‘Decarbonising must for Pakistan to meet growing energy needs’

Islamabad: Syed Aqeel Hussain Jafri, Director Policy and International Cooperation, Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB), has said that energy transition is a global phenomenon at present and different countries across the globe have already transitioned into utilising clean energy options, keeping in consideration the factor of climate change.

Mr Jafri was addressing a roundtable discussion on “Decarbonasation of the energy sector: options for Pakistan” organised here by Strengthening Climate Resilience Programme at Institute of Regional Studies (IRS).

Mr Jafri said that Pakistan’s energy situation had some peculiarities wherein the country had hydro-based power generation mechanisms during the 70s and 80s which later on eventually transformed into fossil fuel usage. There was a serious need to formulate long-term plans for power generation as was done in the energy sector globally, he added. Additionally, complete decarbonisation required a total overhaul of lifestyles and interventions on domestic, national and policy levels, he said.

Dr Khalid Waleed, energy expert from Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) said that incentivisation of the renewable energy sector was imperative in the present times. He added that currently Pakistan was surrounded with challenges of economy, energy and environment (the three Es) which required immediate attention. The fact that the three were interlinked made it increasingly difficult to address them individually.

He observed that expensive fuel imports annually resulted in gradual shift to utilising carbon-based solutions to fulfill energy needs at home which multiplied the aforementioned challenge manifold. A coordinated integration of our renewable energy and environment policy with our economic policy was the need of the hour, he proposed.

Dr Khalid further said that it was important to realise that mere limiting carbon utilisation in the power sector was not enough for Pakistan to achieve complete decarbonisation. He said that we need to use minimalistic approach in our life style. In terms of incentivisation of the renewable energy field, sector coupling could be considered as one approach to move forward in addition to infrastructure development and public awareness, he continued.

Mr Song, Executive Deputy Director, Port Qasim Electric Power Company (Private) Limited, was of the opinion that economy was the fundamental issue for Pakistan right now. With the right amount of capital in hand, Pakistan could avail numerous opportunities to improve its power generation. One proposition could be to combine small hydro projects with gas turbine generators to maximize output, he said adding that a smart metering system could also be used to improve the current situation.

The experts agreed that increasing global warming was mainly due to human-centric activities and required immediate attention. There was a need to de-couple human activities from the growing fossil fuel addiction and China had a crucial role in generation of alternate renewable energy resources, particularly its prime expertise of solar power generation in the whole world. Nadeem Riyaz, President Institute of Regional Studies (IRS), also spoke on the occasion.