Daily Times

Pakistan is one of the most populous, geographically and strategically important countries located in south Asia. Pakistan is suffering from energy crises since more than the last three to four decades. Today, we have many challenges due to energy crises in our country which directly or indirectly mediates many difficulties for facilitating the social problems and preventing social evils. Pakistan produces about 81 percent of its electricity through oil and gas which costs us about 9.4 billion dollars. It is in other terms which are about 53 percent of our total exports and are a significant cost burden on the products which we had purchased from the others countries. Our necessity for thermal power is so large, we simply cannot knock it down and magically move to hydro power. Instead of using oil and gas, both of which are getting more expensive and have volatile international prices, we can move to using coal. Thar coal is an important asset for producing power at very reasonable expenses. Energy mix refers to sources of energy we utilize in Pakistan to fulfill our overall energy needs. In Pakistan one problem that often plagues progress in global problem is the slow translation of research into practice.

Pakistan has a serious energy crisis that is affecting all sectors of the economy and the various segments of the society. A change of attitude and a change of life style is needed at the national level which could be triggered by the ruling elite and followed by all segments of the society that have access to electricity . The prices of energy raw materials also kept changing.

There are three major users of electricity and they need to be educated and motivated to play their role in energy conservation. The three stakeholders are: industrial sector, transport sector and domestic/household sector

Some factors are poor management, lopsided priorities and lack of accountability on the part of those who stay at the wheel of undertaking. There are no immediate solutions to generating additional power through any source because a unit takes at least 2-3 years to establish properly. More than 5 years is required to construct a hydroelectric dam and the investment is enormous. Energy conservation or efficient use of electricity is what is needed at this crucial time. There are three major users of electricity and they need to be educated and motivated to play their role in energy conservation. The three stakeholders are: industrial sector, transport sector and domestic/household sector. Each sector needs to be dealt separately to high light the efficacy of conserving energy. Energy consumption is an important component in growth, directly or indirectly as complement to capital and labor as input factors of production. Policy makers will have to take into account the feedback effect of economic growth on energy consumption by implementing regulations to reduce energy use. In addition, economic growth should be decoupled from energy consumption to avoid adverse effect on economic growth resulting from a reduction of energy policy. The political parties are in conflict over making the dams which have long term solution for the energy crises in Pakistan. Government has launched different energy programs to overcome the energy crises. No foreign investor has agreed to invest money in power sector in Pakistan due to unstable situation in Pakistan. Private companies have been making monopoly in the sense of generating high prices due to make artificial energy crises. A poor policy  also has one of the most important causes of the crises in Pakistan. The impact of power crises on the economy of Pakistan and how the lower class is affected by that occurrence Pakistan is one of the most populous, geographically and strategically important countries located in south Asia. Pakistan has a deficit of fossils or hydrocarbon sources of energy and to cover up the deficit, it depends upon importing crude oil at an enormous cost from its meager force reserves. The need of crude oil is on an increase because of an improved life style which has necessitated the use of vehicles and cars for transportation.

Thermal power is mostly produced by burning either natural gas or imported oil. The country is yet to switch over to coal from the indigenous source of energy that is estimated to be the third largest in the world with a reserve of 33.0 trillion tons. The Energy market has been changing according to the demands of power consumption. Natural resources should be used for the generation of electricity. The Ministry of Water and Power should take radical steps for improving power sector. Attract foreign investors to work energy sector in Pakistan and invest money on wind energy to generate electricity.

Media should make the consumers socially aware about using the electricity only when needed, otherwise saving it. Those factories who have their own power plants to generate electricity, give them permission to give electricity to consumers and collects bills from them. Policies for the distribution of electricity for rural and urban areas should be made. In urban areas, the markets should close after 8 pm. Bio gas technology programs have introduced by the federal government and loans have been given for establishing them. Solar panels also have a cheaper way to generate electricity.

Published in Daily Times, January 24^th 2019.