Category: Highlights

Cement industry is the single largest source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Pakistan, according to a research study released on Friday. Prepared by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), an independent European environmental think tank, the study shows that CO2 emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal in Pakistan have more than doubled in the last two decades. Speaking at the virtual launch of the study organised jointly by CREA and the Alliance for Climate Justice and Clean Energy…

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Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar thanked the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan on Friday for “normalising” electricity supply to the bordering districts of Balochistan. “I am grateful to the Ambassador of Iran in Pakistan for promptly accepting my request and normalising the flow of electricity to the Makran division,” he said in a tweet. Gwadar, Turbat and Makran have been facing extensive power cuts for more than a week. These areas are not part of the national grid and, therefore, rely on electricity imported from Iran. The neighbouring country curtailed…

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The government on Friday conceded purchasing expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the spot market as ‘a lesser evil’, saying no body without a crystal ball could perfectly time or beat international commodity market. “Pakistan LNG Ltd (PLL) board was forced to accept the four LNG ‘spot’ tenders at $15 per mmBtu for September 2021; otherwise, the replacement fuel (ie furnace oil), which is even more expensive, would have resulted in September power prices higher by at least 20 per cent,” said a statement issued by the Petroleum Division. The…

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Countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) awarded as much as US$2.8 billion worth of renewable energy projects in the first half of 2021, compared to not a single contract award for oil- or gas-fueled power stations in the region, MEED Insight’s new report Middle East Energy Transition showed. To compare, the average value of contract awards for oil- or gas-powered stations stood at $4.8 billion annually between 2017 and 2020, according to the report. Last year alone, $6.2 billion worth of oil and gas power plant contracts…

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Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar has expressed hope that under the clean and green initiative of Prime Minister Imran Khan, local assembling of electric vehicles (EVs) would start in the country by this year. Addressing a consultative workshop on ‘scaling up electric mobility in Pakistan’, organised jointly by the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (NEECA) and UNDP, on Thursday, the minister said that the government has introduced its first national EV policy last year and announced new incentives to promote adoption of electric vehicles. The government reduced the customs…

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