Study on energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gases Emission Pattern of Prok VDC of Manasalu Conservation Area

Energy consumption pattern and greenhouse gases emission are interrelated. The intensive use of fossil fuels and unsustainable use of biomass resources are emitting greenhouse gases which are causing greenhouse effect in the earth’s atmosphere resulting global warming.The objective of this study was to know the current energy consumption pattern and greenhouse gases emission of the study area. The study also aimed to analyze the status of renewable energy technology and its role in reducing the consumption of traditional energy resourcesas well as reducing greenhouse gases emission. Prok village development committee of Gorkha District was taken as the study area, which lies within Manaslu Conservation Area. Key informant interview, household survey and direct observatory technique were used for data collection.The total annual energy consumption by sampled households in the studied area was found to be 5747.678 GJ with the annual per capita energy consumption of 27.11169 GJ. Fuelwood, electricity, kerosene, solar and LPG were the energy sources of the area, of which fuelwood was found to be the major energy source providing 99.67% of the total energy. The highest greenhouse gases were emitted from fuelwood which was 519.156 tons. Micro-hydro, metallic improved cooking stoves and solar home systems were the renewable energy technologies used in the area. 80% of the sampled households were using micro-hydro as renewable energy technology followed by 25% metallic improved cooking stoves and 20% solar home system which has reduced or substituted 55.275 tones of fuelwood consumption. The comparative observation before improved cooking stoves use and after its use showed reduction of an average of 3 kg/day of fuelwood in the households having metallic improved cooking stoves as improved cooking stoves installed. The comparative observation between metallic improved cooking stoves and traditional cooking stoves showed metallic improved cooking stoves more efficient than traditional cooking stoves in terms of fuelwood use (t=11.26 at p≤ 0.05), indoor environment, space heating and stove handling. A significant amount of greenhouse gases emission was reduced after the use of renewable energy technologies in the study area, which were 84 tons of CO2 equivalent. Therefore, the renewable energy technologies used in the study area had positive impacts i.e. they had either reduced or substituted fuelwood as an energy source ultimately contributing towards the forest conservation for carbon sink, hence mitigating climate change.