While generating electricity we tend to ignore the production cost of power per unit power (kWH). It would be of interest to compare the cost of power from hydel, coal and nuclear power that may be used for power generation.
The cost is 1.39 cents per unit for hydel, 7.15 cents per unit for coal and 12.2 cents per unit for nuclear energy on an average. Much is being said about gasified coal to produce energy which is in fact not cheaper than nuclear energy cost as stated by Zhang Guobao, vice Chairman of Chinas National Development and Reform Commission in the Scientific American journal of March 2011 issue.
It should be seen thus that the proposed panacea of gasified coal to produce energy would be like producing nuclear energy. As such the nation should not be led up to the path of gasified coal energy to lose sight of the hydel route that is the cheapest for poor masses of Pakistan, apart from other benefits of water storage and flood control by hydro-electric dams.
MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore