KARACHI, Sept 5: The government is exploring alternative sources of energy in view of unprecedented increase in petroleum products’ prices, said Mukhtar Ahmed, adviser to the prime minister on energy, here on Monday. In a meeting with Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA), he said that the government was encouraging the use of coal for power generation as it was far cheaper than oil and gas and the country had huge reserves of it. “The share of power generation through coal is only six per cent which is being increased by setting up coal-fired power plants,” he added.

He said the country’s gas reserves would last for 20-25 years keeping this in view the government was planning to import gas from Iran and other countries, says a press release of PPDA.

The adviser said that the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet had decided to lift ban on power generation through gas by industrial units, which would reduce the cost of production tremendously.

PPDA chairman Abdul Sami Khan said that the government should promote the use of compressed natural gas in vehicles and encourage the setting up of more CNG stations to offset the impact of the higher POL prices. He said CNG dealers were facing problems in getting permission from various government departments for establishing CNG stations.