On 9th February 2022, Dhulikhel Municipality, Kathmandu University and Rotary Club Dhulikhel signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote Dhulikhel as a ‘Clean City’ through the production and use of green hydrogen energy for house hold cooking fuel, re-electrification and transportation fuel. This was the very first time in Nepal that local governing authorities took the lead in achieving zero-carbon targets.

The MoU stipulated to formulate policies and laws through Dhulikhel Municipality to promote clean energy with financial support from the Rotary Club and technical support from Kathmandu University. Major projects within the MoU will be to operate two buses from Dhulikhel to Kathmadu in the next two years using hydrogen, re-electrification for power back-ups and use clean energy as cooking fuel in Dhulikhel Hospital, and Kathmandu University.

The mayor of Dhulikhel Municipality expressed his joy and commitments towards the MoU and anticipated that the use of clean energy can exempt the dependency on fossil fuels. The Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Bhola Thapa highlighted the importance of the collaboration with Dhulikhel Municipality and Rotary Club to pull together the local resources for achieving the zero-carbon goals of COP.

The MoU was signed by the Dean of the School of Engineering Prof. Dr. Manish Pokharel on behalf of KU, the Mayor of Dhulikhel Municipality Mr. Ashok Kumar Byanju (Shrestha) Municipality and Mr. Jay Bahadur Rai, President from Rotary Club Dhulikhel.