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Nepal energy gardens

Energy gardens for small-scale farmers in Nepal: institutions, species and technology

Grant: £78k ESRC-funded (ESRC-DFID Development Frontiers Research Fund)
Dates: October 2013 – March 2015 (1.5 year project)

Principal investigator: Professor Jon Lovett

Co-investigators: Dr Andrew Ross

Project partners:

Contact: j.lovett@leeds.ac.uk

Background

It is possible to grow 'Energy Gardens' using a range of plant species to produce different forms of energy. Using energy gardens, farming communities can grow their own fuel and harness the power of plants through technological innovation, as the potential to transform the lives of small-scale farmers.

The energy garden concept originates from an idea developed by the Hassan Biofuels Park in India and will follow their approach for using local plant species as the source of biofuels, thereby avoiding loss of biodiversity as much as possible, and using marginal land to avoid competition with food crops.

Aims

The project aimed to find a solution to controversies surrounding the use of biomass and biofuels for energy production by using indigenous plant species grown in field edges or as shade, testing the feasibility of expanding the successful Energy Garden approach to Nepal and worldwide.

The research team included geographers, sociologists, economists, botanists and engineers from the UK, Nepal and India.

Objectives

  1. To investigate the institutional economics of energy biomass and biofuel production from local to national and global scales
  2. To undertake a technical assessment of resources and conversion routes
  3. To combine the institutional and technical analyses to devise ways for community cooperation on sustainable energy production
  4. To transfer the knowledge gained to a wide international audience.

Impact

  • The preliminary findings have been used to launch the 'Energy Garden Ambassadors' school programme in Nepal, and the project concept has been extended to Africa under the Royal Society-DfID Renewable Energy Capacity Building network.
  • The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) has expressed a strong interest in using the research results for their forthcoming programme on energy.
  • A high-level meeting was held in Kathmandu in November 2015 attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister's of Nepal to prepare a concept brief for pilot implementation of the project outputs with an indicative budget of US$2 million.
  • The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, hosted an 'Energy Garden' display in 2017

Publications

Links