CONCLUSION

The bioenergy resource statuses of Solan, Shimla and Lahaul Spiti districts are assessed for different resource availability scenarios and demand cases. PCFC varies with seasons and regions as 0.48–1.32 kg/person/day (Solan), 1.9–2.68 (Shimla) and 0.89–2.91 kg/person/day (Lahual Spiti). The total tree cover in the study area is 43.51% (Solan), 48.85% (Shimla) and 0.36% (Lahaul Spiti) providing annual woody biomass of 517.3–1111.7 kilo tonnes (Solan), 1253.8–3029.8 kilo tonnes (Shimla) and 18.9–63.8 kilo tonnes (Lahaul Spiti). The annual bioenergy potential of agro residues (considering 50% for fuel purpose) is 349463 million kcal (Solan), 221562 million kcal (Shimla) and 2678 million kcal (Lahaul Spiti). The annual biogas generation potential is 8.7–35.6 million m3 (Solan), 12.9–43.2 million m³ (Shimla) and 0.8–1.9 million m³ (Lahaul Spiti). Bioenergy resource crunch is more pronounced in the higher elevations while scarce resource availability scenarios create similar conditions in lower elevations as well. Possible alternatives are proposed for ensuring proper ecological health in the mountain areas. Reiterating the importance of further disaggregated bioresource analysis, village level forest fragmentation and biomass saturation studies are also performed. Proximity of energy demand centers like villages create shortage of fuel wood and increase deforestation. Enhancing the possibility of regional bioenergy resource planning, a DSS has been designed to support energy planners and policy makers.