Alternative Power: Save the Economy and the Environment
(zeeshan shoukat, karachi)
Pakistan needs to shift to
environment-friendly energy.
Pakistan must adopt other technologies for generating power from renewable
energy sources, such as municipal waste and landfill methane geothermal
recovery, anaerobic biomass gasification, biological fuels, fuel cells and ocean
waves.
It is no secret that Pakistan is in the grip of a serious energy crisis that is
affecting all sectors of the economy and various segments of society. Luckily
Pakistan is also blessed with many resources but the government has not focused
on alternative energy to the extent that it should, so far.
For years, the matter of balancing Pakistan's supply against the demand for
electricity has remained a largely unresolved matter. And it is a separate issue
that Pakistan faces a significant challenge in revamping its distribution
network as well.
A lot of problems arise out of the fact that Pakistan's energy infrastructure is
neither well developed nor well managed. The mismanagement can be gauged from
the fact that no serious efforts have been made to install new capacity
generation in the past decade.
Recent environmental calamities and shifts have also led to a drop in generation
from conventional means. During 2010 Pakistan floods and 2005 Kashmir earthquake
power stations, power distribution and transmission and other energy
infrastructure was damaged. During the floods the recently constructed Jinnah
hydroelectric power plant was flooded.
There has also been some concern by Pakistani nuclear activists over the effect
of natural disasters on nuclear plants especially over the Chashma Nuclear Power
Complex, since it lies over a geological fault. Environmental impact of dams
such as submergence of usable/ecological land and their negative impact on
Pakistan's mangrove forests due to loss of river silt load, as well as increased
risk of severe floods have also become evident. This has increased the demand
for the shift to alternative energy, even though significant investment will be
needed to make the shift possible.
Pakistan must adopt other technologies for generating power from renewable
energy sources, such as municipal waste and landfill methane geothermal
recovery, anaerobic biomass gasification, biological fuels, fuel cells and ocean
waves.
"Faith is like electricity. You can't see it, but you can see the light." So far
in Pakistan, we can't even see the light