Download Geography and Climate - mcensustainableenergy

MCEN 4228
Sustainable Energy
Jeffrey Ballard
Nepal
General
Geography
Name Long form: Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
Capital: Kathmundu
Current Party in Office: Maoist - Communist
President: Ram Baran Yadav
Prime Minister: Baburam Bhattarai
Legal System: English common law with Hindu concepts
Currency: Nepalese Rupee
Total Area: 147,181 km^2 (95th)
Latitudes: 26°22'-30°27' N
Longitudes: 80°04'-88°12' E
The Flag of Nepal, adopted on December 16, 1962. Its
crimson red color is a symbol for victory in war and is
color of the national flower, the rhododendron. The
Blue Border Symbolizes Peace
Nepal is found in South Asia, landlocked between China
and India
Population
Economy
Population: 29,890,676 (41st) (July 2012 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 1.768% (67th) (July 2012 est.)
Birth Rate: 21.85 births/1000 (78th) (2012 est.)
Death Rate: 6.75 deaths/1000 (144th) (2012 est.)
Life Expectancy: 66.51 years (161st)
GDP: $38.08 billion (102nd) (2011 est.)
GDP per capita: $1,300 (204th)
GDP growth: 3.5% (109th) (2011 est.)
Exchange Rate: 86.93 NPR to USD (9/16/12)
Inflation rate: 8.6% (2011)
Revenues: $3.9 billion
Expenditures: $5.3 billion
Taxes: 21% GDP
Unemployment rate: 46% (191th) (2008 est.)
Population below Poverty Line: 30.9%
GDP by sector: %34 agriculture, 15% industry, %50.1
services
Labor Force: 18 million (33rd)
Labor Division: 75% agriculture, 7% industry, 18% service
The Age Distribution of Nepal: Nepal has a very
young population with a median age of 21.2
(175th)
Education Expenditures: 4.6% GDP
Culture and Education
Energy
Literacy: 60.3% (73% Male, 48.3% Female)
Education Expenditures: 4.6% GDP
Religions: 80.6% Hindu, 10% Buddhist, 4.6% Muslim,
3.6% Kirant, 0.9% Other (2001 Consensus)
Energy Use by Type:
Biomass
Petroleum products
Hydro Power
Coal
87 %
8%
2.5 %
2%
Energy Use by Sector:
A picture from outside a Buddist Monastary
Total Energy Consumption: 111 Billion kWh (2008/2009)
Electricity Consumption: 4.833 Billion kWh (113th) (2010 est.)
Electricity Generation: 3.156 Billion kWh (129th) (2010 est.)
Oil Consumption (per day): 18,430 (132nd) (2012)
Oil Production (per day): 0 (95th) (2012)
Coal Production (Short Tons): 18,000 (57th) (2010)
Coal Consumption (Short Tons): 357,000 (74th) (2010)
Carbon Dioxide Emissions (Metric Tons): 3,259,000 (137th)
(2010)
History
Modern (1950-present)
In 1951 the long standing Rana hegemony ended in Nepal with the institution of a cabinet system of government.
However, the government still acted as an absolute monarchy as King Mahendra instituted a party-less panchayat
system in 1959. A truly democratic style of government was instituted in 1990 when King Birendra was forced by the
"Jan Andolan" (People's Movement)to reform the constitution and establish a multiparty parliament. In 1996, the
Maoist (communist) party started a violent revolution to replace the royal parliament system with a people's socialist
republic. This violent move instigated a long Napali civil war that resulted in more than 12,000 deaths. In 2006, the
democratic people's movement forced King Gyanendra to relinquish sovereign power to the people. In December 2007
Nepal became a federal republic. The Maoist leader Prachanda was elected to the position of prime minister of Nepal on
August 15, 2008 but resigned on May 4, 2009 due to conflicts in sacking the Army chief. Since Prachanda there have
been two more prime ministers. The country has remained in political deadlock and has not been at peace.
Geography and Climate
Landscape
Nepal has an incredibly diverse landscape. The Himalayas run
through the north of the country. Consequently the north has an
alpine climate. There are 240 peaks over 20,000 ft in Nepal
including the highest peak in the world, Mt. Everest at 29,029 ft
(8,848 meters).
The south hill region, known as the Pahad varies from 800-4000
meters (2,625 to 13,123 feet) and is largely subtropical in climate.
