Analysis of Bhutan?s energy policies in relation to energy security and climate change: Policy perspective

Energy security is at the heart of the energy policy. Achieving energy security, however, is difficult as energy sector faces challenges due to resource depletion and climate change. It is becoming a key concern for Bhutan due to perpetual demand growth including climate change presenting formidable challenge. These de-velopments, particularly climate change impact on renewable resources, hydropower, which is the backbone of Bhutan's energy sector, faces vulnerability issue. Given these emerging challenges, this paper presents pre-liminary analysis of Bhutan's energy policies from energy security perspective in the face of climate change. In doing so, key energy policies encompassing all mainstream fuels: renewable, coal, oil, and gas, were reviewed. Energy security aspect is sparingly addressed in renewable energy policies. There are no policies related to mainstream fossil fuels from energy dimension. However, import of fossil fuels have increased exposing to price volatility, prompting affordability concerns. The energy policies lack integration of climate factor given the increased emission from fossil fuels and development of hydro projects in highly vulnerable river basin. There is dearth of an integrated energy policy as existing policies are disintegrated, and specific to each fuel, and therefore lacks coordination and synergy.

Automated summary

Energy security is crucial for Bhutan's energy policy, but it faces challenges from resource depletion and climate change. The vulnerability of renewable resources and hydropower to climate change impacts the energy sector. Bhutan lacks integration in energy policies and coordination between different fuel sources, resulting in a disjointed approach. There is a need for policies that address energy security and consider the climate factor.