Germany's renewable energy technologies have become a success story, and the country has the world's largest wind power sector and one of the world's largest solar power market. Germany is planning to increase this share to at least 30 percent by the year 2020.
This was said by the German Consul General Dr Christian Brecht in his speech at the international conference on Alternative Energy and Power held at Karachi Expo Centre. He said the topic of alternative energy has become a very important issue world-wide. This is mainly due to rising energy prices, the growing question marks about the "nuclear option" if we look at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, hit by the recent earthquake and the tsunami disaster.
He added it was high time the world looks at the challenges posed by climate change which affects the world and will eventually also influence the weather patterns in Pakistan, including a possible melting of the glaciers in the north of the country, which provide most of the water supply to the whole subcontinent.
In a country like Pakistan with its growing population and its need for developing agriculture and industry, the demand for more energy is evident. And you cannot rely only on oil and gas or on projects like the Thar coal, which has been in the pipeline for years but has not produced one single kilowatt of energy. Therefore, alternative energy will play a significant role in the energy mix of the future in Pakistan.
There are an enormous range of possibilities of using alternative energy according to the different needs and different circumstances. To give a few examples: There is wind power, onshore wind, offshore wind, solar power, photovoltaics, water for rural areas by photovoltaics, solar heat, biogas, hydroelectric power and geo-thermal heat. At this juncture, the German Consul General urged the participants and stakeholders of some other key words, namely energy efficiency and energy conservation, which are very important elements to save energy and reduce energy consumption bills.
Pakistan and Germany, like many other countries all over the world, are increasingly dependant on energy imports, especially on fossil fuel. Due to this dependence, Germany and other countries are facing quite often economical and political crises, even wars. The German Consul General hoped that the conference would give new impetus to the issue in Pakistan, helping in the long run to alleviate the energy shortcomings and overcome the ongoing loadshedding the business community was suffering in the country and Karachi.-PR
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