Overcoming fuel shortage in Bangladesh
Saturday, 15 May 2010
Having no liquid fuel, Bangladesh has to import it out of necessity. Finite natural gas reserves are reducing day by day. Meanwhile, proven and possible resources of gas, remain unexplored even today! Coal is there; but we do not extract it exept from one mine for so many reasons (or excuses)! In the case of extraction of coal, we ideally define the saying: "poverty in the land of plenty"! We are shying away from it, be it by shaft or surface mining, while the debate on the subject has continued on and on!
Coming to renewable sources, we have explored solar and wind power, in a very limited scale, possibly due to the very high investment cost per MW of power produced. Nevertheless, these two sources of power need to have further investment, preferably in the private sector. This may be encouraged by government measures to provide capital at favorable borrowing terms, and reduced duty and taxes, to encourage investment. The per unit investment cost for power here, is naturally high. However, except for minor maintenance charges, and manpower costs, the operating cost throughout the life of the project is zero, as no fuel, the largest slice of operating costs is necessary!
This option, is an attractive long term alternative for power, when compared to the high cost of rental power plants and its high fuel and operating costs. It would be prudent to provide local capital for investment, than subsidising the high operational cost of these uneconomic power plants for a number of years. Would it not be more attractive if government in partnership with private investors, takes up say 35 to 40 percent of the investment capital cost, and suitable government lands for setting up solar and wind power plants? This matter needs to be seriously considered by our government as the best way to generate pollution free power!
Another very potential source of methane; has never been considered for exploitation and development! The vast potential of recovering methane from 'human waste' has remained totally unutilised! No one even mentions about its possibilities; while in the last two years, Thailand has rapidly exploited it as a source of fuel in urban ares! For us,it seems the whole subject is unmentionable. The whole thing is treated as "dirty and unclean'. It all goes to waste. through WASA's pipelines, incurring large costs, and is progressively polluting our riverine network day by day! No one bothers about this pollution and germ growth in the rivers, that we are mindlessly creating and expanding!
Alternatively, we could generate methane from "human solid waste' through brick and mortar built digesters, requiring little capital expenditure, except for steel pipes and tanks for methane storage. No imported material is needed. The waste by-product from this process; is odorless solid residue. It can be compressed and sold as useful fertilizer! Regretably, this very valuable source of methane, is allowed to go to waste and pollute our river waters which we recycle through wells and drink!
Regretfully, this valuable fuel source has remained unmentioned, by our many 'Gurus' of the energy and fuel sector! But who cares; while they are busy planning to import methane as LNG at prohibitive cost! That is welcome and lobbying for it has already started with large amount of commissions and representation fee hovering in sight!
Unfortunately, this writer has wasted time and effort to present this idea; but no one seems to listen. May be our "Expert Energy Advisr" should go to Thailand and see the things for himself. Possibly then our government may wake up to the vast potential for metahne, comming from this dirty and solid 'human waste' from which an ever increasing potential for generating methane exists! But then such is Bangladesh where it seems that buying is always better than producing while innovation is discouraged
Engr. S.A.Mansoor
Dhaka
(The writer is Technical Advisor, Spectra Group)
Coming to renewable sources, we have explored solar and wind power, in a very limited scale, possibly due to the very high investment cost per MW of power produced. Nevertheless, these two sources of power need to have further investment, preferably in the private sector. This may be encouraged by government measures to provide capital at favorable borrowing terms, and reduced duty and taxes, to encourage investment. The per unit investment cost for power here, is naturally high. However, except for minor maintenance charges, and manpower costs, the operating cost throughout the life of the project is zero, as no fuel, the largest slice of operating costs is necessary!
This option, is an attractive long term alternative for power, when compared to the high cost of rental power plants and its high fuel and operating costs. It would be prudent to provide local capital for investment, than subsidising the high operational cost of these uneconomic power plants for a number of years. Would it not be more attractive if government in partnership with private investors, takes up say 35 to 40 percent of the investment capital cost, and suitable government lands for setting up solar and wind power plants? This matter needs to be seriously considered by our government as the best way to generate pollution free power!
Another very potential source of methane; has never been considered for exploitation and development! The vast potential of recovering methane from 'human waste' has remained totally unutilised! No one even mentions about its possibilities; while in the last two years, Thailand has rapidly exploited it as a source of fuel in urban ares! For us,it seems the whole subject is unmentionable. The whole thing is treated as "dirty and unclean'. It all goes to waste. through WASA's pipelines, incurring large costs, and is progressively polluting our riverine network day by day! No one bothers about this pollution and germ growth in the rivers, that we are mindlessly creating and expanding!
Alternatively, we could generate methane from "human solid waste' through brick and mortar built digesters, requiring little capital expenditure, except for steel pipes and tanks for methane storage. No imported material is needed. The waste by-product from this process; is odorless solid residue. It can be compressed and sold as useful fertilizer! Regretably, this very valuable source of methane, is allowed to go to waste and pollute our river waters which we recycle through wells and drink!
Regretfully, this valuable fuel source has remained unmentioned, by our many 'Gurus' of the energy and fuel sector! But who cares; while they are busy planning to import methane as LNG at prohibitive cost! That is welcome and lobbying for it has already started with large amount of commissions and representation fee hovering in sight!
Unfortunately, this writer has wasted time and effort to present this idea; but no one seems to listen. May be our "Expert Energy Advisr" should go to Thailand and see the things for himself. Possibly then our government may wake up to the vast potential for metahne, comming from this dirty and solid 'human waste' from which an ever increasing potential for generating methane exists! But then such is Bangladesh where it seems that buying is always better than producing while innovation is discouraged
Engr. S.A.Mansoor
Dhaka
(The writer is Technical Advisor, Spectra Group)