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With the power shortage that we have today, it is easy to fall into the blame game with the government, current and prior, for all the mistakes they made with regards to the dismal power situation. The situation has several facets, from a desire to keep status quo in order to keep the masses in misery and avoid focusing on real issues of corruption and mismanagement, to downright poor planning and abject governance added to a lack of foresight. I however, digress.
Consider for a moment that perhaps along with the government, we as individuals are to be blamed as well. And that blame goes right across all strata of society, though the burden of it does fall on the educated and well to do.
In most of our larger cities, most middle class families have become reliant on UPS back-up systems for when power goes. Makes sense doesn’t it, power goes but yours doesn’t. Brilliant! Till the system of course has to be charged again, en masse load shedding means everyone’s UPS kicks in at the same time, this of course in turn means they get drained together, and when electrical supply resumes, they all start to charge together. Just imagine the massive drain those UPS are on our electrical grid. What if, as individuals, we charged those UPS on solar power instead of relying on the grid for energy? It’s a small step, but collectively it makes a difference.
Ironing clothes for a dozen individuals in every other home is another such major drain on power, large families tend to spend a lot of time ironing clothes and the amount of power that requires is an absurd number of MW if calculated. There has got to be an alternative, even if it is an iron again, albeit with far better efficiency. Our engineering universities should have allocated projects based on needs rather than allow students to pick the same boring mundane projects year after year.
When designing homes, architects keep in mind the position of the sun, the windows and flared arches are then appropriately positioned. But when building homes, why is the insulation factor all but left out? Improved insulation would help keep our homes at a suitable temperature and reduce our dependence on continuous air conditioning. The issue that crops up over and over is why we haven’t, as individuals molded our research and our thinking to our needs. Blaming the government is easy, being a positive contributor to society not so much.
A power shortage doesn’t even make sense in a country as richly endowed as ours. A vast river network for hydropower, nuclear know-how, massive coal deposits, a long coastline for wind generation, massive solar potential, biodiesel raw material in the form of sugar cane and molasses; and those are the most obvious ones. The good thing that they are so numerous, for the need of the hour isn’t to just overcome a massive shortfall, if that is all we achieve it is a very poor show indeed. How many of our large prominent businessmen, who invest all over the world quietly; have entered into a power generation scheme not based on furnace oil? None. Why? The cheap easy quick buck is in furnace oil, why think long term or for the general good of the people.
Our actual need is to make this electricity available at a far cheaper rate then the existing rates. How are our industries are supposed to compete internationally with a massive cost base, is beyond me. An ample and cheaper supply of electricity will also give birth to many sectors of industry that are electricity-centric. And here’s a rather trivial look at things, with better cooling facilities, we would have better productivity in terms of output and performance and perhaps tempers would be less flared than they are.
A friend once said to me that a western country, specifically the UK, has good weather or else they’d suffer just like we do with power shortages. The brutal truth is that if our people lived in a cold climate such as theirs, we’d be frozen alive with no gas availability to heat homes and they’d be air conditioned with ample power here too. It’s not about the land, it’s about how you tackle your environs, and that is where we have failed.
Faraz Zafar is exploring Islamic Finance and an avid trekker who often muses about the happenings around him.
The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
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Comments (29) Closed
Jul 15, 2011 02:06pm
The core issue underlying the power situation in the country is that of mismanagement. Period! Please have a look at the installed capacity, the current demand and output. The mother of all causes, the circular debt should be resolved before we move forward to other power saving techniques such as "insulations". And how do we expect the large rural populations who also face the worst power cuts to save energy? hey, they dont even have any energy to begin with! I suggest that we stick to the basics and the resolve the real issue.
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Jul 15, 2011 02:21pm
Faraz; I admire your endeavors in highlighting peoples' role to conserve energy. In fact masses need to be governed in the right way! and most of us (public) don't know what the right / cheaper / long lasting way is!
