KARACHI, Jan 17: Speakers at a conference on Saturday stressed the need for harnessing alternative and renewable sources of energy. The 6th conference on commercial exploitation of wind turbine , alternative/renewable energy and solar technology was jointly organized by the National Industrial Commercial and Educational (Nice) Link Trust and the Pakistan Navy Engineering College, PNS Jouhar.

The chairman of the recently-established Alternate Energy Development Board, Shahid Hamid, said the gas reserves of Pakistan would be up in 20 years at the present rate of consumption. "Rapid deforestation is taking place all over 0the country. In Balochistan, for instance, at least 70 per cent people burn wood. The same situation obtains in the Northern Areas of the country. If Pakistan signs the Kyoto Protocol, it will have to pay heavy penalties for carbon dioxide emissions."

Shedding light on the functions of the Alternate Energy Development Board, Mr Hamid said it would put into practice the model of public-private partnership. "We hope to get foreign investors to interact with the private sector in Pakistan. At the same time, sovereign guarantees would be offered by the government to foreign investors."

He said he could not promise that the government would offer subsidies, as suggested by earlier speakers, particularly Dr Sohail Zaki Farooqui, professor at the Pakistan Navy Engineering College, PNS Jouhar. "I will meet the prime minister shortly and I will brief him on the projects initiated by the Alternate Energy Development Board. I will also ask for certain incentives for foreign and local investors."

He told the audience that the Alternate Energy Development Board had been offered $500 million worth investment over the past five months. Stressing the need for introducing in the country a culture of employing alternative and renewable energy sources, he congratulated the Pakistan Meteorological Department for collecting valuable wind data which would come in handy when actual projects were implemented at various places in the country.

The president of the Nice Link Trust, Nazir Ahmed Vaid, first spoke about merits and demerits of the traditional sources of energy, such as hydral energy, thermal energy and nuclear energy. He said that a wind farm would consist of a cluster of 10 to 1,000 wind mills. He explained that for power generation through a wind-mill the requirement of wind speed varied from 4km (minimum) to 20km (maximum). He added that average wind speed requirement was 12km.

Mr Vaid urged the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority to recognize and create regulations to promote production of energy from wind. He also called upon the Central Bureau of Revenue to waive import duty, sales tax on import and income tax for 10 years of operation. He also demanded that entrepreneurs seeking to invest in this sector should not be questioned about their sources of energy.

"Similarly, third party sales should be allowed. The government should also offer subsidy to capital. Soft loans should be extended to entrepreneurs. The government should set the target of production of 10,000 megawatts of electrical energy by harnessing alternative and renewable sources of energy by 2010."

Enumerating the advantages of wind power, Mr Vaid said its raw material was virtually free. "It is environment friendly. It does not require - and is not dissipated in - transport. It is decentralized and is produced and consumed locally. Besides, it is abundantly available in selected areas."

He put forward three recommendations to the government: try to set up as many wind farms as possible by providing concessions to local entrepreneurs, start immediately with refurbished wind turbines and encourage indigenous manufacturing of all sizes of wind turbines.

The director of the Solar System Labs of the National University of Science and Technology in Islamabad, Brig Nasim Akhtar Khan, briefed the audience on the wind turbine manufacturing plan in Pakistan. "Wind energy is being employed all over the world in a big way. In Pakistan, wind energy regime is available from Gharo to Hyderabad throughout the year. Pakistan can generate up to 1,774 megawatts of electrical power over the next 10 years employing alternative and renewable sources of energy."

The secretary-general of the Nice Link Trust, S.S. Haider, said that his organization was a voluntary, non-profit trust dedicated to the development and application of renewable and alternative sources of energy in Pakistan.

"In a short period of time we have been able to establish our credibility by designing, fabricating and installing six successful, small and solar distillation plants at Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Bodhani Village, Korangi, Federal B Area Industrial Estate and North Nazimabad."

He added that the Nice Link Trust had also been active in promoting the use of photo-voltaic cells and wind power along with the production and assembly of 10 solar-powered items used in daily domestic and economic life.

The director-general of the National Institute of Oceanography, Dr Shahid Amjad, also spoke. A 1,000-watt wind mill generator was put on display on a hill in the Pakistan Navy Engineering, PNS Jouhar. Sindh Minister Saeeda Malik also spoke.