LAHORE: Coal is the most widely used cheap electricity producing source, which is currently generating 36% of world’s electricity, stated Wang Zihai, President Pakistan China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) during a think tank session held at PCJCCI secretariat on Tuesday.

He added that Pakistan has large reserves of coal specially lignite coal which China has imported for $8bn in 2021 from other countries instead of Pakistan due to the lack of technology and modern methods. The government of Pakistan should introduce modern technology to facilitate the miners with latest mechanisms, to work on the coal reserves.

Ehsan Choudhry, Senior Vice President PCJCCI shared his views by saying that Pakistan has large reserves of coal specially lignite coal which China has imported earlier. Pakistan has its coal deposits in Balochistan, Punjab and especially Sindh where Thar Desert having the 16th largest coal deposits. He further highlighted that owing to global energy insecurity caused due to continuing war between Russia and Ukraine, many European nations had been compelled to revive their decades-old coal-based electricity plants to avoid energy shortages for their countrymen.

Sarfaraz Butt, Vice President PCJCCI shared his views by saying that the total coal reserves discovered in Pakistan are 185 billion tons but the coal mining in Pakistan is facing a lot of issues due to lack of up-gradation of equipments. The old methods of mining cause numerous deaths cases due to suffocation and blasts. He added that the coal reserves in Thar could go a long way to make Pakistan an energy surplus country with least reliance on imported fuel for power production.

Salahuddin Hanif, Secretary General PCJCCI said that it is high time that Pakistan can adopt a safe and balanced approach to exploit its vast coal reserve for power generation with least damage to the environment to overcome energy shortfall without burdening the economy.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022