Land scarcity, dust pollution hold back expansion: Expert

FE REPORT | Published: June 25, 2024 23:14:55

Despite a huge potential of renewable energy like solar, its adoption level in the country remains limited due to challenges like land scarcity and dust pollution, according to an expert.
However, things are likely to change fast thanks to developments in solar and battery technologies, said Dr M Rezwan Khan, Professor Emeritus at the United International University (UIU).
"Large scale integration of PV is possible if new low-cost battery technology is invented," he said, adding that the rise of electric vehicles will help improve battery technology soon.
"Researches are going on to develop low-cost super capacitors to replace batteries for short time storage of electrical energy," said Mr Khan, also an Executive Director of the Institute of Advanced Research (IAR) at the UIU.
Mr Khan said this while delivering a public lecture on 'Renewable Energy in Bangladesh: Prospects and Challenges' held at the UIU campus in the city's Madani Avenue on Tuesday.
The UIU School of Business and Economics (SoBE) organised the lecture as a part of its 'Bangladesh Corpus: Public Lecture Series-2024'.
A professor of UIU business and economics Dr M Fouzul Kabir Khan was present at the program as the guest of honour.
Delivering the lecture, Mr Rezwan Khan said that hydropower, solar, wind, biomass and biogas, and geothermal are the renewable energy resources in Bangladesh, while solar holds the most potential.
"Solar PV seems to be the most promising renewable energy resource in Bangladesh," he added.
Sharp fall in the cost as an outcome of continuous research and development is paving the way for solar panels across the globe, he said, adding that the panel's costs are now only 3.0 per cent of what it was in 1989.
Diversified use of solar systems is bringing noteworthy changes, he said, adding that batteries are important for the
success of the energy source.
"Batteries can play a very important role as they can store energy during the sunny hours and deliver energy during the night," said Mr Khan.
Mr Fouzul Kabir said investment for the development of renewable energy remains much lower than that of fossil fuel.
If there had been enough investment, renewable energy would have been competitive, he said. "Renewable energy is not a choice, it's an imperative."
The dean of SoBE, heads of different departments, faculty members, officials, students and other distinguished guests were present in the program.
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