Education is too recherché and this sector specific is not being taught at Schools/Colleges and Even Universities
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Jul 15, 2011 04:09pm
Only solution for power shortage is "KALABAGH DAM"
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Jul 15, 2011 06:02pm
Another tree hugger. Pakistan has the best solution to its energy problems and its all natural. You dont need the sun to charge your UPS or your irons. Every year pakistan wastes 35mac (million acres feet) that goes into the sea which can fill our dams and also save us from floods. In a country like Pakistan where people have more problems now than they did, say, 10 years ago, your idea of solar power is totally unrealistic. You can make one dam, The KalaBagh Dam, and you will see that there will be no floods, cheaper electricity, No hooks, no stealing, More revenue, more employment and the list goes on. Only if we had a leader who had the courage to say that im gonna make the dam no matter what. The ordinary people dont care whether there are canals coming from the dam or who gets the royalty. The want to turn the bulbs on, iron their clothes, use washing machines.
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Jul 15, 2011 06:31pm
I appreciate Faraz for bringing a new dimension to the discussion.His suggestions might not be very practical, as some commentators say, but his article successfully fulfills his goal of encouraging people to think that they too have a role to play.
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Jul 15, 2011 06:44pm
Faraz Zafar, judging from his "solutions" and studying the "Islamic finance", appears to be from a background that is completely divorced from the real situation in our unfortunate country. he has prescribed solar power to the Pakistanis of whom a good more that 40% survive barely on less that 2 US dollars and therefore it is obvious that he has never checked how much solar power cost and i will humbly explain that the cost of solar power is the main cause for its being not so "popular" in Pakistan. secondly, he laments the "inhuman" neglect for insulation in their homes by the pakistanis unaware of the classified information that there might be a "tiny" portion of our population (around 90%) who cant afford to build even decent homes. my apologies on their behalf for being so insensitive to the energy efficient constructions.
i am very sorry if i cannot see why the people of Pakistan are not eating cakes if they cant find bread.
My friend, what u been talking about is not even possible in Europe and America at this stage without the governments' intervention. if u have to ween the people away from the national grid and start using the alternative energy sources, u either subsidize the sources or make them available through easy loans. bangladesh is by now the leading country with domestic solar power consumption. the bangladeshi government is providing solar power installation to homes around the country on easy installments. now considering that a home with three energy savers, three electric fans, a refrigerator/an iron (only one is used at a time), a computer and a television set would require a solar power installation that would cost at least half a million rupees (with 10 years battery and 25 years solar panel warranties) the writer must have realized that its impossible to raise solar power consumption on domestic level without the government. especially when u must be a super nuclear family and would never use an air conditioner or would use only the mentioned electric items.
and government can do that. if they can spend billions of rupees on Rental Power Production (to date they have supplied only 40 to 50 MW) why they cant provide domestic solar power units on soft loans? imagine how many units could be given to the people of karachi alone if those 5, 6 billions were used on solar units?
besides, honestly i find it hard to believe that there is indeed a "real" power shortage in pakistan. it looks more like "invented". u people might remember that when there was wolrd cup semi-final between pakistan and india in march, the prime minister said that their would be no power outages in pakistan on that day and there was a national holiday too. his order was followed and on that day we never had load-shedding in whole country.
how could they managed to do that when the official figures were:
total power need/consumption = 15000MW
actual power generation = 11500MW
where did the 3500MW came from?
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Jul 15, 2011 07:26pm
Load shedding (Mismanagement of electricity by concerned ministry) will go from bad to worse in the coming days. The issue is both technical and political. 99% of employees with this ministry are fake, phony and fraudulent. They are just irrelevant, incompetent and inefficient. They grabbed positions through bribes and political maneuverings. Their educational documents are bogus. They are corrupt to the core. They are compulsive liars. They join the ministry as beggars and retire as millionaires. Only solution is hanging them publicly otherwise the situation will go from bad to worse. Equally corrupt police, military and civil bureaucracy can’t take this decision. Judiciary is silent on the issue even though it knows people across the country are dying in protests and daily demonstrations. Media is giving some space to this disgusting situation. Parliament comprising loan defaulters are shamelessly unconcerned. Under such scenario can Pakistan survive as a country?
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Jul 15, 2011 07:33pm
The only reason Pakistan has power shortage is that every time a group wants to build a power station, and there are many. The people in positions, want such big kick backs it makes the project not viable.
