Ensure Energy Security by Urgently Investing in Renewable Energy

M Zakir Hossain Khan, Chief Executive Officer of research organisation Change Initiative, is delivering the keynote speech at a roundtable discussion organised by GreenWatch News Magazine and GreenWatcH online paper at the National Press Club today. Photo: GreenWatch

Environmentalists, researchers, experts and social workers at a roundtable meeting on Wednesday called for increasing and encouraging investment in the renewable energy sector on an urgent basis to quickly overcome the import-dependent energy crisis worsened by the war in the Middle East.

Speakers at the event, organized by GreenWatch News Magazine and Online Paper, said that investment in this sector is now quite profitable as the prices of solar power generation equipment and batteries have come down to half in the market compared to before. If appropriate steps are taken, the current government's target of increasing renewable power generation to 40,000 MW by 2040 can be achieved by 2030 itself, they said.

Professor Jasim Uddin Ahmad, former Vice-Chancellor of Jahangirnagar University was the chief guest at the roundtable. M Zakir Hossain Khan, CEO of the research organization Change Initiative was the The keynote speaker. GreenWatch Online Editor Mostafa Kamal Majumdar chaired and moderated the programme.

Prominent businessman Abdul Haque, Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI) President Abdus Sattar Dulal, President of the National Press Club and Editor of Kaler Kantha, poet Hasan Hafiz were special guests. Dr. Nazma Ahmed, human rights activist Nurul Huda Chowdhury, former DUJ president Elahi Newaz Khan, Bangladesh Post editor Sadrul Hasan, Barrister Mustafa Taj, and Mamunur Rashid of Policy Dialogue Network spoke., among others, spoke.

Currently, 86 percent of electricity consumption in Bangladesh comes from fossil fuels, due to which the level of air pollution is high. Due to air pollution, the average life expectancy of people in Bangladesh is decreasing by 6-7 years. As a result, more than one lakh people die every year. 46 percent of fossil fuels come from gas and 28 percent from coal.

Bangladesh is 56 percent dependent on imports for energy. In 2024, 20 billion US dollars were spent on energy imports. Due to the decrease in gas supply, 23% of power plants have been shut down and industrial production has come down to 30-40% of capacity. There is a fear that the price of daily necessities will increase due to the increase in transportation costs caused by the fuel oil crisis. No one can say when the war will end.

But while renewable energy accounts for 51% of the total energy in neighbouring India, and Pakistan has urgently increased the supply of this sector to about 25%, the share of renewable energy in Bangladesh is only 5%. India is subsidizing the renewable energy sector.

Change Initiative CEO M Zakir Hossain Khan said that if carbon tax is imposed, a revenue of Tk 10,000 crore can be collected annually to invest in the sector. Some funds will come through carbon trading. At the same time, innovative fund generation by properly collecting zakat donations is possible. He suggested the setting up of a standing committee under the Prime Minister to monitor the implementation of programmes for energy transition.

The energy sector has a 2.9 percent share of the current 7.9 trillion Taka budget. Bangladesh has no choice but to urgently increase the budget allocation to this sector, to ensure energy security against the volatile international market, and achieve energy sovereignty.