President for out of box, imaginative decisions to tackle energy crisis

ISLAMABAD, April 29 - President Asif Ali Zardari has asked for an early adoption and utilization of modern solar and geothermal technologies including solar cookers, geothermal heat pumps, solar water heaters and solar water pumping etc. to take full advantage of the available natural energy resources, on one hand and to meet the
energy requirements of the country, on the other. “The energy crisis has forced upon a vigorous search for out of box, imaginative and bold solutions,” the President said during a briefing given to him on alternate energy sources here at the Aiwan-e-Sadar on Thursday.

Those who were present during the briefing included Minister for Water and Power, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Secretary General to the President, M. Salman Faruqui, Special Advisor to Prime Minister, Kamal Majidullah, Senator Syeda Sughra Imam, Secretary to the President Malik Asif Hayat, Secretary Water and Power, Shahid Rafi, Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources, Kamran Lashari, Special Secretary Finance, Asif Bajwa, CEO AEDB, Arif Alauddin, President ZTBL, Ch. Mohammad Zaka Ashraf, Advisor M/o Water and Power, Riaz Ahmed Khan besides senior officials of Planning Commission and relevant ministries.

The meeting was briefed about various available options of solar and geothermal technologies that could be exploited and utilized for meeting the present energy needs of the country.

The participants were informed that work on a pilot project of solar electrification of the Planning Commission and Pakistan Engineering Council’s buildings under Japanese Grant-in-Aid program has been finalized and Japanese organizations are now involved in the tendering and procurement activity. The demonstration plants are planned to be functional in June 2011.

The President advised that the Presidency should also be converted to solar power on the pattern of Planning Commission being financed by the Japanese assistance

The meeting was informed that pursuant to an earlier meeting held in February this year where the President had advised for initiation of pilot projects for introducing Solar Cookers, the results obtained from a number of selected towns have been encouraging.

The President said that all the new houses being built in the rural areas of Sindh under Behan Benazir Basti Programme should be provided with solar cookers and heating arrangements.

He also advised that one town be selected soon to be completely run on solar energy replacing gas and electricity in one year. All new development schemes should be required to have solar street lights, he said

The President also advised that animal refuse in the Cattle Colony Landhi should be used for producing Methane gas as an alternate source of energy. Similarly the Carbon credit earned by any project will be spent on forestation and growing more trees.

The President said that gas and electricity geysers be eventually phased out of the Government buildings in order to save gas in the winters for diversion into more productive uses

The President said that all new street lights should be Solar/LED based and billboards and electronic power based neon signs should be converted to solar at the earliest.