Greater dev hinges on affordable po6 May 2018 21:54
http://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/307074/2018/05/07/‘Greater-dev-hinges-on-affordable-power’
‘Greater dev hinges on affordable power’
Staff Correspondent 7 May, 2018 12:00 AM printer
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid on Sunday said affordable and uninterrupted power supply will be a major challenge to the country’s further development.
“Bangladesh economy is growing fast and the government has outlined a new vision of becoming a developed country by 2041. Affordable and uninterrupted power supply will play a crucial role in this regard,” he said.
For that, Bangladesh will go for a good number of coal-fired power plants alongside LNG and other liquid fuels, he said, while addressing a workshop on ‘Power and Energy Sector Capacity Development’ at a city hotel.
As a small country, Bangladesh has to address the land scarcity problem with best use of land and local energy resources, he said while commenting on suggestions for solar and wind powers which usually require vast land.
Power Secretary Ahmad Kaikaus added: “We’ve to be realistic.
In reality solar won’t be a good option for Bangladesh. The future of wind power is not optimistic as well.”
He observed that clean coal technology can be a better option for Bangladesh as emission level of coal and gas is nearly the same.
As the government is looking beyond 2021, it can blend its primary energy policy with an important focus on coal, he said, adding that Bangladesh can utilise the experience of Indonesia and Australia in coal sector.
Narrul Hamid said the country needs high level technical support for local coal extraction and setting up and running coal-run power stations.
In this regard, he sought support from Australia as Bangladesh will require hundreds of thousands of engineers trained up on power generation.
He also spoke of the govement’s plan to set up power management training institution and energy research lab to this end.
In reply, Australian High Commissioner to Dhaka Julia Niblett said Australia is committed to continuing support for Bangladesh in power and energy sector, which will be crucial for Bangladesh’s development trajectory.
Australia is an energy super power and 10 percent of its GDP and half of its exports come from the sector, she informed.
Presenting a paper of coal power, John Abbott, Chancellor of Central Queensland University, said glocal climate change agenda is actually no environmental movement; but a movement of political activists who are high influential globally.
He said latest reseaches do no corroborate the environmentalists’ claim that coal-fired power stations are making huge contribution to global warming.
The IPCC’s claim of the world’s getting warm faster than before is also misleading, he also said.
Vice-Chancellor of Central Queensland Uni
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