I guess this will not be published
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Jul 15, 2011 07:38pm
Hats off for your out of traditional approach to tackle the energy crisis in Pakistan. but, i think it's quite obvious to have such blunders in power generation management as in all other state managed institutions. The basic problem is we are a nation of extravagant people where, leave the well offs, even the daily wagers and common man shows unmatched sage and extravaganza to criticize the established institutes.
what we need are the people who can provide us with workable solutions within the budge constrains to solve the contemporary problems we are facing including shortage of power.
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Jul 15, 2011 07:48pm
Salam Every one,
Really appreciate for giving time to such an important issue.
every one have figured out different reasons for this power shortage but they are missing one...
That is Leasing, Provided by Government, Banks and different private institutes.
This do nothing but give them an opportunity to have what they cant afford and that the point.
People who cannot afford A.C have bought one on leasing and increased the burdon on current resources, same happens to different other electronic devices . which day by day increase the consumption of power but no increase in the resources to fulfill those power needs.
Simply, if you put a side only leasing many people will have more comfortable life as they have before.
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Jul 15, 2011 09:14pm
Ok this debate on what has to be done to work out the power issue has gone on for a bit of time. Only action so far has been the Thermal Plants (a very expensive and un-affordable alternative, but the investors could see no other option as our country's planners had no vision of what they are going to face down the road). Of course, it has made for great drawing room discussions plus studies by WAPDA and World Bank by highly educated bureaucrats in all corners with various EXPERT takes on what needs to be done.
Having worked in the energy profession for the past decade both in Pakistan and North America, actually the core issues is ALL OF THE ABOVE! Everyone needs to adapt (you and me who use the car to go to work alone, we need to get into a car pool habit to burn less fuel as a start). The writer has written a great article, and made some basic suggestions which are VERY important. We need to RESOLVE at our level, even if this is minimalistic, to cut all wastage of energy.
As for KALABAGH dam, it is a necessity, along with more alternative sources based on renewables since oil is expensive and short in supply - sorry to see lack of leadership on the political front on this issue that today we have 4 GIGS of energy shortage!!! This is just today's short-fall. Our leaders never could get around the politics involving displacement or making new houses for a million people residing around the area where the KB dams' downstream was to be made. Also, we must understand that a dam takes 5 years to build from the date the ground is dug, the transformers built, the electrical susbtation and power lines installed. Five years from now we would have 8 GIGS shortfall!!! So if we start now with KB, we will still need to do more. This is more important than the issue of American Aid! This is an issue of our survival and well-being as a nation - the present scenario where we are heading is just plain frightening : no electricity, no machinery running, no air conditioning, no jobs, no competitiveness to compete with manufacturers around the world ( this could kill our textiles sooner than we think), no income, more debt, more helplessness in front of World, more divide in society, more stress in our daily lives... ( I can't stop to say the obvious....More terrorism). This weakness of our country makes me shudder. Electricity is the key - we cannot survive alone on agriculture. We need a tune to sing based on energy crisis every day before we start work, school, or our day. This is what could even unite us, as everyone will fall into the same boat one day or the other (regardless of your powerful diesel-fired home generator).
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Jul 15, 2011 09:42pm
Thank you Faraz, I really appreciate the suggestions. I am an Electrical Power Engineer, working in US in power industry and I know how significant the power savings can be with these steps. But see I tell you what the problem is, which most Pakistanis do not realize.
As I have seen power industry closely and my family and friends are associated with Pakistan's Power Industry. I can tell you that the generation capacity is more than required. The real problem is that we, the government, does not pay the private power plants (which include most of our generation capability) the price for their generated electric power. I mean come one, this is simple math. Our Government thinks that this is their feudal land and they can get private investers keep spending without paying them for what we buy from them. No business in the world works this way. That is why we blame our government that they put alot of money in their pockets and do not bother to pay the dues of this nation!
By the way, that is why I have seen alot of Power Engineers, brilliant ones, leaving Pakistan because everyone needs to feed their families!!
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Jul 15, 2011 09:43pm
i agree that insetad of blamming the govt we as nation are also responsible for not using it wisely. Small example why dont we open the baazars at 9:00am and shut down the markets at 8:00pm instead of having the baazars open till midnight?
