@article{MehtaEhrenwirthMissalletal.2021, author = {Mehta, Kedar and Ehrenwirth, Mathias and Missall, Siegmund and Degembaeva, Nadira and Akmatov, Kuban and Z{\"o}rner, Wilfried}, title = {Energy Profiling of a High-Altitude Kyrgyz Community: Challenges and Motivations to Preserve Floodplain Ecosystems Based on Household Survey}, volume = {13}, pages = {13086}, journal = {Sustainability}, number = {23}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {2071-1050}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313086}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The floodplain areas along the Naryn River in Kyrgyzstan are essential as they hold the riparian (local) ecosystems because they provide firewood, pastureland, and areas for recreation and protection against erosion. Due to limited access to adequate, reliable, and sustainable energy services, the rural population usually derived their energy needs from multiple natural energy resources (i.e., firewood, charcoal, agricultural residues, animal dung, and wood branches). This is considered a common and predominant practice in rural Kyrgyzstan. This situation leads to a negative impact on local ecosystem services. In addition to that, the reliance on solid fuels contributes to indoor and outdoor air pollution, which is partially threatening the local ecosystem services. By contrast, the employment of renewable-based energy supply systems would substantially reduce the burden on the environment, which is mainly untapped. To integrate renewable energies, it is important to understand the energy behavior of floodplain communities. In that response, the presented article is the first attempt to capture the energy identity of the floodplain community of Kyrgyzstan based on a quantitative energy-based (on-site) household survey. Furthermore, the present research article synthesizes the driving factors that have a (direct or indirect) impact on the energy and local ecosystem services. In addition, the present article proposes a brief pathway for the sustainable energy transition. The article records the recommendation to integrate renewable energies to preserve the local ecosystems of Kyrgyzstan.}, language = {en} } @article{MehtaMingalevaZoerneretal.2022, author = {Mehta, Kedar and Mingaleva, Ekaterina and Z{\"o}rner, Wilfried and Degembaeva, Nadira and Baibagyshov, Ermek}, title = {Comprehensive analysis of the energy legislative framework of Kyrgyzstan}, volume = {2022}, pages = {100013}, journal = {Cleaner Energy Systems}, subtitle = {Investigation to develop a roadmap of Kyrgyz renewable energy sector}, number = {2}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {2772-7831}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cles.2022.100013}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Kyrgyzstan - a Central Asian country - faces a high degree of energy insecurity. Especially the Kyrgyz power sector suffers from outdated infrastructure and is not capable of fulfilling the growing and fluctuating inter-seasonal energy demand. On the contrary, the country is endowed with an abundant amount of renewable energies, which can significantly contribute to bringing stability to the energy sector. The current energy policy is considered as one of the key barriers to the developing the renewable energy sector in Kyrgyzstan. Hence, there is an immediate need to evaluate the formulated energy policy to investigate gaps and uncertainties. In response to that, the presented study is the first attempt that provides an in-depth assessment of Kyrgyzstan's current energy legislative framework. It determines the primary mechanisms for the operation and conduction of renewable energy sources in terms of legal and economic aspects. Furthermore, it provides detailed insight into the current Feed-in tariff calculation methodology and scrutinizes the special provisions for private investors. Based on the in-depth assessment, the article recapitulates the shortfall in the existing energy policies. The article found that there is huge potential available for the renewable energy market. To unlock that, the presented article emahsised on synergestic policy making approach to overcome barriers and expand the Kyrgyz renewable energy sector. The article further showcased how the improvements in the regulatory framework would raise the interest of the private investors / local energy players to promote the installation of renewable energy technologies over the county.}, language = {en} }