Arend Kolhoff
Technical secretary
The NCEA drafted advisory Terms of Reference (ToR) for an integrated EIA that served to evaluate the Biogas Support Programme (BSP) in Nepal.
Significant details
The government of Nepal and the government of the Netherlands cooperatively implement a Biogas Support Programme (BSP) in Nepal. In order to quantify and substantiate the impacts of the programme, an integrated EIA was planned. The NCEA was asked to draft Terms of Reference (ToR) for this study.
A joint Nepalese-Dutch working group of the NCEA prepared advisory ToR for this integrated EIA. This study should address direct and indirect environmental and socio-economic impacts of the third phase of the programme. Moreover, the programme should be compared with the situation without biogas (a 'zero alternative').
The advisory Terms of Reference contain detailed guidelines for various aspects of the study. Five main questions are also provided as a focus for this study:
- To what extent does biogas substitute the use of fuelwood and influence a change in the total energy consumption?
- What is the total emission of greenhouse gasses due to the installation of biogas and to what extent does it contribute towards the national emission of greenhouse gasses?
- To what extent does the decreased use of fuelwood due to the installation of biogas plants contribute to slow down the process of deforestation?
- To what extent has the activity profile of men and women been changed due to the installation of biogas plants? What does this mean for the socio-economic position of households with and without a biogas installation in a settlement?
- To what extent does the slurry from the biogas plants influence the agricultural production and sustainability of land use?