I am an engineer and work in power generation insdustry abroad...there are many ways to make electricty, solar panels, solid oxide fuel cells, tidal, wid etc..... May Allah give us courage and positive attitude towards our country so we make positive difference for our generations to come...
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Jul 15, 2011 10:30pm
Pakistan's total installed generation capacity is 19,855 MWh/year. Our total requirement is 14,500 MWh/year. We already have greater installed capacity. The reason of the deficit is OIL. We do not have oil that is why our thermal plants are running on their 40% of their full capacity. The rest is the seasonal up and down of the water level in dams that increases or decreases in hydro generation plants!
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Jul 15, 2011 10:32pm
I would appreciate it if you kept yourself to domains that you are competent on. Charging UPSs can only mean that load shedding is ineffective. Load shedding was designed to reduce the amount of energy consumed. By deploying UPSs, we ensure that does not happen. The same amount of energy still gets consumed. Of course, discounting those households that don't have a UPS. The efficiency is not 100%, so a little bit of energy overhead is definitely there. So, if every household had a UPS, due to load shedding, the total amount of energy consumed would actually go up. Charge our UPSs over solar? Are you kidding? Do you know how much one of those costs? When you investigate the reasons that the money bearers aren't investing in alternative sources, you'll again end up blaming the government.
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Jul 15, 2011 11:21pm
Sorry to say but it is not that easy. Any Household in Pakistan needs an average of 2 kilowatts and also 1 kilowatt is necessary to charge batteries. 1 Kw solar panel system costs more than 150,000 rupees and only some can afford it. Same is the case with insulation systems that ordinary people in Pakistan cannot afford them. Secondly line losses in electirical distribution systems accounts to more than 15 percent loss in Pakistan and if only the line losses could be controlled then we could have 15 percent increase in electricity in current system without any hassle.
The only viable solution is to explore Hydel power and both KalaBagh and Bhasha dam if built then they will generate around 8000 Megawatts of electricity enough for many years of power consumption requirements in Pakistan.
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Jul 16, 2011 12:21am
You seem to be worrying about third or forth order issues (i.e. issues that should be in the third or forth set of importance). people install ups because they dont have power. if the power was always there, why would everyone install ups?
conservation has its advantages, but when the situation is at the point that we have to shut down electricity on our factories and our industry and at the homes of people at 3am at night, then its not a question of conservation, its a question of building new power plants to fulfill the basic needs of the people and the growing economy.
now yes, i agree these power plants should be ones that are less polluting than the ones most countries use.
maybe you should have focused this article on the renewable energy possibilities and projects, which in turn can first provide for the 'basic' demand, and then maybe we can have a conversation for 'wasteful' demand.
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Jul 16, 2011 12:47am
I do not agree with the writer as there is no rocket science involved to teach some one about conserving energy. Everybody knows the importance and our leaders are required to meet the growing demands by better planning and managing from the existing resources.
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Jul 16, 2011 12:48am
Dams and nuclear plants take much longer time to build therefore to overcome the energy crises solar energy idea, especially with the support of those who can afford it, seems more practical idea and could be implemented and put in place quickly. Otherwise our country is bound to suffer from energy crises for at least a decade.
If Government is unable to make any headway in resolving energy crises, then as pointed out in this article, business community, intelligentsia and other well to do people should play their role.
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Jul 16, 2011 01:29am
Its self evident that for a nation to be viable, for society to be functional, for an economy to grow, a sustained source of power is a necessity not a luxery or an option to be tossed around by a whimsical leadership. At the end of the 1990's Pakistan had a surplus of electricity generation capacity (WAPDA said 2500 megawatts) and now after only a decade we are told that there is a shortfall of thousands of megawatts. If this does not represent mismanagement then I dont know what would. For 50 years we have been hearing of the huge hydel potential of the country, for 20 years we have been hearing about the huge coal reserves. It took 10 years for a couple of small wind projects to get going. We might as well face the facts: there is no power policy, no strategy for developement, and ultimately a leadership that is incapable of promoting a key national interest.
