International Day of Clean Energy 2025
The International Day of Clean Energy is being observed on 26th January with aims to raise awareness and mobilize action for a just and inclusive transition to clean energy for the benefit of people and the planet. Clean energy plays a key role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and helping communities access reliable power sources.
SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030. Currently, the world is not on track to achieve SDG 7, with 675 million people still living in the dark and lacking access to reliable power sources. Four out of five people living in the dark are in sub-Saharan Africa. The Day also recognizes the importance of clean energy in fighting climate change and calls for improving energy efficiency to reduce carbon pollution and ensure universal access to sustainable energy for all.
On 26 January 2023, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Resolution 77/327 proclaiming 26 January as International Day of Clean Energy, to raise awareness and mobilize action for a just and inclusive transition to clean energy for the benefit of people and the planet. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) was also founded on 26 January.
It is widely taken that clean energy is energy gained from sources that do not release air pollutants, while green energy is energy derived from natural sources. There is a subtle difference between these two energy types even though they are often spoken of as being the same.
Moreover, energy is one of the most important inputs for modern economics, as it improves the socioeconomic development and well-being of society. Worldwide, the demand for energy has rapidly risen owing to an increase in the population and industrial sectors, leading to increased use of non-renewable energy resources, such as petroleum and coal. Ensuring universal access to affordable energy services has been identified as one of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set for 2030. The expansion of the energy infrastructure and efficient technology upgrades, facilitating clean energy services, remain challenging for most developing countries. With rising concerns over environmental sustainability, the focus of energy policies has generally shifted from inefficient technology and traditional energy resources toward improved technologies and clean energy resources, especially in the context of developing countries.
Clean energy is energy gained from sources that do not release air pollutants, while green energy is energy derived from natural sources. There is a subtle difference between these two energy types even though they are often spoken of as being the same.
The perfect clean energy mix occurs where green energy meets renewable energy, such as with solar energy and wind energy.
The most important aspect of clean energy are the environmental benefits as part of a global energy future. While clean, renewable resources also preserve the world’s natural resources, they also reduce the risk of environmental disasters, such as fuel spills or the problems associated with natural gas leaks. With fuel diversification, through different power plants using different energy sources, it is possible to create reliable power supplies to enhance energy security, ensuring there is enough to meet our demands.
Thus, renewable energy, clean energy, green energy, sustainable energy are the similar energy systems that denotes generation of energy without harming to their natural resource human, animals, plants and habitats. However, an easy way to remember the differences between these different energy types is – – Clean energy = clean air, Green energy = natural sources and Renewable energy = recyclable sources while sustainable energy is energy that can meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
Therefore, when clean energy is taken as a specific term that simply represents its non- harming feature mainly. Energy generated with non-harming feature carries a number of benefits against the energy generated by fossil fuels as resource.
Clean energy provides a variety of environmental and economic benefits, including a reduction in air pollution. A diverse clean energy supply also reduces the dependence on imported fuels (and the associated financial and environmental costs this incurs).
Renewable clean energy also has inherent cost savings, as there is no need to extract and transport fuels, such as with oil or coal, as the resources replenish themselves naturally.
Other industrial benefits of a clean energy mix is the creation of jobs to develop, manufacture and install the clean energy resources of the future.
Humans have been using fossil fuels for over 150 years and, as their use increased, so did the release of the greenhouse gases that are produced when these fuels are burned. These greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere causing the temperature of the Earth to rise. This global warming is one symptom of climate change that has seen a rise in extreme weather events, shifting wildlife habitats and populations, rising sea levels and other impacts.
Because renewable energy sources don’t emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, they do not contribute to global warming. These renewable sources mean that climate change is not being advanced, while measures such as reforestation can help to alleviate the damage already done to the climate, combining to reduce global warming.
As mentioned above, humans have been using fossil fuels for decades, meaning that the switch to clean energy has been relatively recent. As a result, renewable energy sources are still seen as being unpredictable and do not yet meet our global power demands. This means that renewable energy is still being topped up with carbon-based energy sources.
However, it is believed that our energy needs can be balanced by the efficient storing of renewable energy so it can be used when the demand is present. A great deal of work is being done to improve the infrastructure and storage capabilities of clean energy, with experts saying that clean renewable energy could replace fossil fuels by 2050.
To be truly clean the carbon cost of production and storage needs to be zero, and this is where sources such as solar power and wind energy are seen as being truly clean and renewable.
Hydropower is a clean and sustainable source of energy that doesn’t use fossil fuels or emit greenhouse gases. Nepal’s mountainous topography and steep gradients make it a good place for hydropower, but economic and other constraints have limited its potential.
Solar energy is Nepal’s proximity to the equator means it gets a lot of solar radiation, making it a good place for solar energy development. The government has started encouraging the use of solar energy in homes and businesses.
Energy from wind in Nepal’s hilly and mountain regions have great potential for wind energy, though it’s still in its early stages of development.
In Nepal has a lot of biomass energy, including agricultural waste and forest leftovers that can be used to generate power.
AEPC and RE institutions including Renewable Energy Confederation of Nepal (RECON), Clean Energy Nepal (CEN), Nepal Forum of Environment Journalists (NEFEJ), donor agencies, financial institutions, media are collaborating in exploring ideas for fruitful promotion and development with focus on technology finance and policy development. (By R. P. Narayan)