By Gamini Abeywardane
The story of a severe drought in the year is much in news these days. Ours is a country too dependent on hydro power and the next immediate possible problem is a shortage of electricity. Some of the coal power projects that had been planned had to be shelved in the face of mounting opposition from environmentalists and other interested groups. These are practical problems that any country will face, but then, what is the solution to our energy problem?
In case the
drought continues and the weather gods are not in our favour, food shortages
will be the first thing to hit us followed by the energy shortage. Where the
power issue is concerned we have been talking too long about inadvisability of
continuing to depend on hydro power and the need for going into other sources
of energy.
Many
researchers have, with scientific data and statistics pointed out clearly and
well in time, the country’s future requirements of energy as the economy grows
and how to meet that. All calculations on the right mix of various energy
sources such as hydro, thermal, coal and renewable energy had been done several
years ago, but the question remains whether proper attention has been given to
these suggestions and proposals.
Hydro
electricity is weather-dependent while both thermal and coal power are
expensive and also not environmental friendly. And in this situation, the
virtues of renewable energy are many and especially in a country where sunshine
and wind are abundant, it is one of the most viable forms of energy. However, why
no concerted effort has been made to use renewable energy, more specifically
solar power despite sunshine throughout the year, is a question that begs an
answer.
Even in
countries like the US there have been arguments to say that there is a national
conspiracy to prevent renewable energy from becoming the primary source of
energy. In the US the conspirators are said to be the fossil fuel industry
which continues to rake in exorbitant profits on oil and gas while it refuses
to make any significant investment in renewable energy.
Main stream
news media too has been accused of being subservient to the corporate interests
and abstaining from doing any serious coverage on the viability of renewable
energy. The members of the Congress have
been accused of being addicted to the big buck they receive from big oil and
other traditional oil sources to make any worthwhile renewable energy
legislation for the good of the country.
According to
the US Department of energy, the amount of solar energy that hits the surface
of the earth every hour is greater than the total amount of energy that the
entire human population requires in a year. While the facts remain so, if we
know that it works why don’t we use renewable energy in place of heavily
polluting oil, gas or coal?
The primary
reason is that the cost of renewable energy is still relatively high compared
to fossil fuels although the gap is closing as the cost of natural gas and oil continue
to rise. The price to install photovoltaic panels on the average home is quite
high and affordable only for those who are well off.
But the
common experience is when some product is mass-produced its price per unit
should plummet. The one million dollar question is why solar power and wind
power products are not promoted in a serious manner with appropriate duty
concessions and mass produced.
With diesel
mafia and connected interest groups being powerful in the energy sector the
situation in Sri Lanka cannot be much different from the US and it’s time for
us to have a fresh look at this energy issue
and formulate a stronger national policy on renewable energy and promote
specifically solar and wind power. With impending drought and energy issues at
the door step there cannot be a better time to do so.
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