Experts call for exploiting alternative energy resources

Workshop was organised by the Engineering Development Board (EDB), in association with NUST.

Experts and representatives of industry and academia have stressed the need for switching to alternative, affordable and sustainable energy resources to cope with the current crisis.

They were speaking at a workshop on “A Viable Solution for Development of Gasifier based on Local Coal” at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) seminar hall, on Tuesday, said a press release issued by the Alternative Energy Board.

Engineering Development Board (EDB), in association with NUST, had organised the workshop. EDB chief executive Engineer Qazi Ebadullah Khan was the chief guest. Academicians, researchers and industry representatives spoke on the subject and formulated recommendations.

Khan said that EDB has initiated an Industrial Research Programme (IRP) to establish industry-academia linkages. Around 1,000 researchers in 308 disciplines from 24 universities have been registered so far in the programme. As part of this programme EDB and NUST have joined hands to overcome the energy crisis in the industrial sector.

He further said that energy shortage has seriously impeded the industrial growth and resultantly the investment in this sector has receded. Electricity and gas loadshedding have badly affected the industry. Therefore, it is imperative to shift to suitable alternatives which are affordable, competitive and above all sustainable. The local industry is using imported gasifiers but unfortunately they are constrained to use imported coal to keep these in operation. This is empirically affecting the competitiveness of the entire industrial sector and the consumers at large.

Dr Asif Raza said that they wanted a solution to the energy crisis. At NUST we have infrastructure, experts, students and resources, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2013.