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Jul 16, 2011 02:08am
At least this topic brought some other methods which increases our knowledge..... Good efforts. We need to make both large and small dams, especially Daimer Bhasha and Kala Bagh dam and for that leadership has to cut its non development expenditures and route that expenditures to dam as the cost has already doubled. Should plug the leakages, resolve stubborn circular debt. Most important, we individually has to stop stealing electricity.
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Jul 16, 2011 02:31am
As long as you channel your resources into making bigger and better guns to fight your imagined enemies, you will never be able to tackle your real enemies - all those things that cause misery to your people, today or in the future.
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Jul 16, 2011 02:37am
The current crisis isn't because of the inadequate suppy of electricity, it's because of the dishonest policies of the rules of era's. China produces 60% electricity through their coal reserve while America produces nearly 30%. It is estimated that Pakistan has one of the largest coal reserves in the world but does not have the capacity to build plants to utilize the coal reserves. These petty rulers need to wake up and rise above the parochial considerations & provincial differences to resolve such issues...
God bless Pakistan
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Jul 16, 2011 04:00am
Umnni think you ll have bigger and more basic problems than solar panels and wind generationet etc..Thats for countries with economies and industries and a environment for locals or foreigners to invest inn..for THAT u need..hmmnn lets ee..electricity, govt, security, safety, transportation system, a labor force that can work and cower while ever1 s shooting around em..u know the stuff MOST countries have,,Get It Einstein?
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Jul 16, 2011 06:57am
I built my house 11yrs ago and installed a solar water heater at a cost of 1.2lacs (which did seem expensive at that time ).The solar heater has a in built electric heater to be used on cloudy days . In Punjab (India) we need hot water for bathing from mid October to mid April much the same as is true for most of Pakistan .I need to use the electric heater on those cold foggy days in winter which are normally 10 to 15 rest of the time which is about six months we have plenty of hot water . The servants are happy as they also get hot water for bathing .I had checked up about a solar system for one AC but that costs about 10lacs after govt subsidies which is way beyond my budget but a solar backup for my UPS maybe affordable let me check thanks for the idea Faraz
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Jul 16, 2011 09:44am
The irresponsible usage pattern of power is a massive problem and the mail contributiig factor in the horribly skewed power situation in many South Asian countries Like India and Pak . We keep harping on multimillion dollar scandals and cases of mismanagement of govt funds in public projects while over decades we have quite astonishingly ignored the biggest and most far reaching scandal of all : Power gen, dist , billing and illegal usage at ground level
Just to give u a small example , the state I live in in India consider this
75% of the power distributed by the govt utiilty is consumed by Industrial sector while only 25% by residential and commercial
Total bill collected is not more than 40 % of the amount of MWs distributed
Industrial sector contributed only 10% of collections while consuming 3/4th of the power consumed
While all that has been said about changing individual usage behaviours is fine. most of that wont take u very far unless the big fish are netted
Quite simply the irresponsible and uninformed user has no sense of what he is wasting , so as a first step power SHOULD NOT BE AS SIMPLE AS PLUGGING IN A 3 PIN AND SWTICHING IT ON .
A far more responsible mechanism needs to be established wherein every household has a power minder . Also incessant imbalances between allowed load and actual load (read ACs irons and geysers )in very household is horrifying . And i have never understood the use or concept of Inverters.. they are the single most inefficient use of power on earth
Awake Ye Humans ... the topic we are touching on is massive..coz if we dont talk and talk sense soon ...inspite of all that God has given our lands, we are looking at darkness in our cities pretty soon
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Jul 16, 2011 04:36pm
so what do you want a person to do. hold talks with governments to solve his home's electricity problem? this is directly govt responsibility not individual.
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Jul 16, 2011 10:00pm
The topic under discussion was how individuals can take small steps to alleviate the severity of the power shortage, not what the government hasnt done or failed to do. Reading the comments I get the impression that most people did not quite understand what the topic under discussion was, they either leaned towards understanding it and appreciating it or not understanding and bashing it. The regrettable comments trying to shy away from contributing via individual efforts or writing off that aspect altogether while blaming the government continues on unabated and there's no personal responsibility aspect in the discussion. Depressing to see the response to a reasonable suggestion.
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Jul 17, 2011 01:52pm
It is better to have gas generator or you better leave KESC generate our own energy via solar energy or other sources.
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