Daily Times

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Tuesday termed alternate energy resources as one of the best solutions to annual winter energy crisis that halts industrial activities in the country.

LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, Senior Vice President Almas Hyder and Vice President Nasir Saeed said during the winter season, gas crisis particularly swells and add to the miseries of industrial sector and masses alike. The energy crisis, they added, could easily be handled through alternative energy resources.

Arshad said, “It is a good omen that the government is working on various projects of alternate energy resources but there is a dire need to complete these projects on war footing as industrial sector needs cheap and sufficient electricity.”

He said that Pakistan was producing a huge amount of energy through thermal means, adding that cheap and sufficient energy was a must for the growth of manufacturing sector and increase in industrial production, otherwise the country would become just a trading place instead of industrial hub.

Like most developed countries, the government should promote alternate energy resources on war footing, and according to experts, Pakistan can produce over 100,000 MW electricity through solar, wind and coal means, he added.

He said that bio-energy was an adaptable source that can be used to overcome electricity challenge besides making a considerable contribution to climate change phenomenon. Biomass energy has the potential to convert a wide variety of wastes into clean energy besides being substitution for diminishing global oil supplies, and it can play a very vital role in production of carbon-neutral fuels of high quality.

It can address many environmental issues, especially global warming and greenhouse gases emissions, and foster sustainable development among the poor communities, he added. “Biomass fuel sources are readily available in rural and urban areas of all countries.”

The LCCI president said he was aware of the present challenges to Pakistan economy and especially the menace widely caused due to severe energy crisis. He said that it was indeed a matter of concern for them that gas reserves were depleting with the passage of time. Be it domestic or industrial users, all have to face shortage of gas in winter season, he added.

Even the generation of electricity through gas has to put on halt in this period that further aggravates the situation, he said, adding that that the country desperately needed some good alternatives and viable solutions in this connection.

“A wide range of biomass resources, particularly woody biomass and organic waste is available in Pakistan in abundance, so some serious efforts are required to be made to establish necessary modalities to commercialise it at a mega scale,” the LCCI president said.

LCCI would hold special training sessions for the guidance of technical people with the latest trends in new alternative technologies to increase their efficiency. LCCI would bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars at one place to come up with a joint strategy to make best use of this technology.

The LCCI office bearer said that desired results of their efforts could be doubled or even more if the government’s support remained available to them in implementing the research findings and replicating the successful models related to bio-energy from modern world.