ISLAMABAD: The Thar coal gasification pilot project has hit a huge snag as** furnace oil lobbies and the bureaucracy are pressurising the government to shelve the project.**
Sources told The Express Tribune that certain bureaucratic lobbies are using all their forces to shrink the allocation for the coal gasification project in the upcoming financial year 2013. The Planning Commission Secretary is also not fond of the project, the source added.
**What the Planning Commission says: **
Planning Commission Member Energy Shahid Sattar has also taken a firm stand against the Thar coal gasification project: “The Coal Gasification Pilot project run by scientist Dr Samar Mubarakmand in Sindh has not yielded results.” He said the pilot project was not sustainable as it shut down after running for four months.
**What Dr Samar Mubarakmand says: **
Dr Samar Mubarakmand ruled out the claim made by Member Energy and said that “we have completed work on the first phase of coal gasification project”. He said that all tests of gas converted from coal were positive. “We successfully operated the project for four months and then shut it to avoid any coal wastage,” he said adding that a power plant is needed to use the gas for electricity production.
**He did, however, say that the second phase of the project is getting a hard time to arrange funds. “We need $105 million to complete the second phase of the coal project. There is no money to even start work,” he said.
** Tribune
If you thought that this project will be adopted as a national project and will be officialy incorporated into state’s strateic planning for energy production, then be informed that the oil lobby is alive and kicking. Congratulations!
Its hard to for laymen like me to comment on it, someone more knowledgeable shud tell us if coal gasification is cost effective in the long run and what the environemntal affects will be.
Coal gasification if I am not mistaken is cleaner. Gas burns cleaner so less emissions. What surprises me is the inefficient.nt way project was done. They have gasified coal but don't have power plant to generate electricity from gas. Why not start project with assurance power gen plant is funded.
Why should they waste money in projects that are useful for Pakistan.
Bhookay marna hai siyasi cartoons koo?
Right after the President called an emergency meeting on energy crisis…timing kuch mashkook nahen lagti:hmmm:
I don't get the furnace oil connection. Oil contributes only 6% as amar's pie chart shows. Also I wonder what pct of power in pk is produced from coal oil nat gas hydro etc
Oil contributes only 6% because rest of the world is not stupid. Like us. In Pakistan there is a Furnace Connection and Furnace Connection II. While the rest of the world has moved on, onto wind, solar, hydro, coal and nuclear. Only the oil rich Arab states create electricity from oil, but part of that is because they don’t have many water resources to harness. But they too are trying their hands with solar energy pilot projects.
While in Pakistan we have $4 billion circular debt (well over 360 billion rupees) to IPPs as the oil bill. And it keeps on growing.
If you thought that this project will be adopted as a national project and will be officialy incorporated into state's strateic planning for energy production, then be informed that the oil lobby is alive and kicking. Congratulations!
I believe in Dr. Mand. He has proven himself when Pak tested nukes. And now that he is promising something then government should give him a chance.
