Putting thrust on green technology
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Shahiduzzaman Khan
As the country is reeling under power and gas crises, thrust is again being laid on generation of renewable energy that has to be a viable option to meet the growing energy shortfall. Besides, renewable energy is expected to minimise the adverse impact of the climate change, caused by global warming. Bangladesh has not many options left other than exploring energy from green technology. The government has recently decided to put on hold new piped gas supply connections to households in the city and initiated power rationing throughout the country due to severe supply-side constraints. Against this backdrop, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed her personal interest in renewable energy like biogas, windmill and solar system. She asked the IDCOL officials this week to make the renewable energy more popular among the people. Stressing the use of clean energy to minimise the adverse impact of climate change, the Prime Minister asked the authorities concerned to gerenate renewable energy in the coastal belt and hill tract areas. The Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), with the government as the partner of this non-bank financial institution, is reportedly promoting solar home systems in rural Bangladesh. Besides promoting solar home system (SHS) in remote rural areas, it is also planning to set up a multipurpose Solar Irrigation System (SIS) in off-grid areas of the country. The government is giving special importance to this project because there are 1.5 million irrigation pumps across the country and they consume about 800 mw of electricity everyday during the irrigation season. If the government can run about half of such irrigation pumps with solar power, it could save, foreign exchange, worth over $284 million. Bangladesh gets sunlight in nearly 360 days a year. There is a good prospect for tapping the potential of this source of renewable energy. There is, however, a misconception about the use of solar energy that it is too expensive. But it is not true because a user can run the solar energy at the same cost as that of kerosene oil-lit lamp. That is what the scientists in Bangladesh say. They are reportedly on the run to devise cheaper solar panels. Breakthrough in this connection is just knocking at the doors, they claimed. However, the usage of solar energy must be diversified by focusing on small solar irrigation systems, battery run three-wheelers and solar street-light system. Solar power can be used for different segments such as SHS, urban lighting solutions, water heaters, Instant Power Supply (IPS), solar telecom solutions and water pumps. The government is aiming to create an energy mix with a good balance of hydrocarbon, with various forms of renewable energy to help attain sustainable development in an environment-friendly manner. In the present situation, the government has to be supportive of efforts to explore and promote all forms of renewable energy technologies for sustained growth of the economy. That will have to include the use of wind technology, micro-hydro power units and exploitation of wave's potential in coastal areas. Assisting the process for expanding the use of renewable energy by making this sector investment friendly can help facilitate efforts to this direction. This can be done by introducing special fiscal measures -- the creation of a special fund, reduced lending rates for making use of renewable energy technology, tax breaks on investment made with regard to production of green energy and removal of VATtaxes imposed on accessories used in this sector. Such steps will ensure success. The main renewable energy resources in Bangladesh are biomass, solar, wind and hydropower. The hydropower potential of Bangladesh is low due to the relative flatness of the country. Wind power generation in Bangladesh has certain limitations due to the lack of reliable wind speed data and the remarkable seasonal variation of wind speed. The country has good prospect for utilising solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for electricity generation, but at present, high capital investment cost is a big barrier to adopting such systems. Contribution of biomass in total primary energy consumption of Bangladesh is around 60 per cent. The major sources of traditional biomass are agricultural residues, wood and wood wastes, animal dung etc. As such, there is a good potential to produce electricity using biogas in Bangladesh, if proper research is carried out by research agencies, professionals and the implementing authority. Bangladesh has over 0.22 million poultry farms and 15,000 cattle farms. By establishing biogas plants in these farms, electricity can be generated. So far 40,000 biogas plants have been established across the country and such plants are producing gas, which is being used for cooking purposes in the rural areas. For exploring variable options, a target should better be set for ensuring the availability of 10 per cent of total electricity in the country from renewable resources by the year 2020. Also, there is a need to increase the number of solar system installations in the country. Biogas plants can be made more popular in rural areas. Further steps can also be taken to popularise the proven solar water heating system, solar cooker or solar dryer. This will require proper planning by the government and the non-government organisations (NGOs) at the grassroots level. The government may, through a public-private partnership, establish and install two or more solar panel factories. Necessary research already completed has suggested that the silica content near Cox's Bazar could be used for manufacturing the solar panels, required for meeting the country's needs as well as those of the adjoining region. Development partners can be approached for considering assistance to Bangladesh in this regard. All such steps, taken in concert for specific goal-oriented outcomes, can go a long way forwards promoting green technology in Bangladesh. szkhan@dhaka.net
