
So is there any point for investment?
There is significance for using hydroelectric due to its cheap costs on the long term, however people of Nepal have the mindset of short term costs, which is a major
influence to try and change the government minds, this is one of the factors that doesn’t help in the developing process in under developed worlds.
The revenue collected from sale of electricity, saving on import of fossil fuels and carbon trading is not only sufficient to meet the investment needed on hydropower
development but also a hefty surplus of about US $1 Billion can be materialized by 2020.
The main focus is the uncertainty, with renewable resources its hard to predicts the amount you will receive, especially one that is located in Nepal, where climate fluctuates and rain can be very uncertain in many parts of Nepal. The demand for electricity will even increase with the introduction of more economic activities in future.
The new hydropower plants are not coming soon. Additionally, in principle, in the rainy season excess hydropower capacity can be stored in the form of hydrogen to use during the dry season to offset the present load shedding requirements. But, of course, it will require substantial hydrogen storing capacity and infrastructure development.
In conclusion, Nepal has economically viable hydroelectricity potential of 43,000 MW, only less than 1.3% has been harnessed. At present, Nepal’s 100% need of petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation oil, furnace oil and LPG (cooking gas) is imported by paying the hard currency.
Using hydrogen generated from off-peak load as a fuel for motor vehicles not only saves money on import of fossil fuels but also reduces harmful emissions and carbon dioxide improving the air quality significantly.
Article summarised and opinion added from: Science Direct
Before I start (1st of many) , I would like to say these are all based on Nepal and its development, and how *hopefully* would be able to be a part of in the near future.
The first article is called:
1) Hydrogen energy potential of Nepal by B.B. Alea, S.O. Bade Shrestha
Nepal has the potential to use hydropower, but due to it’s topography it makes it difficult to build a comprehensive electric grid. Only 30% of the population (primarily in urban areas) currently has access to electricity from the national grid and about 5% from non-grid (micro-hydropower and solar). With the addition of “Load factors” which fluctuates the variation of power generated, the maximum recorded was December 8, 2004 was 557.53 MW at 18:16 hour. The article discusses that hydropower is not fully utilised.
The entire vehicle transportation in Nepal runs on fossil fuels, all imported from third countries. Obviously there are health and pollution problem attached with this method especially in urban areas where its most concentrated. Why? As income increases so does the demand for luxury good such as private transportation. According to Department of Transport Management, Ministry of Labour and Transport Management there were 432,264 vehicles registered in Nepal. Majority of which is recorded in Bagmati and Kathmandu Valley. With the addition of this there is a problem of pollution coming from kerosene from people’s cooking.
The demand for energy is rising with the increase in population especially in the capital. Nepal can be one of the most hydroelectricity installed countries with the economically viable potential of 43,000 MW out of the total potential of 83,000 MW in future. * In comparison to developed countries such as France: 25K and China (Top producer) with 128k).
Nepal is importing petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation oil, furnace oil and LPG (cooking gas). These products come from Indian refineries as per mutual agreement between Indian Oil Corporation and Nepal Oil Corporation.
Diesel is mostly consumed by heavy-duty vehicles like buses and trucks. Microbuses which also run on diesel are growing means of city transportation.
The main concern for this research article is whether the use of petroleum can be decreased and if so can it be use at minimal? The more hydrogen is produced the more petroleum products can be replaced in Nepal. So what does this mean? This means that demand can be met by electric companies, and the problem of load shedding can be minimised, also it can drastically reduce pollution and carbon emission especially that of urban areas.
So is there any point for investment?
There is significance for using hydroelectric due to its cheap costs on the long term, however people of Nepal have the mindset of short term costs, which is a major
influence to try and change the government minds, this is one of the factors that doesn’t help in the developing process in under developed worlds. The revenue collected from sale of electricity, saving on import of fossil fuels and carbon trading is not only sufficient to meet the investment needed on hydropower
development but also a hefty surplus of about US $1 Billion can be materialized by 2020.
The main focus is the uncertainty, with renewable resources its hard to predicts the amount you will receive, especially one that is located in Nepal, where climate fluctuates and rain can be very uncertain in many parts of Nepal. The demand for electricity will even increase with the introduction of more economic activities in future.
The new hydropower plants are not coming soon. Additionally, in principle, in the rainy season excess hydropower capacity can be stored in the form of hydrogen to use during the dry season to offset the present load shedding requirements. But, of course, it will require substantial hydrogen storing capacity and infrastructure development.
In conclusion, Nepal has economically viable hydroelectricity potential of 43,000 MW, only less than 1.3% has been harnessed. At present, Nepal’s 100% need of petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation oil, furnace oil and LPG (cooking gas) is imported by paying the hard currency.
Using hydrogen generated from off-peak load as a fuel for motor vehicles not only saves money on import of fossil fuels but also reduces harmful emissions and carbon dioxide improving the air quality significantly.
Article summarised and opinion added from: Science Direct
