4.1 Assessment

4.1.1 Data Collection
Secondary Data: Secondary data can be collected from various organizations. A list of some of the best organizations to get data from is given below.

Name of Agency	Data Source for
District Development Committee (DDC)	District Profile
District Irrigation Office (DIO)	Water resources, irrigation systems
District Forest Office (DFO)	Forest resources, community forestry
District Water Supply Office (DWSO)	Water resources, drinking water systems
District Agricultural Office (DAO)	Agricultural land, input and output
District Labor Office (DLO)	District work force
Agricultural Development Bank (ADBN)	Bank loan and subsidies
FNCCI District Chapter	Private sector status
District Education Office (DEO)	Adult literacy
Women Development Office (WDO)	Adult literacy, Improved Cook Stoves
District Veterinary Office (DVO)	Population of cattle, goat, chicken etc.
District Soil Conservation Office (DSCO)	Soil conservation and natural resources management
District Industries Office (DInO)	Enterprises, training program
Village Development Committees (VDC)	VDC profile
International NGOs National and local NGOs Private Sector Organizations (PSOs)
Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS)	Energy and water resources
Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)	Electrification
Biogas Support Programme (BSP)	Biogas
ICIMOD	Energy and natural resources

Primary Data: Collection of primary data will be done primarily through household baseline surveys and participatory rural appraisals (PRA). As a part of the community mobilization process, the community mobilizers of the Support Organizations will carry out house to house surveys and assist the DEA and TO in conducting PRA exercises to gather information and to involve the community in the planning and monitoring process. This will be done only in the programme VDCs. In other VDCs, the VDC leaders, secretary and the technical assistant will assist in information gathering.

4.1.2 Data Processing
All the data may not be directly useful as they are. These data will have to be processed to make them suitable for energy planning purposes. Some of the analytical tools used are mentioned below:

Verification of data if the same data is available from more than one source. Usually data from district level source are more up-to-date than data from national level organizations.

Projection of data if the data is some years old or if data is required to be projected for the future.

Compilation of data is required when data from a number of sources have to be combined to get data in a useful form. For example, to estimate biogas potential we need to analyze the data on cattle population, dung production per head of cattle and temperature or altitude of potential areas.

Interpretation of data is required when the needed data is not available but has to be deduced from some other piece of data. For example, the micro hydro potential of a district may have to be interpreted from the number of micro hydro plants already installed in that district.

Mapping of data is needed when we need a spatial depiction of the data.

4.1.3 District Energy Situation
The DDC: REDS collects and processes all energy related data which will be compiled into a District Energy Situation Report. This report contains the following information:

General District Information: This chapter includes geographical location, population, climatic conditions, occupation, rivers, streams, lakes, land use pattern, forest situation, agriculture, livestock, irrigation, drinking water, communication, electricity and other facilities. These information can be obtained from the District Profile prepared by the DDC, the Statistical Year Book published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, DDC records, the District Forest Office, District Irrigation Office, District Education Office, District Agriculture Office and District Veterinary Office. Energy Resources: In general, this chapter includes biomass, water, solar and wind resources.

Data regarding biomass resources includes data on fuelwood, agricultural residue and animal dung. Thus, we need to collect data on sustainable yield of fuelwood, production of various crops and their yield of residue, and the livestock population and their dung yield. The information on fuelwood can be obtained from the Perspective Energy Plan published by WECS and the District Forest Office. Information on agricultural production can be got from the District Agriculture Office and that on livestock from the District Veterinary Office.

Data regarding perennial streams and rivers in the district can be got from the District Profile, District Irrigation Office, and from the Micro Hydro Inventory Report prepared by WECS (if one has been prepared for the district).

Wind and Solar radiation data are more difficult to obtain. RECAST may have data regarding solar radiation and some of this has been quoted in the Perspective Energy Plan documents prepared by WECS. NEA may have wind data obtained through wind gauging stations it had installed in some places.

Energy Consumption Pattern: This chapter includes consumption by fuel type, by end-uses and by sectors. The main sources of information are the Perspective Energy Plan documents and the Development Region-wise Energy Resource and Consumption Profile both prepared by WECS.

Energy Technologies: This chapter includes technologies related to biomass, biogas, hydro electric, hydraulic, solar and wind. The main sources of information are Development Region-wise Energy Resource and Consumption Profile both prepared by WECS, the biogas companies in the district, the Biogas Support Programme, the Community Forestry Projects in the district, Nepal Electricity Authority, District Cottage and Small Industry Office, Study on Functional Status of Private Micro-hydro Power Plants in Nepal prepared by ICIMOD and other similar reports.

VDC Energy Profile: Information can be got from the DDC and VDC offices. In some cases the VDC Secretary and the Technical Assistant may need to be mobilized. Conclusion: This chapter includes conclusions based on the data collected and also recommendations for future actions which will include recommendations on potential VDCs where there is a need as well as technical, economical and social potential for rural energy development, specially micro-hydro. This Report should be upgraded at least every two years to incorporate new or revised data.