As the country is reeling under power and gas crises, thrust is again being laid on generation of renewable energy that has to be a viable option to meet the growing energy shortfall. Besides, renewable energy is expected to minimise the adverse impact of the climate change, caused by global warming. Bangladesh has not many options left other than exploring energy from green technology. The government has recently decided to put on hold new piped gas supply connections to households in the city and initiated power rationing throughout the country due to severe supply-side constraints. Against this backdrop, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed her personal interest in renewable energy like biogas, windmill and solar system. She asked the IDCOL officials this week to make the renewable energy more popular among the people. Stressing the use of clean energy to minimise the adverse impact of climate change, the Prime Minister asked the authorities concerned to gerenate renewable energy in the coastal belt and hill tract areas. The Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), with the government as the partner of this non-bank financial institution, is reportedly promoting solar home systems in rural Bangladesh. Besides promoting solar home system (SHS) in remote rural areas, it is also planning to set up a multipurpose Solar Irrigation System (SIS) in off-grid areas of the country. The government is giving special importance to this project because there are 1.5 million irrigation pumps across the country and they consume about 800 mw of electricity everyday during the irrigation season. If the government can run about half of such irrigation pumps with solar power, it could save, foreign exchange, worth over $284 million. Bangladesh gets sunlight in nearly 360 days a year. There is a good prospect for tapping the potential of this source of renewable energy. There is, however, a misconception about the use of solar energy that it is too expensive. But it is not true because a user can run the solar energy at the same cost as that of kerosene oil-lit lamp. That is what the scientists in Bangladesh say. They are reportedly on the run to devise cheaper solar panels. Breakthrough in this connection is just knocking at the doors, they claimed. However, the usage of solar energy must be diversified by focusing on small solar irrigation systems, battery run three-wheelers and solar street-light system. Solar power can be used for different segments such as SHS, urban lighting solutions, water heaters, Instant Power Supply (IPS), solar telecom solutions and water pumps. The government is aiming to create an energy mix with a good balance of hydrocarbon, with various forms of renewable energy to help attain sustainable development in an environment-friendly manner. In the present situation, the government has to be supportive of efforts to explore and promote all forms of renewable energy technologies for sustained growth of the economy. That will have to include the use of wind technology, micro-hydro power units and exploitation of wave's potential in coastal areas. Assisting the process for expanding the use of renewable energy by making this sector investment friendly can help facilitate efforts to this direction. This can be done by introducing special fiscal measures -- the creation of a special fund, reduced lending rates for making use of renewable energy technology, tax breaks on investment made with regard to production of green energy and removal of VATtaxes imposed on accessories used in this sector. Such steps will ensure success. The main renewable energy resources in Bangladesh are biomass, solar, wind and hydropower. The hydropower potential of Bangladesh is low due to the relative flatness of the country. Wind power generation in Bangladesh has certain limitations due to the lack of reliable wind speed data and the remarkable seasonal variation of wind speed. The country has good prospect for utilising solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for electricity generation, but at present, high capital investment cost is a big barrier to adopting such systems. Contribution of biomass in total primary energy consumption of Bangladesh is around 60 per cent. The major sources of traditional biomass are agricultural residues, wood and wood wastes, animal dung etc. As such, there is a good potential to produce electricity using biogas in Bangladesh, if proper research is carried out by research agencies, professionals and the implementing authority. Bangladesh has over 0.22 million poultry farms and 15,000 cattle farms. By establishing biogas plants in these farms, electricity can be generated. So far 40,000 biogas plants have been established across the country and such plants are producing gas, which is being used for cooking purposes in the rural areas. For exploring variable options, a target should better be set for ensuring the availability of 10 per cent of total electricity in the country from renewable resources by the year 2020. Also, there is a need to increase the number of solar system installations in the country. Biogas plants can be made more popular in rural areas. Further steps can also be taken to popularise the proven solar water heating system, solar cooker or solar dryer. This will require proper planning by the government and the non-government organisations (NGOs) at the grassroots level. The government may, through a public-private partnership, establish and install two or more solar panel factories. Necessary research already completed has suggested that the silica content near Cox's Bazar could be used for manufacturing the solar panels, required for meeting the country's needs as well as those of the adjoining region. Development partners can be approached for considering assistance to Bangladesh in this regard. All such steps, taken in concert for specific goal-oriented outcomes, can go a long way forwards promoting green technology in Bangladesh. szkhan@dhaka.net