Don’t rush it

This letter refers to the article ‘Who’s afraid of renewables?’ (Jan 20, 2020) by Rolf Holmboe, Danish ambassador to Pakistan. Nobody is afraid of Pakistan's transitioning to renewable energy resources, as has been implied in the article. A few people, including myself, have raised some concerns on the thoughtless adoption of renewable energy in order to prevent the country from moving from one energy mess to another. The honourable ambassador neglected to mention that Denmark's grid is inter-tied with those of its neighbours, providing it a reliable failsafe to cover for the uncertainty and variability of wind power.

All we have been saying is that our government should take a cautious and studied approach to implementing renewable energy in Pakistan. Our leaders have the habit of acting first and thinking later, and in the process leaving the poor citizens to bear the costs of their blunders. We get carried away easily by others' success, believing that if a certain practice has succeeded in one country, it will be a definitive success here too, overlooking all the enabling conditions that made its success possible in that country. It’s hard to tell whether they do it out of sheer naivete or pure greed.

M Shahid Rahim

Bahawalpur