Nepal's landscape includes hill lands and mountains
Forest
Nepal contains a substantial amount of forest, about 27.3% of its land area. While a quarter of the forest is heavily
degraded, and forest cover was shown to have decreased at a rate of 1.8% annually between 1990 and 2000, many
studies show an increase in the number of trees due to advances in community forestry.
Precipitation and Temperature
Average rainfall varies widely over Nepal due to its diverse
Geography but most of the rainfall comes during the monsoon
season (June-September) and most regions experience an annual
rainfall between 1500mm and 2500mm.
As can be seen by the maps the northern mountainous region
becomes cooler and more arid. As air from the south-west rise over
the Himalayas, driven by the jet stream, it becomes cooler forcing
the water in the air to condense and precipitate into the mountain
valleys. The windward side of Annapurna mountain range is the
wettest region in Nepal receiving up to 5500mm annually.
A map of Nepal's annual precipitation by region in 2011
It is clear from the monthly temperature and rainfall chart that Nepal experiences 4 seasons. The coldest temperatures
are recorded November through January, with the average temperature over those 3 months being less than 5 degrees
Celsius. The winter is also relatively dry. The hottest temperatures are experienced between May and August, with a wet
monsoon season arriving in June, the month with the most precipitation.
A map of Nepal's average monthly temperature and
rainfall
A map of Nepal's average annual temperatures by region
from 1971-2010
Wind
Nepal is a mountainous country with many river corridors that channel wind. Unfortunately Nepal's wind has not been
thoroughly investigated, as Nepal only has 29 functioning meteorology stations many of which provide discontinuous
data. These are run by the
Weather in Kathmandu Nepal
Department of Hydrology and
Avg
High
Meteorology. These stations only first
Wet
Avg
Wind
Wind
Avg
Avg
Avg
Relative
Avg Min
Avg Max
Days Sunlight
Speed Speed Days
started collecting data in 1967.
Month
Temp Precip
Humid
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
June
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Total
Temp(°C)
Temp(°C)
1
3
7
11
15
19
20
19
18
12
7
2
11.2
18
21
24
28
30
29
28
28
28
27
23
20
25.3
(°C)
(mm)
(>0.1
mm)
Hours/
Day
(%)
9.5
12
16
20
23
24
24
23.5
23
20
15
11
18.4
7
16
36
52
99
198
378
345
168
37
5
2
1343
1
5
2
6
10
15
21
20
12
4
1
<1
97
7.2
9
8.4
7.7
7.4
6.2
4.4
5.1
4.4
8.1
8.1
8.1
7.0
79
71
61
53
57
73
81
83
82
79
85
80
74
(m/s)
(Vept
2011)
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
(m/s)
(Vept
2011)
5
26
8
9
9
7
6
6
7
6
5
5
26
with
Frost
11
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
19
Sunlight
Nepal experiences a lot of sunlight a
year, with the most hours of sunlight
being during the winter, as storms are
more frequent in the summer.
Unfortunately, due to the absence of
good data and the presence of only 15
meteorology stations, it is difficult to
present good solar data for Nepal.
Kathmandu's Climate
Katmandu is located in the northwest part of the Kathmandu valley at 1350 m (4430 ft) above sea level. The city covers
50.67 km^2 and as part of the Kathmandu valley and has a warm temperate climate.
Energy
Nepal is in an energy
crisis, as less than 44%
of the population has
access to electricity. The
electricity demand is
Nepal is too high for its
current energy
infrastructure which
results in load shedding
Most of Nepa
w
(government mandated times of no electricity usage). In the absence
of electricity, the majority of Nepal relies on biomass for its energy
needs (mostly cooking at this time). While Nepal does not have any known deposits of coal or oil, Nepal has great
potential for hydroelectric power with its mountainous terrain and decent rainfall. Nepal's government has shown great
interest in renewable energy, particularly wind, solar and electric. It is clearly in the nation's interest to increase its
energy infrastructure but unfortunately political and economic difficulties have greatly decreased the effectiveness of
various governmental plans to develop these technologies and utilize them.
Fossil Fuels
Nepal does not contain any oil or natural gas reserves and has an estimated 1.10 million short tons of coal according to
the EIA. Considering that the amount of coal produced in the United States in 2011 was 1094.3 million short tons,
Nepal’s fossil fuel reserves are sparse and even if they were developed, would not be sustainable for any length of time.
