Year: 2020

Power sector gets relief amid protest by petroleum stakeholders

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ISLAMABAD: Amid strong protest by the petroleum division and its corporate entities, the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) on Friday decided to exempt three Punjab-based power plants of 3,900mw from compulsory purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) quantities from January 2022. The move to change gas supply agreements (GSAs) of these government-owned power plants (GPPs) reportedly originated at the request of the Privatisation Commission to attract better proceeds from sale of these LNG-based power plants and also forms part of overall efforts to reduce power costs. Two of these GPPs…

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Reko Diq stay comes with bank guarantee condition

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ISLAMABAD: The stay granted by the World Bank’s International Centre for Set­t­lement of Investment Dis­p­utes (ICSID) on enfor­cem­ent of the award against Pak­istan in the Reko Diq dispute carries certain conditions. A source privy to the development told Dawn that one of the conditions set by the World Bank-funded tribunal for international disputes was that Pakistan furnish an irrevocable bank guarantee amounting to 25 per cent of the penalty, which the tribunal had awarded, from a reputable international bank based outside the country. All such awards granted by the ICSID always carried certain conditions,…

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17th Annual Environment Conference and Excellence Awards-2020

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Sindh Information and Forests Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that the Sindh government is pursuing its project of urban forests with utmost transparency and monitoring so to yield maximum results to improve environment of cities of the province. “The elements of transparency and monitoring should be there so that plantation done under the urban forests projects is visible to everyone,” said the Sindh Information and Forests minister while addressing as the chief guest at the 17th Annual Environment Conference and Environment Excellence Awards-2020 here at a hotel. The…

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Plug-in hybrids called a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ as study claims emissions are higher than thought

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Carbon dioxide emissions from plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are more than two-and-a-half-times greater than official test levels, new research claims. Published this week, the analysis — conducted by the Transport & Environment campaign groupand supported by environmental organization Greenpeace U.K. — stated that, on average, “typical” plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, emit around 117g of CO2 per kilometer. This figure is considerably higher than the 44g of CO2 per kilometer that official test results have shown, the briefing said. To put this data into context, the paper said that over its…

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Big potential, but challenges to overcome: A look at offshore wind in the U.S.

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Stretching for thousands of miles, the east coast of the United States is home to major cities, stunning beaches and millions of people. Soon, though, it could also host several major offshore wind farms, a development that would have a significant effect on America’s energy mix. At the moment, the offshore wind sector in the U.S. is small. The country’s first offshore wind farm, the 30 megawatt, five turbine Block Island Wind Farm, only started commercial operations at the end of 2016. Located off the coast of Rhode Island, the…

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