Srinagar, May 26: Even as J&K has a potential to generate 20,000 MW of hydel energy, it has not been able to generate more than 750 MW so far. This was stated by Shakeel Qalander, president Federation Chamber of Industries Kashmir (FCIK), on Wednesday at Green Solutions J&K, a conference aimed to address the problems concerning environment.
 The three-day conference is being organized by the FCIK in collaboration with the Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN) at the SKICC here.
 Speaking at the brain storming session on ‘Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’ of the programme ‘Sustainable Development in J&K state,’ Qalander said the state was purchasing energy worth Rs 2500 crore annually for its sustenance, “which is quite unfortunate.”
 He said the recommendations of the policy makers, entrepreneurs and environmentalists that would come out of the conference would be submitted to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday.
 Columnist, Arjumand Hussain Talib, said the political uncertainty was largely responsible for the “inefficiency” of the power production and distribution system in the state. He said 90 per cent of the mini and micro power projects in the state, undertaken by the armed forces under Operation Sadbhavana, had turned defunct, “for there is no maintenance and no public ownership of the projects.”
 “As long as political uncertainty continues, we will not be energy efficient and will not be able to utilize the energy resources the way we should,” he said.
 He added that if the NHPC returned the power projects to the state, it will be energy efficient by large.
 Quoting official figures, he said, in 2004-05, the state had a demand of 1706 MW that was going to increase to 2600 MW in 2012-13 and 3500 MW in 2025-26. “This means our demand is going to double in a period of 20 years and J&K would be one of the least per capita consumers of electricity; so this doubling of demand needs to be underlined,” he said.
 Funding Director, IYCN Rishab Khanna, deliberated upon as to how energy could be produced from different sources. He said India was the world’s largest energy producer, accounting for about 2.49 per cent of world’s total annual energy production and was the world’s 5th largest energy consumer, accounting to about 3.45 per cent of world’s total annual consumption.
 He, however, said India was one of the lowest per capita consumers of electricity.
 He said energy security was the major concern at present, which had badly affected the human health in rural areas, where people could not afford to utilize the energy the way in urban areas.
 CEO Greenworks, Pranay Kumar, giving PowerPoint presentation on Solar Energy, said renewable energy was a sustainable innovation, “as the word sustainability includes profitability.”  Renewable energy, he said, was a must for the present set up, for fossil fuels including oil and coal were exhausting, oil prices were increasing and lakes and rivers were getting polluted. He dealt at length on the uses of renewable energy, including solar, wind, geothermal and biomass.
 Talking about solar energy, he said it was sustainable especially in J&K, for usually there remain seven to eight months of good sunshine. “In case of Srinagar, solar energy shall provide military security as well in addition to energy security. Besides, it can generate huge employment,” he said.
 Deliberating upon ‘Alternative Renewable Energy Sources in J&K,’ Prof Abid Hussain Munshi from department of Botany, Kashmir University said J&K was rich in resources, “but unfortunately we have not tapped them all.” “For instance, I can identify 15 areas here, where wind mills can be installed. Then we have got very rich resources of biomass available in the state,” he said.
 Salix, he said, can generate a huge employment in the state, as it is a source of medicines, bio-energy, bio-fuels, bio-craft, landscaping, honey, plywood, fencing and so on.
 Giving a presentation on ‘Hydro and Wind Power Projects, Jai Kumar Gaurav, an independent consultant to Clean Tech Financing, said it was always good and safe to invest on renewable energy, for government was returning 22 per cent of the investment to the entrepreneurs. He said global warming was laying harsh effects on temperature, level of sea and other factors and suggested global warming mitigation with renewable energy as one of the solutions.
 Later, Mudassir Mir, director Magpie Hydel Pvt Ltd deliberated upon ‘Sustainable Development- Focus on Small Hydel Power in J&K’ and Karihallo, a consultant from USA, gave a presentation on ‘Going Green with Solar Photovoltaic.’

Lastupdate on : Wed, 26 May 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 26 May 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 27 May 2010 00:00:00 IST