Nepal must rely on other nations for fossil fuels.
Hydroelectric
Current estimates show that between 66 potential sites, Nepal could produce 44,000 MW of hydroelectric power.
However due to political conditions and civil war, hydroelectric projects have failed to start in Nepal and the country is
currently only harnessing about 1% of its hydroelectric potential.
A view of the Seti River, one of Nepal's many rivers that
has potential for electric plants
The Nepalese government has created a number of 5 year plans
featuring hydroelectric power. Hydroelectric power, if sufficiently
developed has the potential to relieve some Nepal's disparity, since it
is such a rich resource for the nation. Along with Bhutan, Nepal has
the most hydroelectric power potential in Southern Asia.
Unfortunately these plans have failed to be efficacious and have
largely failed under political and economic stress. Despite these
failures, Nepal's current government has again emphasized
hydroelectric power and seems intent on bringing it about. The
government launched $275mil initiative in 2011 to produce an extra
2500MW of electricity within 5 years.
If Nepal could harness its hydroelectric potential it is likely that it
would be able to export some of the energy to India, which is looking
for sustainable energy solutions for its growing population. China also shows interest in Nepal's hydroelectric resources.
The Nepalese parliament signed an agreement with China's Three Gorges International Corp in February 2012, allowing
the Chinese to build a 750 MW hydroelectric plant on the Seti. It will
be called the West Seti Dam. Three Gorges maintains a 75% stake in
the project to Nepal's 25%.
Solar
With an average of over 300 sunny days a year, Nepal has excellent
solar energy potential. According to a 2008 study by NREL, an
estimated 53,270MW (466,643,167MWh/year) could be provided by
solar energy which places Nepal 89th on the list for solar potential.
Other than this study by NREL there is not much solar data collected
for Nepal due to a lack of meteorology stations.
Kathmandu records, on average, more than 300 sunny
days a year
Wind
With the country's mountainous corridors there is high potential for
wind energy. A good wind profile of Nepal is not currently known, however, so it is hard to accurately estimate how
much however, according to a 1990 report by NREL, Nepal has about 7606 km^2 of area that has class 3-7 wind at 50m.
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
CIA - The World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/np.html
SARI/Energy: http://www.sari-energy.org/pagefiles/countries/nepal_energy_detail.asp
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal, and other related articles
Hydropower in Nepal: http://www.ippan.org.np/HPinNepal.html
Climate at Himalayan Mart: http://www.himalayanmart.com/climate_nepal/climate_nepal.php
Energy Wiki: https://energypedia.info/index.php/Nepal_Country_Situation#National_level
Food and Agriculture of the United Nations: http://www.fao.org
US department of State: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5283.htm
Nepal Monitor: http://www.nepalmonitor.com/2009/01/fdi_in_nepals_hydropower.html
United Nations Development Program: http://www.undp.org.np/environment--energy/program/rerl-126.html
Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/02/nepal-china-dam-idUSL3E8F25U420120402
China Dialogue: http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/4070
BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12846672
Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2010/dec/10/cancun-climatechange-conference-energy-access
15. Photo from Saraogit World Travels:
http://www.saraogitravels.com/client/index.php?action=showcategorydetails&cid=75
16. Nepal Department of Meteorology and Hydrology: http://www.dhm.gov.np/dpc
17. Kathmandu Data:
http://sdwebx.worldbank.org/climateportal/index.cfm?page=country_historical_climate&ThisRegion=Asia&This
CCode=NPL
18. Nepal’s Climate:http://www.nepal.climatemps.com/
19. Wind Intensity Measurement: http://www.wind.arch.t-kougei.ac.jp/APECWW/Report/2010/Nepala.pdf
20. Open Energy Info Solar Irradiance: http://en.openei.org/datasets/node/724
21. Sari Nepal Energy Overview Slideshow: http://www.sarienergy.org/PageFiles/What_We_Do/activities/Maldives_Transitioning_South_Asian_Energy_Market_July_2011/
presentations/Day%201/Nepal%20country%20overview.pdf
22. Open Energy Info Nepal Overview: http://en.openei.org/wiki/Nepal
23. EIA US coal: http://www.eia.gov/coal/
24. Three Gorges Dam:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303816504577319061311691568.html