Renewable energy in Bhutan

[1] While Bhutan has seen great successes with developing its large hydropower projects through technical and financial assistance from India, little or no private sector participation with other forms of renewable energy has been evident.

[6] In mountainous rural areas where grid extension is not feasible, off-grid renewable energy has been used to improve access to electricity.

[7][8][9] Currently approximately 70% of the hydroelectric power Bhutan produces is exported to India saving 4.4 million tons of CO2 per year.

[11] After the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Bhutan has been moving towards other forms of renewable energy so as to decrease their reliance on hydroelectric power during winter and dry months.

[11] In an effort to further spread the use of renewable energy and to decrease the country's carbon emissions, Bhutan also provides free electricity to rural farmers; this reduces the amount of fires/gas they use to do their farm work.

In a 2016 TED Talk, the Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay spoke about how Bhutan is the only country able to claim the title of "carbon negative."

In his 2016 TED Talk, Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay stated that if Bhutan was able to harness even half of the potential hydroelectric power, they would be able to offset roughly 50 million tons of carbon dioxide, more than the carbon dioxide that New York City produces in one year.