Govt must encourage renewable energy

LAHORE: Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Almas Hyder on Wednesday said the government of Pakistan should encourage renewable sources like solar and wind to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

He said Pakistan could not afford to rely on costly and anti-environment fossil fuels, as a large part of the foreign exchange was spent on oil imports. “The country’s oil import bill was recorded at $11.9 billion in July to April 2018-19 as compared to $11.4 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year, showing an increase of 4.01 percent.”

Hyder said the country has vast scope for renewable energy and its promotion would reduce oil import bill, the cost of doing business, as well as the living cost of the common man. Solar panels and small wind turbines could easily be installed in residential colonies for power generation.

“Developed world is extracting energy from solar, wind, geothermal, hydrogen, tidal, sea-waves hydro, biomass and nuclear resources,” the LCCI president said, and added that Pakistan also has all of these resources.