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Bleak power generation scenario: Alternative source is a must

Md. Asadullah Khan
ENERGY plays an important role in accelerating economic growth as much as it serves as an element in providing basic needs like food, shelter, healthcare facilities, safe water, sanitation, education and access to job. "Sustainable human development" that means an eco nomic growth through equitable distribution of benefits can only be ensured through meeting the of energy needs of the nation. This brings into focus the interrelation between per capita energy consump-tion and per capita GDP, emphasizing the fact that improvement of human development status contributes to “'crease in per capita energy con-MJnTption. Reports have it that in developing countries where per
capita commercial energy consumption is below 1000 kg of oil equivalent (KGOE) per year, poverty predominates with the concomitant vices of illiteracy, population growth and infant mortality.
Against the backdrop of such indispensable need, the power generation scenario in the country is perhaps going from bad to worse causing a shortfall of 1200 MW per day against a demand of 5000 MW. The demand, as analysts estimate, grows by 30% every year. The net addition to the national grid during the 5 years of the alliance rule was a small 110 MW obtained through barge mounted plant at Khulna. Ironically true, in less than adecadetheutopianstorybased on poor survey work that put a claim that Bangladesh had a huge deposit of natural gas and the country needed hardly to look for alternative power source has proved to be hollow. Rather it is now learnt that inadequate supply of gas accounts for a daily shortfall of 300 to 500 MW of power in the coun-
Two E's -- Education and Electricity are two important tools for distributing the gains of development in the countryside. The ills plaguing the power generation and distribution front are too many to be mentioned and all these can be attributed to the system of bad governance during the past regime. The immediate past Prime Minister who headed the power ministry during the last three years of the alliance rule owe an explanation to the nation as to why she failed to add even a watt of energy
to the national grid.
Electricity being the driving force or prime mover behind economic progress, there is hardly any sector that can do without it Even illiterate, desperately poor peasants will tell you that if they could have regular supply ofpowertheir lives would change.
Unhappily, even if all the previous governments had expressed their determination to explore all possibili-tiesfortappingaltemativeand benign sources of energy like solar, wind and waterpower, all these talks had just been a wish list Although other coup -tries of the region, like Nepal and India and some countries in Europe, have successfully tapped wind energy, we have hardly moved away from the seminar room. As people know, wind energy is the kinetic energy associated with the movement of atmospheric air. It has been used over hundreds of years for sailing, grinding grain, and for irrigation. Wind energy systems convert this kinetic energy to more useful forms of power. Happily, since the beginning of the 20th century it is being used to generate electric power. Wind mills for water pumping have been used particularly in the rural areas in many countries.
Five nations - Germany, USA, Denmark, Spain and India - -account for 80% of the world's installed wind energy capacity. Wind energy continues to be the fastest growing renewable energy source with worldwide wind power installed capacity reaching 14,000 MW. India ranks 5th in the world with a total wind power capacity of 1080 MW out of wliich 1025 MW have been used in commercial projects. Another important development has been the offshore (i.e, in the sea) wind farms in some regions of Europe , which have several advantages over the onshore ones.
Experts in the power sector have time and again voiced concern about the high energy bill due to import, and depleting gas resources in the face of growing energy needs. It will be almost imperative for the elected government that would come to power after the election scheduled to be held in December to devote its full
attention to the cause of exploring wind energy on a commercial basis. And for that to happen the next government must allocate more funds for research and development efforts to build an infrastructure for renewable energy application programme and must therefore urge the developed countries and inter governmental agencies like UNDR the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank to help Bangladesh with technological and financial assistance for studies, pilot projects and training for man-power with regard to the development of such an infrastructure.
/\ftcr making a comprehensive study of the speed and direction of the winds in the coastal areas, it is possible to meet local and even national needs to a great extent. We have reasons to feel optimistic about harnessing renewable, alternative sources of energy, because the off shore islands, the coastal belts and relatively inaccessible areas beyond the reach of the national power grid, have already been identified as possible zones for solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy projects. In the meantime solar power has gained sufficient acceptability. For the moment, power from solar thermal systems costs less than that produced by photovoltaic cells, which convert sunlight straight into electricity. Advocates of PV cells point out, though, that the gap is narrowing and PV cells have other advantages. Solar-thermal systems require direct sunlight, whereas PV cells can work in cloudy weather. With costs projected to be a bit higher per kW-h, PV cells are economical for delivering small amounts of power in remote places. A survey made by Flavin, President of the World Watch Institute at Washington have found PV cells to be cost effective also in urban homes, if new’ installations require expensive upgrading of transformers and power lines.
About 20 lakh families in the rural areas of the country are using solar energy and according to one survey made public in recent time the number of people opting for solar power increases by one million in every two years
Ironically, power has so far been provided to 15 per cent of the total population in the country. By the year 2015, our requirement would be in the neighborhood of 9000MW. Without contradiction, the country needs to increase the production of electricity in order to aelueve poverty alleviation and other socio-economic goals. That calls for tapping the alternative source of energy like wind and sun ray through allocation of funds to gear up research in these areas, especially in the universities of the country, both
technical and general, research institutes like BAEC and BCSIR. Remembering the fact that unlike oil, gas and coal deposits, renewable energy can't be exhausted, at least not until the sun bums out billions of years from now and the earth goes cold.
The real growth market lies in the developing world like Bangladesh, India. Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Solar power systems offer villages the opportunity to leapfrog developed nations and move directly into the new millennium. Mason Willrich, vice chairman of the U.S. Department of Energy's Task Force on Strategic Energy Research and Development , commented in the late 90s that developing nations gain a double benefit from renewable power because they can manufacture the components of their energy supply system, thus expanding their industrial base.
With a new design unveiled for PV cells by two noted scientists Martin Green and Stuart Wenham at the university of New South Wales, Australia the cost of photovoltaic electricity is likely to come down by 80% bringing it to levels competitive with conventional power. Md. AsaduKah Khan is a former teacher of physics and Controller of Examinations, BUET.