Month: January 2021

Pakistan’s Arabian Sea islands risk environmental disaster

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Pakistan’s federal government is planning to build modern cities on the Bundal and Dingi islands, which could ease pressure on Karachi, the country’s financial hub. Experts say it would be an ecological catastrophe. The government’s decision to establish the Pakistan Islands Development Authority and bring the Bundal and Dingi islands off the Karachi coast under federal authority shocked Majeed Motani, a 70-year-old fisherman. “Our forefathers came to these islands centuries ago. Now, the government is trying to occupy them. It is a threat not only to our livelihoods but also…

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Wyoming could lead US green energy push with wind power

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When Jim Clayton* still worked in a coal mine, he would head to a nearby bar to settle his accounts. The pub effectively became his office. When after 22 years in the industry he quit his job and decided to run the pub instead, it was easy to choose a new name for the place. These days, The Office has become a hangout for many of those earning a living in the coal, oil and gas industry in northeastern Wyoming. The Office is situated along a thoroughfare just north of Gillette, the self-declared…

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Renewables overtook fossil fuels in EU electricity mix in 2020: Report

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LONDON (Reuters) – Renewables overtook fossil fuels as the European Union’s main source of electricity for the first time in 2020 as new projects came online and coal-power shrank, a report showed on Monday. Renewable sources such as wind and solar generated 38% percent of the 27-member state bloc’s electricity in 2020, with fossil fuels such as coal and gas contributing 37%, the report by think tanks Ember and Agora Energiewende showed. (Graphics: Electricity production share (%) in EU 27 – ) Denmark achieved the highest proportion of wind and…

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Captive to grid: Tread carefully

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Last week cabinet committee on energy (CCoE) decided to put a moratorium on gas supply to self-generation of power for industrial connections, given these have electricity grid connections. The co-generation is exempted from the moratorium. The policy is proposed to be implemented by February for general industry, and March for export-oriented industries. In principle, it is the right decision. Under 2015 power policy, new capacity is being added to the grid and more capacity will come online in the next few years. There is no way domestic and commercial consumer…

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Is Pakistan’s import growth sustainable?

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Experts are divided whether a significant growth of 25% in Pakistan’s imports in a single month is sustainable as imports are expected to remain high and heighten payment pressure ahead of the reopening of export markets. Pakistan’s imports increased almost 25%, or $1 billion, to a 17-month high at $5 billion in December 2020 compared to slightly over $4 billion in the same month of previous year, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). “Pakistan is heavily relying on receipt of workers’ remittances from overseas Pakistanis to manage payment…

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