President SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Iftikhar Ali Malik Sunday said energy is crucial for socio-economic development and construction of new dams and fully exploitation of renewable energy is need of the hour to cope with ever increasing power demands of industrial and agricultural sectors. Talking to the women delegation led by Ms Ayesha Abdul Khaliq Butt he stressed the urgent need for fully utilisation of renewable energy resources and construction of new dams including Kala Bagh dam for storage of water for both irrigation and power purpose. He said hydropower is a major cheapest source of renewable energy in Pakistan with great potential and worth billions of rupees flood water can also be stored for multiple purposes. He said Pakistan has now become world’s top 10 water-scarce nations. He said “Because of climate change and other developments, we suffer from floods during the summers and drought in the winter repeatedly”. He said “Trans-boundary water cooperation plays a crucial role in supporting wider regional integration, peace and sustainable development as well as tackling regional security challenges and in supporting climate change adaption”. He emphasised the need for trans-boundary cooperation that assumed even greater urgency with rising water scarcity. Iftikhar Ali Malik said at present Pakistan meets its energy requirements of over 75pc from domestic resources of which 50.4pc by the indigenous gas,28.4pc by domestic and imported oil and 12.7pc by hydro-electricity. About the renewable energy, he said Pakistan has four main renewable sources which included wind, solar, hydro and biomass. He said these resources have significant potentials provide solutions to long lasting energy crisis grappling Pakistan. He said these resources if fully exploited in true spirit will help greatly improve to diverse energy supply market and decrease the depending on imported fuels and to do away with environment pollution. He said solar is believed to be one of the most endowed renewable energy resources which is equally reliable and capable of producing substantial amount of energy without posing adverse impact on the environment. He said geographical position and climate conditions in Pakistan is advantageous for the exploitation of solar energy. He said almost every part of the country receives 8-10 hours daily solar radiation with more than 300 sunshine’s in a year. Leader of the delegation Ms Ayesha Abdul Khaliq Butt underlined the needs to combat with supply demand gap and a steady transformation is being observed throughout world from primary energy supplies based on conventional sources to renewable resources. Pakistan ought to continue to formulate efforts towards renewable energy endeavours. However, with the current gap between the demand and production of power in Pakistan, is alarming with a constant increase of 8-10pc per annum, and the heavy dependence on limited fossil fuel resources, renewable alternatives which are able to commercially support conventional energy options must soon be in full-scale operation. She said policies for buying small scale renewable energy systems using a repayable loan scheme for public should be streamlined and made easy for encouraging the people. The power demand of Pakistan is projected to increase up to 11,000 MW by the year 2030.Therefore, a more holistic approach by addressing all above mentioned issues are important to fully utilize the renewable energy potential to achieve a sustainable energy future of the country. A determined political will is the key to energy independence, she concluded.