While biomass covers almost 80 percent of the total energy consumption for cooking in Nepal, together with the trend in population dynamics, its consumption pattern is changing. With the increasing migration from hills to Terai, the pressure on fuel wood is increasing in Terai. In Terai, along with increasing dependency on fuel wood, the price of fuel wood is increasing while the forest stock is decreasing. On the other hand, with less consumption of fuel wood in hills the forest stock is also increasing. However, with increasing household income, urbanization and road accessibility, the source of fuel for cooking in the households is changing from the fuel wood to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). These trends were shared as findings from a study based on review of published literature and assessment of 15 representative case studies from seven districts in the country.

The study has been conducted as the second step towards formulation of Biomass Energy Strategy (BEST). Effort towards formulation of BEST is a joint initiative of Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS) and Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) with support from German Development Cooperation - GIZ under Nepal Energy Efficiency Programme (NEEP). The Nepali-German programme NEEP is executed by WECS and supported by GIZ on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The findings of the study were disseminated during the BEST Baseline Workshop organized from 25 to 26 September 2013 in Dhulikhel. During the workshop around 50 participants from government, non-government and private sector institutions discussed and put efforts towards finding consensus and interpretation on results of existing studies and data.

Formulation of BEST aims to develop a robust and realistic policy to implement interventions and technologies for a more sustainable usage of the important and precious wood and biomass resource in Nepal. Commenting on the process, Dr. Krishna Chandra Paudel, Secretary at WECS shares, “In view of the importance of biomass as the major source of primary energy and the fact that majority of people will further depend on biomass as source of cooking fuel, the BEST is important for sustainable use of the biomass in Nepal.” He opines that “A consistent strategy for biomass energy has not been formulated yet. The BEST formulation process will be based on the wealth of information and support from the Nepali experts and relevant stakeholders.” He further adds that sustaining forests and supply of biomass energy has to be balanced.

Explaining the key findings of the study, Mr. Fritz Koelling from IP Consult states that the dependency on fuel wood is is very much reliant on the income level and the economic status of the people. IP Consult is the leading partner of the consortium of consultants commissioned by GIZ for the BEST formulation. As a third step in the process, a workshop will be organized in November to discuss alternative scenarios with the aim to formulate perspectives for a more sustainable forestry, agriculture and biomass energy sector. The final step will focus on development of the strategy.