Daily Times

Sir: Four years ago, China added 1.64 Gigawatts of electricity to its national grid through alternative means. In the previous year, China took one more significant leap forward and added 64 Gigawatts from alternative sources to its national grid.

Europe is planning solar parks producing Gigawatts of electricity in Saharan Africa and electricity from this site will be dispatched to Europe through carbon fiber super conductors made with nanotechnology. This conduction will be in direct current (DC) form as DC is more effective than alternating current (AC) for transmission at very great distances. However, the making of a DC grid is a difficult task but a significant success has been achieved in this arena as well. With its abundant sunshine throughout the year, Pakistan is luckier than Europe. We should not be happy with just the 100 Megawatts of Quaid-e-Azam solar Park in Bahawalpur. Instead, we should think to produce Gigawatts of this safe energy. One potential area for installation of solar panels is both sides of all our motorways. We can install millions of square feet of solar panels there. These motorways will be easily accessible for any type of maintenance or cleaning works. We should promote the domestic production of solar panels and electricity storing batteries. We can easily produce electricity for our future use. This alternative renewable solar energy will be cheaper than any other type of energy. There is a safe estimate that the sun will continue to shine with the same intensity for half a million years. Only a bit of vision is needed by our leadership to tap this great resource of nature.

MUHAMMAD ASHTAR CHATTHA

Islamabad