Measures for Clean Energy

Below is an op-ed by Arif Pervaiz of the Clinton Climate Initiative that was published in Dawn

THE world is moving in the direction of a low-carbon economy not because it can afford the luxury — no one in today’s world has spare change — but because investments in energy efficiency and clean energy can create jobs, reduce waste, help revive economies and lower harmful greenhouse gas emissions that are causing global warming.

Some argue that for Pakistan, whose total carbon emissions are minuscule — measuring less than 0.4 per cent of the global total — reducing greenhouse gas emissions is not a priority.

Wrong. What we should be looking at instead is our carbon intensity — measured in terms of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP. Pakistan ranks in the bottom 14 out of 185 countries for its carbon intensity. Simply put, there are a lot of inefficiencies and wastage in our use of energy.

Actions aimed at greenhouse gas emissions reduction can result in better energy efficiency, less wastage, reduced pollution and improved public health. For these reasons, greenhouse gas reduction or ‘mitigation’ measures are important for us and should be part of our climate change strategy.

There are numerous initiatives that can be undertaken. Quite obviously we need to stem the ongoing haemorrhaging in our electricity system — 40 per cent of the electricity generated is lost. Why don’t the system’s losses get as much attention as talk of installing additional capacity?

Deployment of renewable energy as part of our energy mix has been very slow in coming. We need to devise a meaningful and ambitious plan for on-grid and diffused — district, neighbourhood and household — deployment of wind, solar PV, solar thermal, micro-hydels and other appropriate renewable technologies. The market for renewable energy solutions is emerging, but it needs

more support. Electricity loss reduction and renewable energy are viable solutions that should be focused on.

Another area in need of focus is transport and clean fuel. Rails and buses can carry more people per unit of energy consumed than private cars, but our investment priorities are highly focussed on the promotion of the use of private cars by a small elite. We need to start charging the real cost of car use and simultaneously develop effective mass transit systems. Car use should be taxed higher along with congestion and road-use charges, and car-free days should be introduced to encourage a shift to public transport.

It is important that any mass transit should be based on the local context, rather than technology. Subways and metros might appear attractive but they are very expensive and hard to maintain. Cheaper options like a Bus Rapid Transit System — planned for Karachi — are more appropriate, which partly explains why 80 cities around the world have or are in the process of developing a BRTS.

Mobility needs of the non-car-owning majority will require the building of extensive networks of navigable footpaths and bicycle tracks — this is important also from a public welfare standpoint. Especially when one considers the restricted recreational spaces available to families numbering eight, 12, sometimes 20 who live squeezed into tiny homes in congested localities.

Improvement in urban mobility and public health will have to include measures such as phasing out dirty-and-old buses, and two-stroke engines. Our refineries and petroleum suppliers need to start providing cleaner fuels — low sulphur diesel, pre-mixed fuel for two-stroke motorcycles — which have been promised for long. PSO has taken encouraging steps towards the production of bio-diesel. Production and deployment of bio-fuels — which don’t displace food crops and don’t require much freshwater — should be expanded and taken to scale.

There is vast untapped potential for generating energy using municipal waste. Some work is being done on this in Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, but needs support for wider development. Electricity generation through methane capture (at wastewater-treatment plants), and processing construction and demolition waste for reuse in construction, should also be explored.

Karachi dumps 400 million gallons of wastewater including raw sewage directly into the sea everyday. Lahore and other major cities also dump their untreated waste into fields and water bodies. This egregious act defiles the environment, kills aquatic life, and creates a public health hazard. In many areas around the country, sewage water is used to grow vegetables. Karachi desperately needs implementation of the city government’s Sanitation III project, which promises to put an end to this mindless practice.

Technology and expertise are available to treat all of this sewage water for reuse, and supply it to industry, and for urban farming and parks. The water savings from this could offset the need for large additional investments in urban water supply, provide an opportunity to use precious money for other social and economic investments and improve our environmental capital. We should also look to save billions of rupees by improving energy efficiency of equipment and processes at our water and wastewater utilities — where there is tremendous scope for savings.

Key to progress on realising benefits of a cleaner and more energy-efficient environment will be the institutional arrangements we craft. The main driver of a low-carbon economy will be the private sector, bolstered by the state’s policy and regulatory bodies for environment, availability of easy financing and local and international assistance. To play a meaningful role, relevant NGOs will need to go beyond generic ‘awareness raising’ to organising technical training, fostering linkages with local universities and technical institutions, and bringing in relevant international expertise.

A coherent climate change strategy should be formulated and pursued through a high-level, well-resourced and independent body, e.g. a climate change council, with representation from industry, business, professional bodies, universities, NGOs, donor agencies and concerned government departments, which can guide, direct and support climate change-related activities.

Additional technical and financial support required should come from bilateral and multilateral institutions and from our friends like the US and EU who can structure their aid in ways that promote ‘green’ investments.

Far from being a tree-huggers’ wish list, the actions discussed above have the potential to create thousands of employment opportunities for skilled and unskilled people, revive our engineering and technical institutions, increase capacity and business opportunities for the private sector, upgrade our infrastructure, and save hundreds of millions of dollars by reducing waste. Oil prices might be low now but they will increase again soon, and so it is a question of ensuring energy security for an uncertain future. The private sector and international financial and technical assistance will be important drivers in the move to a low-carbon economy, but it is that all-elusive political will which will determine the pace and extent of the change.

The writer is an environmentalist working on the development of climate change mitigation projects.

anp@hotmail.com