Mountain ecosystems are vulnerable to global environmental change. About, 83% of total land mass of the country is covered by mountains and hills and are very sensitive to the effects of climate change. The rise in temperature, rapid retreat of Himalayan glaciers and extreme weather events are some of the visible impacts of climate change in Nepal. Between 1975 and 2006, the temperature increased by 1.8°C, with the high-altitude area showing an annual increase of 0.12°C. The average maximum annual temperature increase of Nepal is 0.06°C. Regardless of its low emissions i.e. 0.025% of the total Greenhouse gas emissions, Nepal is ranked as the 4th most vulnerable country

A Public Solar Hot Water Bathing Centre would be established in Kagbeni village, a popular tourist spot in the Trans-Himalayan region of Nepal. The purpose of the project is to demonstrate solar energy as a viable option for water heating requirements for bathing thereby reducing the dependence of traditional energy sources for water heating such as firewood and Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). The bathing center also acts as a tool for providing additional income generation options for the local people with tourism by giving better accommodation facilities to them - meeting their hot water and hot shower demands.
This pilot project focuses on meeting the hot water demand of rural areas of the Mountainous regions of Nepal by using the only energy available in the form of solar irradiance and act as an exemplar for other rural communities of the region. The project will use a solar PV and thermal hybrid technology which can heat water up to 70 degrees. This will thus provide an opportunity to take hot showers for more than 30 people per day including both locals and tourist.
The impact of the project activity on the sustainable development of the area has been discussed below in two categories:
ENVIRONMENTAL WELLBEING
This proposed project activity would contribute to environment conservation by reducing deforestation by providing alternative fuel for heating water with solar water heater for bathing. The project will be responsible for completely negating the CO2 emissions from firewood consumption used for water heating. The high-altitude Mountainous areas of Nepal receives excellent solar irradiance; average solar insolation of 5.5 kWh/m2 per day for over 300 days/year. However, people haven't been able to utilize such priceless natural asset that is readily available to them. People here are limited to taking baths only about 2-3 times/month per person and use almost 2kg (Himalayan Birch) of firewood to heat water to meet their per shower demand. This has been the major cause for a considerable amount of CO2 emissions. Mustang district welcomed 52,475 foreign tourists in the year 2017 (The Kathmandu Post, May 2, 2019). As their hot water demand needs to be met by LPG or firewood, it further aggravates the emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC WELLBEING
PEEDA will lead this project and co-operate with community at Kagbeni to achieve a sustained balance between nature conservation and socio-economic improvement in the area. PEEDA will build the facility and thereafter conduct capacity-building for locals to operate and maintain the facility. There will be usage fee to take shower, which would provide a revenue base to operate and maintain the facility even after the completion of the project. The hot shower facility will also be providing employment opportunities to the locals. Besides, use of the clean energy source would decrease indoor air pollutants and contribute to improving socio-economic wellbeing of the local people including health and sanitation. The facility will employ both men and women, thereby allowing to negate gender disparity. With a higher income generation potential, the local?s literacy rate is bound to increase; also because the people are subjected to an opportunity of direct interaction with the tourists hailing from different countries having different culture, religion, language, etc. thereby keeping locals informed about global society. Such an innovative business-oriented approach to solving an environmental issue will help in creating a long-run sustainable economy for the local community.