HYDERABAD: Local and foreign experts at a seminar held here on Wednesday gave presentations on a wide range of issues relating to biomass resource utilisation for alternative energy generation and socio-economic development in the country’s rural areas.

The seminar titled ‘Biomass resource utilisation for clean energy production and socio-economic development in rural areas’ was held in the Makhdoom Dawood Hall of the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro.

Alternative Energy Develop­ment Board (AEDB) chief executive Engineer Amjad Ali Awan, speaking as the chief guest, offered required funds to those engineering graduates who would come out with their energy generation projects based on biogas or other such resources.

Mr Awan said that many wind and solar energy projects in the country were planned to be completed within the next year.

He stressed the need for apprising people of the use of alternative energy.

He said government would also extend tax relief to producers of alternative energy in order to overcome the energy crisis.

He said that private companies and the general public were being encouraged to explore and opt for alternative energy.

“While the AEDB is promoting such projects, the federal government is striking accords with provincial governments on energy generation through traditional methods,” he said, and appreciated the role of MUET in this regard.

MUET vice chancellor Prof Dr Mohammad Aslam Uqaili stressed the need for local and traditional methods to be explored to produce and conserve energy.

He noted that the MUET had established a biogas plant in Sanghar district and the area people had been making full use of it.

He said that researches and experiences at universities should widely be shared and spread to the benefit of a maximum number of people so that the masses could reap the fruit of experts’ relentless efforts.

Prof Uqaili said that work on converting the power source at the main MUET library to solar energy was under way. Gradually, the entire source of energy at the university would be switched over to solar power.

He noted that various groups university students and teachers were actively working on environment and energy benefiting from research works.

Aerospace and aircraft engineering expert from the Kingston University, London, Dr Jonathon Daniel Nixon gave presentation on producing energy using waste biomass. His colleague and research scholar Diana Nicoleta Vienescu talked about sustainable synthetic fuels produced with waste biomass.

MUET’s Prof Mushtaque A. Mirani presented his works on ‘Energy deficiency and rural communities of Sindh’. Another scholar Dr Abdul Razzaque Sahito at the university enunciated appraisal of energy potential in co-digestion of crop residues and buffalo dung.

Prof Dr Khanji Harijan of the MUET department of mechanical engineering presented concluding remarks.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2016