Environmental Issues In Bhutan

1171 Words5 Pages
With the continuing rapid pace of socio-economic development, there are emerging challenges for our environmental obligations in the government's constitutional mandate to "secure ecologically balanced sustainable development, while promoting justifiable economic and social development". Periodic reporting on the State of the Environment informs our citizens and also helps the government in this mandate by identifying emerging issues and recommending effective actions. To address environmental issues, the Government of Bhutan has banned certain practices with varying success. Bhutan is developing very rapidly and has experienced enormous transformation and with these positive transformations, Bhutan faces numerous challenges amongst which…show more content…
In the move to curb these issues, within the Punatsangchhu-II HE Project, the independent National Environment Commission Secretariat and Bhutan Trust Fund as well as the executive Ministries of Health (for chemical and radioactive waste), Economic Affairs, and Agriculture and Forests (Department of Forestry Services) are tasked with addressing environmental issues. Non-governmental agencies like Royal Society for the Protection of Nature, the only domestic environmental NGO, and the World Wildlife Fund are also contracted. 10. Role of Hydropower in National Development Context Hydropower is the backbone of the Bhutanese economy. The rugged terrain, compounded by the fact that the Country is landlocked does not provide a much economic advantage to Bhutan. The rapid altitudinal variations with swift flowing rivers have made Bhutan a natural haven for hydropower production. It is expected that by 2020, the entire Country will have access to electricity. There is, however, a need to ensure that internal electricity tariff is kept affordable so that it becomes the main source of energy in the Country and also to stimulate industrial activities. This paper highlights the role and importance of hydropower for social and economic development of Hydropower, as a clean renewable resource, has two important…show more content…
Another advantage of hydropower is that it is one of the cheapest renewable energy sources, and is often economically competitive with current market energy prices. It requires relatively high initial investment but has a long lifespan with the very low operation and maintenance costs. Hydropower has among the best conversion efficiencies of all known energy sources (about 90% efficiency, water to wire). In addition, it shows a high reliability, flexibility, and variety in project scales and sizes, which gives hydropower the ability to meet large centralized urban and industrial needs as well as decentralized rural

More about Environmental Issues In Bhutan

Open Document