An interesting item published in the Independent referred to the setting up of a solar power and biogas plant at the Bangladesh Prime Minister's Office to generate around 20 to 21 kilowatt of power. The government had already made it mandatory to install solar panels on the rooftops of new hi-rise buildings. Obviously the widespread disappointment over the Copenhagen climate summit presents us with a new opportunity to rethink energy policy as the risk of electricity blackouts and gas shortages from the middle of the next decade are a possibility too tangible to ignore. To prevent this catastrophe, initiatives like the Prime Minister's are more important than expensive programmes we cannot afford. As solar energy is one of the cleanest and simplest forms of energy you can hope to find, this is a most laudable effort at encouraging green energy expansion.
This renewable, easy to access and readily available source of energy is able to provide you with all of the fuel you need. There is no limit to what this type of energy can do for you. In the generations to come, more families and businesses will turn to solar power than ever before. When most people think about solar energy they think about the type of energy that people can harness. This can be done in many ways. Solar systems can convert your entire home's energy use to solar power. Using solar panels strategically placed to gain as much solar ray as possible, these sheets will store solar power. When you need the energy, such as when you need to heat your water or when you need to turn on your computer, the electricity comes from the stored solar power rather than from the conventional energy. As solar energy becomes more readily used in the home front, you are likely to see it used for just about any need. There are even solar converters available, which allow you to convert virtually any traditional electric system into solar.
The Chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on power, energy and mineral resources ministry, Major General Subid Ali Bhuiyan, (Rtd) said (as) "It will never be possible to resolve the existing power crisis in the country using gas and coal. An alternative way has to be followed to overcome the crisis. As part of the search for an alternative way a combined initiative has been taken to generate power using solar energy and biogas in the Prime Minister's office." Energy security is simply about being able to turn the lights on and keep warm. Given the link between oil prices and gas prices, the dependence on gas for electricity production and hence the link between oil prices and electricity prices, the cost of all forms of energy is likely to rise. This will push people to become more energy efficient. Besides the only way to combat climate change is to produce a clean, free energy and with winter coming to a close, the spectre of power shortage increases as the temperature rises. With the projected generation of power likely to be in the region of 3,800 - 4,000 mw, the generation of power will fluctuate depending on the supply of gas and judging from all the signs, there is little chance of improving the situation. Insiders say the newly installed system would supply electricity to three rooms of the Red Zone of PMO, lightening the burden on PDB's power supply. The move indicates that the government is heading towards promotion of green energy.
The move also followed a government decision for establishing solar power units in all public and semi-government offices to promote expansion of renewable energy from the sun, wind, biomass, and biogas, with an aim to meet 5 percent of the country's total power demand by 2015, and 10 percent by 2020. At present, the contribution of renewable energy to overall power generation is less than one percent with solar power home systems installed mainly in off-grid areas, which is the current leading green energy generator in the country. PDB officials said installation of the solar power system at the PMO is only the beginning for a quick expansion of renewable energy technology to other government and semi-government offices. Those in the know said the newly installed system at the Prime Minister's Office would supply electricity to three rooms of the Red Zone of PMO, lightening the burden on PDB's power supply.
Munawar Misbah Moin, managing director of Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy Ltd, a concern of Rahimafrooz Group said, we are extremely happy to be a part of the initiative. He said installation of the system has been a landmark in expansion of alternative energy technologies in the country and the move indicates that the government is heading towards promotion of green energy." Two years ago the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations adopted a survey presented in 1978 to the Committee on Science and Technology for Development, listing the on-going research and development in unconventional sources of energy. From the point of view of the developing countries, it is heartening to note that the "use of farm wastes to produce methane" (biogas) was also identified in the United Nations World Plan of Action for the Application of Science and Technology to Development.
A biogas plant consists of two components: a digester and a gasholder. The digester is generally a cube-shaped or cylindrical waterproof container with an inlet into which the fermentable mixture is introduced in the form of a liquid slurry. The gasholder is normally an airproof steel container that, by floating like a ball on the fermentation mix, cuts off air to the digester and collects the gas generated. In one of the most widely used designs the gas holder is equipped with a gas outlet, while the digester is provided with an overflow pipe to lead the sludge out into a drainage pit. Raw materials can be obtained from a variety of sources - livestock and poultry waste, night soil, crop residues, food processing and paper waste and materials such as aquatic weeds, water hyacinth, filamentous algae, and seaweed. Residue from the agricultural sector such as spent straw, hay, cane trash, corn and plant stubble, and bagasse need to be shredded in order to facilitate their flow into the digester reactor as well as to increase the efficiency of bacterial action. Succulent plant material yields more gas than dried matter does, and hence materials like brush and weeds need semi-drying. The storage of raw materials in a damp, confined space for over ten days initiates anaerobic bacterial action that, though causing some gas loss, reduces the time for the digester to become operational.
Now that the country's single largest solar power system so far is operating if only on a trial basis, all that is left is its formal inauguration. Energy experts say the installation is indicative of the government's sincere intent to increase power generation through renewable sources at a time when conventional energy sources such as gas and coal are becoming scarce. Following the government's decision to establish solar power units in all public and semi-government offices to promote the expansion of renewable energy from the sun, wind, biomass, and biogas with the aim of meeting 5 percent of the country's total power demand by 2015, and 10 percent by 2020, it seems we are on the right track.