ISLAMABAD  -  A study on Thar coal gasification has argued that coal gasification has fewer environmental and climatic impacts than direct burning of coal for power generation but its costs are too steep for Pakistan to bear and its technology is too complicated to handle smoothly, that’s why several coal gasification projects have either failed or they have been shelved across the world including in the United States.

“Pakistan is facing a serious dilemma, on one hand it needs cheap energy which could be produce with indigenous energy sources such as Thar coal, while on the other it also has international commitments and compulsions that bar it from increasing the share of fossil fuels, including coal, in its energy mix because of their detrimental contribution to climate change,” former minister for climate change, Malik Amin Aslam said this at the launch of a study on the government’s plan to change Thar coal into gas.

“To get rid of this dilemma, we need to find the best technological solution – one that can produce cheap energy without hurting the climate – and complement it with the best nature-based solution to get-rid of the carbon we produce during industrial processes such as power generation,” Malik Amin Aslam said. He also explained that both the best technological solution and the best nature-based solution require a lot of money that Pakistan does not have. “This money can only be provided by the developed economies of the world or international financial institutions which need to understand that, in the absence of this money, Pakistan will have to use whatever resources it has to provide affordable energy to Pakistanis regardless of the climatic impact of these resources,” he added.  

The study conducted by the Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development (PRIED), an independent think tank, in collaboration with the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), argued that coal gasification has fewer environmental and climatic impacts than direct burning of coal for power generation but its costs are too steep for Pakistan to bear and its technology is too complicated to handle smoothly.

Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, a leading environmental activist and climate change expert, also spoke at the launch of the study and said: “All energy-related decisions in Pakistan need to be taken in line with Pakistan’s nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement that aims at arresting the rise in average global temperatures.” He argued that energy policies should be made in such a way that they not just help Pakistan fulfill its international commitments but they also take into consideration the problems and grievances of the communities negatively affected by them.  

Haneea Isaad, an energy finance expert, also told the audience that many coal gasification projects have spectacularly failed in countries such as the United State, India and Indonesia even when these were getting massive direct or indirect subsidies. She, therefore, recommended that “the government should look carefully into the alternatives before initiating any coal gasification projects in Pakistan”.

“That is why several coal gasification projects have either failed or they have been shelved across the world including in the United States,” said Manzoor Ahmed Alizai, a researcher working with PRIED.

Dr Majid Ali, a teacher at NUST and Technology (NUST) and the lead author of the study, highlighted the fact that “coal gasification might be better than direct coal burning but it cannot compete with solar-based power generation if energy prices and environmental considerations are to be taken into account”.