Environmental research

Water heating is an obligation largely to provide for washing, drinking and cooking. During cold seasons (winter, early spring and late autumn) our supplies of water turn icy cold which is a big problem for the resident-monks who have to start their studies as early as 0200 hours in the morning. Until now, we have been using firewood to heat hundreds of liters of water on a daily basis to meet the requirement. Our efforts to keep up with the high expenses on firewood and transportation charges shall no longer be possible when the student enrollment increases by 20 % in the following year. Electric heating doesn t seem like an option since a spiritual academy like ours is never an income-generating institute or that the student-monks cannot afford the monthly electrical tariffs. Thus such an inevitable need for water heating can only be resolved by the use of solar heating system. The use of solar mechanism is expected to shrink our heavy reliance on firewood (two truckloads of firewood on a monthly average) and continue a water heating system in the campus, without with the academic schedule of our student-monks will be highly disrupted

Bhutan