November 19, 2017

Pakistan’s blind quest for coal-energy despite its vulnerabilities

located:	Pakistan
editor:	Shadi Khan Saif

The Global Climate Risk Index 2018 by the Germanwatch has ranked Pakistan on 7th position, with a death toll of 523.1 lives per year i.e. 10,462 lives lost in 20 years and economic losses worth $3.8 billion — equivalent to 0.605% of the GDP in the 20 year period. Yet, serious debates to tackle the emission of greenhouse gasses and climate conservation at large remain literally out of the public and private discourse in the country of more than 200 million.

At the recent UN Conference on Climate Change (COP23) in Bonn, officials from Pakistan announced the country has begun importing more liquefied natural gas in order to reduce its reliance on burning coal and oil for electricity. It is, however, likely that Pakistan’s emissions will grow in the coming decades considering a number of mega projects are underway, particularly the energy related projects conceived in line with the multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPC).

Pakistan has been demanding wealthier nations to provide more aid to help drive down the cost of wind and solar power as it continues to vigorously pursue nuclear as well as coal energy at home. With Chinese financial and technical assistance, Pakistan is all set to develop at least three more nuclear power plants and one massive 1,320MW coal power plant in Thar Desert area, which is expected to be completed by June 2019.

Interestingly enough, Thar is a classic example of misplaced priorities by the government of Pakistan. The government and corporate circles seem more focused on tapping into the 175 billion tons of coal than the 9,000 square kilometres available in the region, particularly as Thar has high solar irradiance, receiving up to 5KWh per square meter a day. This is comparable to parts of the Arabian Peninsula, where solar is considered a highly favourable source of electricity.

This misplaced priority has been based on a misconstrued perception that since the western world has progressed using coal, it has made an excuse to develop coal power plants in third-world countries. Countries like Pakistan and India need to look to Jordan, Peru and Brazil to learn a lesson or two on promoting forestation and avoiding getting their hands dirty with coal, especially when the potential for the use of clean energy is in constant growth.