The Energy Conservation Bill, which is tabled in the National Assembly, will make the manufacturing and use of inefficient electrical appliances, equipments and machinery as a "cognisable offence", said former Minister for Environment and Chairman Intellectual Property Rights Organisation (IPO), Hameedullah Jan Afridi.
He was speaking at a conference on "Energy Conservation & Efficiency" with the theme "save energy for tomorrow" at a local hotel on Thursday. The conference was organised by National Forum for environment and health on the 5th anniversary of Energy Update magazine.
He said that things would be better after the implementation of this law, which is aimed at replacing old electrical equipment and machinery with energy efficient gadgets. He pointed out that ENERCON, which will come under Wapda, would be the agent of change with the help of quality certification institutions like PSQCA and Engineering Development Board. Similarly, there is a plan to ask branded companies to get quality certification to produce energy efficient products, he added.
Afridi underlined the need to create a culture of energy conservation in the country and this campaign should start from homes. "In my opinion the media should play its role in creating awareness about energy conservation in the country", he said. Referring to an "energy audit" of WASA of Lahore, he said this inspection has revealed that there was a 40 percent leakage in their system and all their electric motors were not efficient. Quoting a report, he said that 3000 megawatts of electricity was being wasted due to inefficient appliances, equipment and machinery.
He said that in the middle of energy crisis, Pakistan has no option except going for energy conservation as the cost of electricity generation has gone up to $3 million for each megawatt and its project implementation is difficult and lengthy. He congratulated the team of Energy Update for completing five years of publication and said the magazine was serving a great cause.
Taj Haider said that work has been done on three power projects near gas fields in Sindh under public-private partnership. He said that he would take the issue of SNGPL for using high pressure of 100 pound in its supply network to Council of Common Interest for correction.
President Byco Petroleum Marketing, Kalim A Siddiqui underlined the need for expediting work on Thar coal projects and provision of infrastructure. He called for providing maximum gas to power project to generate electricity. He said hydel generation has the lowest cost of production of 7-8 paisa per kilowatt, nuclear 50 to 70 paisa per kilowatt, natural gas Rs 4.5 to 5 per kilowatt while furnace oil Rs 15 to 16 per kilowatt.
He said rental power projects (RPPs) were costing Rs 21 per kilowatt and the country cannot afford to buy costly electricity. Former Managing Director SSGC, Dr Faizullah Abbassi underscored the need to expedite development of existing fields, which can provide as much as 450 to 500 mmcf gas per day in next 8 to 12 months.
Shaaf Mehbood of Adaptive Technology talked about energy efficient buildings, insulation of houses and use of solar geysers and lighting systems. Syed Hassan Nawab, Deputy Managing Director of SSGC the company was trying hard to reduce it unaccounted for gas (UFG) from 8 % to 5 % by replacing its entire gas transmission and distribution pipelines network.
He said this project is being carried out with the financial assistance of World Bank, which provided $200 million. Engineer Tahir Salim, chairman of Institute of Electrical Engineers (Karachi Centre) said that lighting consumes only 30 percent of the total electricity, while industry uses 70 percent of power.
The loss in the industrial sector is much higher than in household. He underlined the need to encourage solar and wind energy for power generation and called for effective energy conservation methods to save energy. Yasin Haider of Total Lubricants said that energy conservation was the responsibility of every Pakistani. He stressed for conservation in transport sector, industrial sector and household. Managing Editor, Energy Update, Naeem Qureshi said that his magazine was trying hard to create awareness about energy conservation.-PR
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