Solar-powered irrigation in Nepal: implications for fossil fuel use and groundwater extraction

Simple item page
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Water Management Instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationTexas A&M Universityen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Nebraskaen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationLafayette Collegeen_US
cg.contributor.donorSwiss Agency for Development and Cooperationen_US
cg.coverage.countryNepalen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2NPen_US
cg.coverage.subregionKoshien_US
cg.coverage.subregionMadheshen_US
cg.creator.identifierKashi Kafle: 0000-0001-8135-8423en_US
cg.creator.identifierSoumya Balasubramanya: 0000-0001-8035-7306en_US
cg.creator.identifierManohara Khadka: 0000-0002-7490-645Xen_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad5f46en_US
cg.identifier.iwmilibraryH052991en_US
cg.isijournalISI Journalen_US
cg.issn1748-9326en_US
cg.issue8en_US
cg.journalEnvironmental Research Lettersen_US
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen_US
cg.volume19en_US
dc.contributor.authorKafle, Kashien_US
dc.contributor.authorBalasubramanya, Soumyaen_US
dc.contributor.authorStifel, D.en_US
dc.contributor.authorKhadka, Manoharaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-07-31T04:01:34Zen_US
dc.date.available2024-07-31T04:01:34Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/149320en_US
dc.titleSolar-powered irrigation in Nepal: implications for fossil fuel use and groundwater extractionen_US
dcterms.abstractIn recent years, use of solar-powered irrigation pumps (SIPs) has increased significantly in the agricultural plains (terai) of Nepal. Federal and local governments there have subsidized the pumps in an effort to expand irrigated agriculture using renewable energy. We use data from a cross-sectional survey of 656 farming households in the terai to examine how SIPs affect fossil fuel use and groundwater extraction. We find that most SIP users continued to use their fossil-fuel pumps, as very few completely replaced them with solar pumps. Farmers who received SIPs operated their irrigation pumps more hours than those who did not receive SIPs. Taken together, these findings suggest that groundwater use has increased, as SIP recipients ‘stack’ their pumps. We also find that solar pumps were more likely to be owned by richer households and those with better social networks than those who were poorer and had relative social disadvantage. As Nepal expands the use of solar pumps in agriculture, policy efforts may benefit from managing expectations about the carbon-mitigation potential of this technology, managing groundwater risks as SIP use expands, and making SIPs more inclusive.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.available2024-07-12en_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationKafle, Kashi; Balasubramanya, Soumya; Stifel, D.; Khadka, Manohara. 2024. Solar-powered irrigation in Nepal: implications for fossil fuel use and groundwater extraction. Environmental Research Letters, 19(8):084012. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad5f46]en_US
dcterms.extent19(8):084012.en_US
dcterms.issued2024-07-12en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0en_US
dcterms.publisherIOP Publishingen_US
dcterms.subjectsolar powered irrigation systemsen_US
dcterms.subjectfossil fuelsen_US
dcterms.subjectgroundwateren_US
dcterms.subjectwater extractionen_US
dcterms.subjectpumpsen_US
dcterms.subjectenergy consumptionen_US
dcterms.subjectgovernmenten_US
dcterms.subjectsubsidiesen_US
dcterms.subjectsocial networksen_US
dcterms.subjectequityen_US
dcterms.subjectfarmersen_US
dcterms.subjecthouseholdsen_US
dcterms.subjectsocioeconomic environmenten_US
dcterms.subjectpoliciesen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

Files

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.75 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

IWMI Journal Articles
Economics and Impact Assessment (EcIA)