Sustainability of Micro-Hydrosystems — A Case Study

Abstract

Energy development and management has been a crucial subject due to recent concerns of energy shortages and increasing oil prices. Energy is not only the major driver of economic development but also a major precursor for global environmental problems due to emission of pollutants including greenhouse gases. The development of sustainable energy systems that do not have net negative impacts into ecology, economy and society has been given due considerations recently. In order to determine whether a particular energy system is sustainable, a set of criteria can be used to evaluate them. In this study, a decentralized community based micro hydro system in Nepal has been evaluated for its sustainability by using environmental, economic and social criteria. From the sustainability analysis, it is found that decentralized community based micro hydro systems are sustainable in the long-term. This model can also be applied to evaluate sustainability of any other energy systems of similar settings.