Bangladesh Urged To Tap Coal Before Gas Runs Out

  • 01/05/2008

  • Planet Ark (Australia)

Experts from home and abroad asked Bangladesh on Wednesday to mine its huge coal reserves before its fast depleting natural gas reserves run out. They however urged the country to tap the resource carefully to avoid human tragedies associated with coal mining. The heavily populated Asian country faces a serious energy crisis, with lack of gas to produce electricity. The crisis is set to worsen by 2011 when its gas reserves could run out and attention is increasingly turning to its vast coal resource. It has already suffered a setback trying to mine coal in the northern Phulbari area, where Britain's GCM Resources Plc had to halt activities two years ago after violent protests by local residents and environmentalists, saying the project would displace at least 40,000 villagers and severely damage the environment. At least three people were killed and dozens injured in clashes with police at Phulbari, in Dinajpur district, around 300 kilometres (190 miles) northwest of capital Dhaka. "Phulbari is the crown jewel in coal inventory of Bangladesh and its development will help transform the economy of the nation," said Ajoy Kumar Ghose, a former professor of the Indian School of Mines. "But the government should launch advertisement advocacy for assuaging the sentiments of project-affected people so that development and execution of the project can be facilitated," Ajoy told a Dhaka meeting attended by senior government officials and representatives of development partners. Environmentalists and other local groups still protest plans to revive the project, although M. Tamim, special aide to the head of army-backed interim government, said without extracting coal the country may not be able to overcome energy shortages. WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY "Unless we strike some rich gas deposits in the near future, sustainable energy development and economic growth may be in serious jeopardy. Coal discoveries in the northwest offer a window of opportunity," Tamim said. The country has five coalfields with around 2.55 billion tonnes of reserves, and Phulbari alone can produce 15 million tonnes of coal a year over a 30-year period, officials said. "Bangladesh needs to sustain a 7 percent economic growth to halve its poverty by the next eight years, and to meet these challenges we must have energy security," Tamim said. Jalal Ahmed, chairman of the state-run Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, also said the country needed to develop coalfields in an accelerated manner. "The way forward is strewn with several road blocks like hydro-geological issues and resistance from civil society, and (the situation) demands close review," he said. Bangladesh, with 13.54 trillion cubic feet of proven and recoverable gas reserves, can supply up to 1,738 million cubic feet (mmcf) of gas against daily demand of 1,840 mmcf, officials said. "In 2025 Bangladesh's population will be 180.21 million from the present 140 million and to meet the growing demand of energy a purposive thrust on coal development should be in national agenda on priority basis," Ajoy said. ($1=68.58 taka) (Writing by Anis Ahmed; editing by James Jukwey) Story by Serajul Islam Quadir REUTERS NEWS SERVICE