User:Rajan093

Rajan paudel(king_paudel@yahoo.com) Energy Crisis: can we make difference? Soaring world population, adoption of energy intensive lifestyle (in developing countries like China, India etc.), increased no of automobiles, aircrafts and industries has increased the demand for energy. 85% of the world's energy supply in 2008 is supplied by Coal and natural gas alone (planetforlife.com) .Since fuel energy is the main resource used to exploit all other resources, its decline will result bottleneck in the supply of energy resources which ultimately leads to energy crisis. If this trend of unabated energy consumption continues it will get exhausted completely in less than 42 years. It is of utmost importance that the public and especially policymakers understand the global energy crisis. If we do nothing, our children will inherit a disabled country where they would starve for nothing but death.

It‘s high time for us to innovate new technologies, think globally and act locally. Opting for the alternative source of energy like wind power, solar power, geothermal energy, hydropower nuclear power etc. is the only solution seen till date.  Nuclear fusion and fission can be other sources which are mind-numbing for countries like Nepal. Effective, economic and efficient measures must be adopted to prolong the availability of fuel energy. Use of florescent lamps in place of bulbs can save 60% energy. Cover the water heater by insulation blanket; it saves 1000 pound CO2 per year. Use of pressure cooker saves 70% energy as well as cuts cooking time considerably. Cover the pots by lid while cooking, by doing this the stem generated inside the container helps cook food faster along with preservation of energy. Do not directly heat the cooking items soon after they are taken out of refrigerator. Extra energy of gas is required by burner to bring it in the room temperature. Gas stove should be turned on only when fire producing objects like matchbox, lighter or electronic sparking device are near and handy (dali, 2008). Unnecessarily big utensils should be avoided as they consume more fuel without any attendant benefit. Use washing machine when it is full; apply proper economic settings if it is half filled. Recycle the wastages of home; it can save 2400 pounds of CO2 per year. Preserve greenery, plants absorbs the CO2 and minimizes the flow of sound. Consume locally available food materials. Fuel is consumed while transporting goods from one place to other. Walk more, ride less as far as possible. Drive safe and economic, use engine break instead of pedal brakes. Turn off the engines if the vehicle has to stop for more than 2 minutes. You can make a difference if you follow above recommendations.

Opting for the alternative source of energy (like wind power, solar power, geothermal energy, hydropower nuclear power etc.) is the best solution. It also leads to lower emission of CO2 (Dali, 2008), a gas responsible for green house effect and global warming. Converting the nature endowed ‘white gold’ flowing in the rivers which has the capacity of producing more than 80000MW electricity is the better choice for Nepal. But merely 4% (around615MW) has been produced till date(Chand2003). Emerging concept of clean development mechanism (C.D.M), and payment for environmental services (PES) has been developed which assist in resolving the problem.