Bangladesh plans to phase out diesel-powered irrigation pumps for solar ones to cut carbon emissions, but the country’s farmers have expressed concern about the availability of power during bad weather and the uncertainty of costs. The initiative is touted as ensuring the South Asian country will generate an additional 480 gigawatt-hours of clean energy annually, and is part of the government’s commitments to cut emissions under the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Diesel-run irrigation pumps account for about 1.6% of Bangladesh’s total greenhouse gas emissions; the government has a goal of cutting 0.8 million tons of emissions by 2030 from irrigation more broadly. Several solar irrigation pilot programs have gone underway in recent years across Bangladesh, administered by the Infrastructure Development Company (IDCOL). The NGO has installed 2,226 solar irrigation pumps in different parts of the country, involving private sector companies. From there, farmers receive irrigation water at a fixed cost based on season and area. Solar power plant installed for irrigation at a rice field in Kushtia, Bangladesh. Image by Muhammad Mostafigur Rahman. Cutting costs and boosting clean energy share The government has also come up with a road map for phasing out diesel-run irrigation options, including the technical and financial requirements and benefits. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has contributed $42.4 million to support the transition, which will see some 45,000 solar irrigation pump (SIP) systems replace 200,000 diesel pumps. The new pumps will serve about 400,000 hectares (nearly 1 million acres) of farmland managed by more than 1.3…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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