PM Abbasi’s energy solution
The fact that Pakistan is in the middle of an energy crisis – and has been thus for a very long time – is not news any longer. Apart from the obvious electricity shortage prevalent in the country for the past decade – ranging between 4,000 MW and 8,500 MW in recent years – Pakistan has now also added another woe to its list: the shortage of natural gas, something it was considered self-sufficient in until recent years. According to a study published by Wilson Centre, Pakistan would run out of indigenously extracted natural gas by the year 2030.
PM Abbasi’s answer to the country’s energy shortage – fuel, gas, as well as electricity – seems to be the import of LNG, and hence the construction of LNG terminals at Karachi’s Port Qasim, one of such was inaugurated on Sunday, August 27. The terminal would be used, of course, to import Qatari LNG, something that Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had been vying to do since before becoming the Prime Minister of the country.
It is true that Pakistan is facing a growing shortage of natural gas, with reports suggesting the figure to be as high as two billion cubic feet per day. Reports also suggest that the imported LNG has been helping to meet 25 percent of the said shortage, even before the construction of the second LNG terminal. The second LNG terminal, furthermore, is believed to fuel three power plants that would produce 1,200 MW of electricity each.
The picture painted by the Pakistani government regarding the import of LNG thus far is very rosy. However, there is one question for PM Abbasi: since when did adding more imports to the country’s already very lengthy list of imports become a measure to save the economy? Mr Abbasi is a businessman himself. One would therefore trust him to know how to run the “business” of the state to perfection. But knowing the solution to something and executing it are two very different things, especially when personal and national benefits lie at two different ends.
Is PM Abbasi a 100% sure when he says that the solution to Pakistan’s energy woes – in fact, the only solution to Pakistan’s energy woes, is the import of LNG from Qatar? Or does he mean to say that it is the only solution which does not benefit Iran and China and is therefore approved by the United States of America? This is not a mere conspiracy theory. It is a documented fact that a majority of the shareholders in the LNG deal Pakistan signed with Qatar are US, Japanese, and European companies. Hence, we know where the egging-on is coming from.
In a day and age when countries are reducing their carbon footprint,
the Pakistani government insists that the “best” way to fight the country’s energy crisis
is burning more of a combustible compound.
Bravo!
Is PM Abbasi sure that solving the energy crisis with imported LNG is the best for Pakistan? What about Diamer Bhasha Dam, whose production capacity is projected to amount to 4.5 GW of electricity? What about CASA 1000 – planned in collaboration with the Central Asian Republics – that could provide 1,300 MW of clean energy to Peshawar? These are just two examples – there are plenty of other measures that Pakistan can take to produce green electricity by using renewable resources like water and wind. Electricity, mind you, has overtaken all but gasoline in the energy sector. It has been proven to perform most of the domestic services performed by natural gas, too, as evidenced by western living, where even stoves are run by electricity. Therefore, production of green electricity should be our actual target and not acquiring more and more of fossil fuels.
In a day and age when developed and developing countries alike are aiming to produce clean energy and reducing their carbon footprint, using electricity even to fuel cars, the Pakistani government insists on telling us that the “best” way to fight the country’s energy crisis is through burning more of a combustible compound. Bravo!
Finally, Mr Prime Minister, what do you plan to do about the reduction of the country’s uncontrollable population, and hence demand? Our small country sits at an astonishing 200 million plus people in the current year, and is projected to hit 274 million by 2030 and 344 million by 2050. At this rate, would the government be able to sustain the entire country’s basic needs, let alone power provision? What measures is the government taking to reduce the rate at which the country’s population is growing? Without reining in this monster, no amount of Qatari LNG is going to meet the country’s ballooning demands.
If the government plans not to take the matter of population increase seriously, and as an emergency, very soon it would have to start worrying about feeding and clothing the country’s booming population, while the provision of energy to the country would be relegated to the backseat, slapped on with the label of “luxury”.