KARACHI, Jan 19: The country will run out of oil and gas reserves in one-and-a-half decades — give or take a few years — and it is high time that concerted efforts are made to tap other sources of energy, abundantly available in Pakistan.

This was the main talking-point at the fifth annual conference on commercial exploitation of windmill, drip irrigation, alternative/renewable energy and solar technology held on Saturday at a local hotel. The conference was organized by the National Industrial Commercial and Education Link.

The conference, which was compered by Salma Beg in a lively manner, saw the chairman of the Alternate Energy Commission of Pakistan, Brig Nasim Akhter Khan, made out a strong case for tapping other sources of energy, such as winds, tides and the sun, so that the country did not have to spend an exorbitant amount of money.

He added that large sums of money were spent to import fuel. “In the country, we can manufacture devices which can generate electricity using alternative sources of energy. This would not only help us save our precious little foreign exchange, but would enable us to generate electricity in an environment-friendly manner,” he explained.

Sindh minister for finance planning and development Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said in other countries 35 per cent of energy was generated using coal.

“It is a pity that despite the fact that we have about 200 billion tonnes of coal deposits, we are not using this inexpensive source of energy.”

Emphasizing the need for generating electricity from coal, the minister said that foreign exchange could be saved, and used for better purposes, if coal was employed as a source of energy.

The chairman of the Alternate Energy Commission of Pakistan, Brig Nasim Akhter Khan, showed a presentation in a very vivacious manner, answering questions as they came up. He also explained the design and working of a solar cell.

Solar cells convert solar energy directly to direct current electricity that is stored in batteries for subsequent use. There are three types of solar cell. Single-crystal solar cells, polycrystaline solar cells and thin-film solar cells.

He said the solar cells fabricated in Pakistan with indigenous technology would supplement energy being provided by the Water and Power Development Authority and the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation. He added that cost, when compared with Wapda generated energy, was less because cost of laying high-tension cables, power transformers, transportation, metering and maintenance manpower was not required.

Afterwards, Brig Khan demonstrated the working of solar cells, and other devices run on cheaper sources of energy. Many participants of the conference not only took a keen interest in the devices but also offered to make an investment. Some industrialists said they wanted to set up a corporation to replicate the solar cell plant.

The secretary-general of the National Industrial Commercial & Educational Link, S. S. Haider, stressed the need for creating a solar cell plant to electrify the villages of the country. He also emphasized the importance of manufacturing, and not importing, desalination plants. He underscored the importance of drip irrigation through windmills.

“Foreign companies do not want to part with their infrastructure, even after payment, after having making an investment in the country. They argue that we would not be able to run power plants efficiently or run them the way we have been running the country.”

The director-general of the National Institute of Oceanography, Dr Shahid Amjad, presented a report on “Oceans: a renewable source of fresh water”.

In his report, he said there were three desalination technologies: thermo-compression distiller, reverse osmosis, and solar solar stills.

The managing director of Merins, Mahmud Fateh Ali, read out a paper on “Windmills and its use for water pumping and power generation, attached drip irrigation systems”.