A master plan is being mapped out to make the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, the first-ever 'green university', free from pollution in the country. In the first phase, a five megawatt solid waste power generation plant would be set up in collaboration with a private firm.
UAF's Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan stated this at a meeting with Vita Pakistan delegation led by its president Mahboob Ali Manji, who called on him along with a technical team. Dean of the Faculty of Agri Engineering and Technology Dr Rai Niaz Ahmad, renowned lawyer Abdullah Malik, university's Treasurer Rana Abdul Ghafoor, Public Relations and Publications Principal Officer Professor Dr Jalal Arif also attended the meeting.
Mahboob Ali said that the country was blessed with so much natural resources that through proper planning, it could overcome the prevailing electricity crisis within two years.
Highlighting the advantages of generating electricity through the use of geothermal energy, he said that its generation was on the rise across the globe. By using the technology, he said, Pakistan could generate cheapest power costing just six cents, while thermal power costed 18 cent per unit.
He said that the country's southern coastal area stretching over 1,300 kilometres had the potential to generate 75 megawatts of electricity per kilometre. He said that the required speed of wind to run the generation units was eight kilometer per hour whereas coastal areas were blessed with a wind speed of up to 50 kilometre an hour.
UAF Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Iqrar A Khan said that the move to transform the university into a green campus was aimed at ending pollution in the country by setting up a model for other institutions to emulate.
Stressing on the need for social mobilisation in this regard, he said that sensitising the public about pollution hazards and climate changes was necessary.