Gazi Anowarul Hoque :
Being aware of the finite stock of fossil fuels and their negative impact on the environment, Bangladeshi people stooped to use renewable energy with Japanese help, says Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) in a report recently.
Keeping pace with the global trend, Bangladesh has also attached due importance to development of renewable energy. Global Status Report indicates that renewable energy provided an estimated 19percent of global energy consumption in 2012 compared to 16.7 percent in 2010.
Renewable Energy Policy of Bangladesh has been in force since 2009, which envisions having 5percent power from renewable energy sources by 2015 and 10percent by 2020. The government has established Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.
To strengthen international cooperation, Bangladesh became one of the initial members of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the only inter-governmental agency working exclusively on renewable energy.
IRENA highlighted Bangladesh’s successes in creating substantial employment in the renewable energy sector, says the report.
In the last ten years, Bangladesh, which currently boasts the sixth largest energy related workforce, saw the number of solar powered homes increase from 25,000 to 2.8 million. 114,000 jobs were created as a result of the industry, which has grown up in the manufacturing, installation and repair of solar panels and related accessories. The number of solar powered jobs nearly doubled between 2011 and 2013. The report further stated that the numbers are set to increase further due to high installation rates.
Bangladesh government has plans to enhance national power generation capacity to 16000 MW by 2015 to meet expected energy demands of that time. The government envisages that at least 500 MW of such power should come from solar sources. To that end, they have embarked on a comprehensive program, which sets out how they plan to make the best possible use of solar energy between the years 2012 and 2016.
It is not only that Bangladesh is taking significant strides in making effective use of renewable energy sources, but the end consumers too, are also being immensely benefited by the move towards green energy.
In a survey conducted by the government’s Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Department (IMED), it was found that about 98.8percent of the solar home systems (SHSs) under a project have been able to reduce their expenses significantly than kerosene, candle or torchlight while 89percent found to be more environment and human health friendly.
In addition, biogas could potentially help reduce global climate change. High levels of methane are produced when manure is stored under anaerobic conditions. During storage and when manure has been applied to the land, nitrous oxide is also produced as a byproduct of process. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is 320 times more aggressive than carbon dioxide and methane 21 times more than carbon dioxide.
By this backdrop, JB Biogas Limited in collaboration with Japan’s Aisin Seiki Company Ltd has set up a biogas plant at Jamuna village under Gazipur district. This plant is claimed to be with world’s most sophisticated technology whose current production capacity is 38 cubic meters per day. At present the plant is providing 18 households renewable energy for cooking as well as domestic electrification produced out of animal sewage.
Delwar Hussain Ripon, Managing Director of JB Biogas Ltd said, all functions of their plant has been placed under direct monitoring system from Aisin Seiki headquarter in Japan. To make the project successful company’s high officials pay visit to Bangladesh every month.
“We have succeeded to set up an example in the field of renewable energy in our country in collaboration with Aisin Seiki Co Ltd. Now we are well equipped spread such small projects throughout the whole country,” said Wahidur Rahman Rana, the head of the Operations of JB Biogas LTD.
Being aware of the finite stock of fossil fuels and their negative impact on the environment, Bangladeshi people stooped to use renewable energy with Japanese help, says Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) in a report recently.
Keeping pace with the global trend, Bangladesh has also attached due importance to development of renewable energy. Global Status Report indicates that renewable energy provided an estimated 19percent of global energy consumption in 2012 compared to 16.7 percent in 2010.
Renewable Energy Policy of Bangladesh has been in force since 2009, which envisions having 5percent power from renewable energy sources by 2015 and 10percent by 2020. The government has established Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.
To strengthen international cooperation, Bangladesh became one of the initial members of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the only inter-governmental agency working exclusively on renewable energy.
IRENA highlighted Bangladesh’s successes in creating substantial employment in the renewable energy sector, says the report.
In the last ten years, Bangladesh, which currently boasts the sixth largest energy related workforce, saw the number of solar powered homes increase from 25,000 to 2.8 million. 114,000 jobs were created as a result of the industry, which has grown up in the manufacturing, installation and repair of solar panels and related accessories. The number of solar powered jobs nearly doubled between 2011 and 2013. The report further stated that the numbers are set to increase further due to high installation rates.
Bangladesh government has plans to enhance national power generation capacity to 16000 MW by 2015 to meet expected energy demands of that time. The government envisages that at least 500 MW of such power should come from solar sources. To that end, they have embarked on a comprehensive program, which sets out how they plan to make the best possible use of solar energy between the years 2012 and 2016.
It is not only that Bangladesh is taking significant strides in making effective use of renewable energy sources, but the end consumers too, are also being immensely benefited by the move towards green energy.
In a survey conducted by the government’s Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Department (IMED), it was found that about 98.8percent of the solar home systems (SHSs) under a project have been able to reduce their expenses significantly than kerosene, candle or torchlight while 89percent found to be more environment and human health friendly.
In addition, biogas could potentially help reduce global climate change. High levels of methane are produced when manure is stored under anaerobic conditions. During storage and when manure has been applied to the land, nitrous oxide is also produced as a byproduct of process. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is 320 times more aggressive than carbon dioxide and methane 21 times more than carbon dioxide.
By this backdrop, JB Biogas Limited in collaboration with Japan’s Aisin Seiki Company Ltd has set up a biogas plant at Jamuna village under Gazipur district. This plant is claimed to be with world’s most sophisticated technology whose current production capacity is 38 cubic meters per day. At present the plant is providing 18 households renewable energy for cooking as well as domestic electrification produced out of animal sewage.
Delwar Hussain Ripon, Managing Director of JB Biogas Ltd said, all functions of their plant has been placed under direct monitoring system from Aisin Seiki headquarter in Japan. To make the project successful company’s high officials pay visit to Bangladesh every month.
“We have succeeded to set up an example in the field of renewable energy in our country in collaboration with Aisin Seiki Co Ltd. Now we are well equipped spread such small projects throughout the whole country,” said Wahidur Rahman Rana, the head of the Operations of JB Biogas LTD.
