Experts on Alternative and Renewable Energy (ARE) have urged the government to evolve a new viable 'ARE Policy' in a bid to effectively deal with the persistent energy crisis, with especial emphasis on power generation through various ARE technologies such as wind, solar, mini hydel, geo-thermal and biomass.
They have given these recommendations here on Monday on the concluding day of the second exhibition/conference on ARE titled "Towards an Energy Secure Pakistan" held under the auspices of Renewable Energy Association of Pakistan (REAP), Tawanai programme of Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and Alterative Energy Development Board (AEDB). They further urged the government that it is need of the hour to promote and develop alternate energy sources by enacting suitable laws for power generation and distribution.
"ARE adoption under rural energy policy; use of ARE systems for lightening up public places, offices, hospitals, schools, etc; promotion of energy conservation and efficiency by substituting conventional energy with ARE; promotion of ARE manufacturing base in Pakistan; standardisation of ARE technologies and certification of products to discourage substandard equipment; and financial incentives for the promotion of ARE will help resolve energy crisis in the country," they recommended.
The recommendations also included demands to encourage local development and manufacture of all types of renewable energy technologies, instead of importing them, requesting State Bank of Pakistan to place a minimum investment limit on financial institutions for investment in renewable energy products and projects.
The two session of the conference themed 'Energy Conservation /Efficiency: Small Steps, Big Impacts' and 'Mainstreaming Policies and Actions' were chaired by Masud Daher, former Federal Secretary and Chairman of the National Tariffs Commission and Mirza Hamid Hassan, Former Secretary Water and Power and Chairman IPS Tawanai Program respectively.
Asif Jah, President REAP (Islamabad), Dr Rania Ahsan, DG, Board of Investment (BoI), Khalid Rahman, DG-IPS, Dr Asghari Bano, dean faculty of biological sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University and a number of ARE experts and representatives of the industry and academia addressed the conference.
The speakers and participants were unanimous on the understanding that ARE technologies carry immense potential to offer diverse sources of energy, and thus much-needed relief to the people with solutions varying from power generation, domestic biogas in villages and towns and various industrial and commercial applications and agreed on a set of recommendations to be shared officially with all policy makers for a continued effort in the area, thus enhancing ARE portfolio in the overall energy mix for an energy secure Pakistan.
For the promotion of ARE for power generation, approval of a policy was stressed through which power load of household sector on national grid, which was 60 percent at present could be gradually shifted to AREs in next 2-3 years. Even if 40 percent shift is achieved an approx. saving of 4,000 Megawatts (MW) of electricity could be ensured. It was strongly felt that the power needs in rural and remote areas should be met through solar, biogas, bio-diesel and mini/micro hydel projects.
It was suggested that a government policy to encourage use of LEDs, LVDs and energy saver lamps at homes, offices, public places like hospitals, educational institutions, fuel stations, railway stations, airports, shopping centers and industries by replacing conventional lighting sources would help ensure an approximate 30 percent power.
Similarly, use of solar and wind power systems for lighting at public places and use of LED slim boards for bill boards, corner boards, road signs, traffic signals, etc was strongly advocated.
Presenting solutions through renewable energy for heat generation saving natural gas and its other forms of energy, the speakers recommended promotion of biogas and biomass for cooking in rural areas; use of bio-diesel for vehicles and water pumping units; solar instruments for heating water and homes, offices, educational institutions, industries, etc; and promotion of industrial solar boilers.
Power generation through mini and micro hydrel systems on canals was also strongly recommended, especially at various seasonal and regular canals in Punjab and KPK, and on streams and rivers in Gilgit-Baltistan and AJK, to provide power to surrounding areas and villages in off/on grid configurations.
Also, it was demanded of the government to ensure that all municipalities are bound to use waste for power generation with local and foreign assistance, all housing societies only use solar streetlights in all their development projects and use their waste to generate power.
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