The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

A two-day workshop on renewable energy technologies began in Dhaka yesterday with speakers calling for concerted efforts of all concerned to tap and popularise alternative energy sources to meet the fast growing because the natural resources now used for generation of electricity to the national grid are depleting fast.

Organised by the Grameen Shakti and Inforse the conference's focus is on scaling up decentralised energy in Bangladesh and the best renewable energy technology practices to reduce poverty in the SAARC region. It is meant for capacity building of non-governmental organisations involved with renewable energy technologies in Bangladesh.

Experts who took part in the deliberations on the first day of the workshop underscored the need for popularising the existing renewable energy technologies like the improved cooking stove that burns about less fuel wood to generate heat, increased use of solar, bio-gas, wind and micro-hydel technologies and the production bio-fuel.

Raymond Myles, regional coordinator of Inforse, South Asia, presented findings of baseline surveys on renewable energy sources said that community based organisations could choose the best energy technology solutions depending on their suitability to different geographical areas of the region.

He said that the micro-credit network in Bangladesh offered a good opportunity to support poor people to adopt alternative energy technologies suited to their needs. Poverty should, however, should not be used for purely business purposes, he observed.

Prof. Shahidul Islam, Director, Centre for Energy Studies, Buet, said that 'verenda oil' may be produced by utilising fellow land and used as substitute for kerosene to light lanterns. He underscored the need for popularising solar cookers of different types through social engineering. Battery and chargers for solar energy produced in Bangladesh are of good quality and the country can be self-sufficient in this respect.

For pumping water, however, he said mechanical pumping was the better option than solar pumping. Micro-hydro energy potentials were there in the hill districts. Although solar heaters have not become popular, solar dryers could be profitably used for processing vegetables and fish drying, he said.

Raymond Myles informed the participants of the workshop that poor potters in some states of India were producing and marketing improved cooking stoves. This also improved their standard of living, he said.

Dr. M. Eusuf, former Director, BCSIR, said that solar energy has taken off I the country although renewable energy was still relying on a personalised approach in the absence of a proper government policy. He said international finance organisations would in the coming days invest more money in the clean development mechanism (CDM) technologies for protection of the global environment. Bangladesh should develop its renewable energy sources which are mostly eligible for CDM-funding, he added.

The workshop was also addressed by Dipal C Barua, Managing Director, Grameen Shakti, Ehsanul Haque, CEO, infrastructure development company Ltd, and Tazmilur Rahman of LGED among others.