In pursuit of energy

Pakistan's hopes of finalising the long stalled Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project have suffered yet another delay. Caretaker Petroleum Minister Ahsan Ullah Khan had announced in the second week of this month that the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet had cleared sovereign guarantees for gas imports from Iran, and that Gas Sales/Purchase Agreement (GSPA) was likely to be signed in another week's time.
Not so fast, says the message out of Iran. The Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted a senior Iranian official on Friday as saying there was no such signing ceremony scheduled as yet, and that his country was "very keen" to see India join the project. The keenness is understandable based as it is not only on economic interest but a regional strategic linkage the pipeline project could establish between Tehran and New Delhi.
As things stand, a trilateral meeting may be held in New Delhi next month. Pakistan and Iran have already held several rounds of talks since last June minus India, which wants to haggle some more with Pakistan over the transit fee issue.
That may not be the only hindrance. According to the PTI report, Indian officials said that although a Pakistan-India meeting was due to take place in Islamabad from February 14 to 16 to resolve the transit fee issue, no agreement was likely unless elections were held and a new government was installed in Pakistan. It makes sense for Delhi to want to settle the issue with an elected government.
The project has seen much toing and froing between the three partners due to commercial as well as political reasons. Still, the path ahead is far from hassle-free. Meanwhile, this country is faced with a grave energy crisis, which threatens to get worse in the years ahead. We must prepare, therefore, on a war footing to grapple with the situation, adopting a multi-pronged energy policy that covers everything from conservation measures to harnessing of all alternative sources of energy.
First of all, the government, having encouraged much of the transport and the power and industrial sectors to shift from oil to gas, must expedite work on gas projects already under discussion such as the proposed Turkmen and Qatar pipelines. Among alternative sources, nuclear power is a tempting option but it is troublesome in terms of safety issues, and controversial within the context of prevailing political environment. The longer-term policy must focus on developing a cleaner, renewable source of energy. Instead of pursing big dam projects that have long gestation periods and serious environmental as well as political repercussions, it would be advisable to go for run-of-the-river projects.
It is equally important to explore non-conventional sources of energy such as wind and solar power, abundantly available in different parts of this country. At this point in time harnessing both wind and solar power entails high costs.
But considering that a lot of attention and research is going into these renewables elsewhere in the world, it may not take long before the costs come down. In any case, Pakistan must join others, like India, in harnessing wind and solar energy. Towards that end, the next elected government must announce a well thought-out policy that must include incentives for the private sector so that it feels encouraged to explore and exploit newer fields of energy generation.