Renewable energy
Mountains play as key role in providing renewable energy, especially through hydropower, solar power, wind power and biogas for downstream cities and remote mountain communities.
Hydropower currently provides around a fifth of all electricity worldwide, and some countries rely almost exclusively on mountain regions for hydropower generation In Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Peru, at least 95 percent of hydropower is generated in mountain regions.
Solar power can also be efficiently produced in mountains and other cold regions - contrary to popular belief. The Himalayas and Tropical Andes are particularly promising locations for the development of solar energy, where installations could produce approximately 20 percent more energy than they could at sea level. In Nepal, for example, almost all remote airports and telecommunication facilities are powered by solar energy; solar cookers are widely used in the mountain regions of China and India.
Wind power is a vast, but largely untapped source of potential sustainable energy in mountains. Even at lower elevations, the terrain and topography of mountains can create wind corridors with high wind speeds that are ideally suited for wind turbine development.
Sustainable energy brings benefits to human health, the mountain environment and global climate. Reduced dependency on firewood, for example, can lead to fewer respiratory diseases, improved water and soil conservation, and less black carbon (soot) in the atmosphere – one of the most widespread short-lived climate pollutants. However, many sustainable energy sources in mountains remain unused or underutilized.
Landscape experts met in the European AlpsnewsAround 200 participants from the Americas, Asia and Europe met at the Permanent European Conference for the Study of the Rural Landscape (PECSRL) 2016 conference in Innsbruck and Seefeld, Austria to discuss the past, present and future of rural mountain landscapes. Hosted by the Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research...
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Tackling air pollution in mountainous citiesnewsPolicy makers, experts and practitioners from Asia and Latin America met to discuss the challenges and available tools for managing air quality in mountainous cities at a session held on the sidelines of the 17th International Union of Air Pollution Prevention and Environmental Protection Associations’ (IUAPPA) World Clean Air Congress and...
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Call for case studies on mountain culturepeak to peakIssue 95 – Month 8 – Year 2016 The August issue of Peak to Peak calls for case studies on mountain culture for International Mountain Day (IMD) communication materials. The newsletter continues with stories about a mountain apricot community in the Kyrgyz Republic, a call... Download » |
Clean energy for women of the PamirsnewsLast month Little Earth began implementing a new pilot project that aims to contribute to the sustainable use of natural resources and improve the quality of life of two villages, Savnob and Roshorv, in the Bartnag Valley of the Pamir region in Tajikistan. The project, "Clean energy and women...
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Central Asia Climate Smart Agriculture WorkshopeventThe Central Asia Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Workshop addresses the interlinked challenges of food security, climate change, disaster risk reduction and energy through an integrated climate smart agriculture approach.
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Journalists blog about their Alpine tournewsThe first blog entries of the journalists who participated in the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention’s ‘We are Alps’ tour are now online. On 29 June - 5 July 2016, ten journalists crossed the Alps with the aim of raising awareness on the challenges and opportunities of...
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