'Thar coal mine set to become Pakistan’s biggest industrial site'

[RoadRunner401]

Hope there is creation of jobs for the locals. Tharparkar is one of the most neglected areas of Pakistan, partly also due to its Hindu population which has been ignored by the government.

Not true, Sindh government ignores all its citizens Hindu Muslim or any other respected Religion equally !!!

 

[CHACHA"G"]

Thar coal is blessing for Pakistan , its simply as shell oil or gas now with latest Tech USA milking it out , we also have to invest in Tech "coal gasification" as Dr Samar said in few years may be in 10 to 20 we will have what he said a gold mine for 500years
Nature gives us a great gift , now we have to think and invent a proper way to use it we have to use our mind and we have to invest Money and time.
USA is a great example for us in this field , look they are drilling which no one thought of , the main reason for low Oil and Gas prices

 

[Verve]

Use what's easily and cheaply available to get going and meet the urgent demands. China was criticised for coal usage as well during growth but once you have the monetary strength and industrial base to shift to cleaner technology, then transition.

Where we open these coal plants should be well thought out though.

 

[Kabira]

Questions on coal


The Thar coalfields have been the subject of much debate since their discovery in the 1990s. It is now time to take a hard look at what we stand to gain and what we stand to lose if Thar coal becomes a reality. With an estimated 175-billion-tonnes of coal reserves, the federal government seems to be looking at the coalfields as the energy future of Pakistan. New Chinese-funded coal power plants are being set up across the country; for optimists these will provide 100,000 MW of electricity for two centuries. It is most likely, though, that such claims are exaggerated, despite promises being made of the potential for thousands of jobs as a result of these coal plants. According to the sceptics, locals in the areas where the plants are being set up speak of potential risks to their homes and lives. Villagers from the 12 villages falling in the area held a protest outside the Islamkot press club for 100 days – without any result. The locals have cited a threat to the groundwater supply in the coal-affected region. A reservoir of polluted coal effluent is being built in the area as well as a 1320 MW coal-powered plant. There have been promises of reverse osmosis plants in case of groundwater aquifers. Hopefully, that will be followed through. There are also fears that pastoral land will be affected in a drought-hit area. Two villages in the area have already been told to relocate.

Coal is seen as the most environmentally unfriendly form of fossil fuel for electricity generation. Not only does it emit more pollutants into the air, its damage to localities surrounding the coalmines is catastrophic. The effect on climate is likely also to test Pakistan’s ratification of the Paris and Morocco climate change agreements. For these reasons, it is hard to imagine the benefit that locals would get from the project. It is clear that the residents of the area are not buying the story – neither of these benefits nor of the idea that thousands of potential jobs will go to the area’s local residents. The (mostly Hindu) population has been facing famine for over three years – and many of them believe that the absence of aid is deliberate. The ecological and environmental damage that the Thar coalfields might wreak must be taken seriously. We cannot let the dictate of profits allow entire communities to be destroyed, nor can we afford to make coal the leading fossil fuel in an already polluted country. Those in charge of the project often say that ‘the people of Thar are the real owners of Thar coal.’ If that is true, then why is their voice being ignored?

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/191932-Questions-on-coal

This article no doubt raises genuine concerns about pollution, both atmospheric and as well in the ground water.
My comments are:

Everyone must understand that there is no such thing as a ‘Free lunch’. Either we learn to live without electricity or accept the consequences of generating power. Admittedly lot less than burning coal; even the greenest energy, the Solar Power’ through PVC, has some adverse environmental impact. This being land use, visual impact & pollution from the disposal of the solar panels at the end of operational life

30% of the world’s power is being generated from coal. Thar coal is indigenous and it would be a pity to leave it unexploited. Installation of scrubbers that use a liquid (often water) to capture and remove pollutants; is not expensive. The scrubbing liquid simultaneously absorbs and neutralizes gaseous pollutants. Suspended liquid is typically recovered in mist collectors and recycled through the system. While the scrubber itself would be able to remove these larger particulates as well, their removal allows the scrubber to be designed to focus more keenly and effectively on smaller particulates. A final filter is often installed downstream of the scrubber, and is intended to catch fine particles that were not removed during the scrubbing process.

Of course CO2 problem, common to all the fossil fuel burning plants, remains. Carbon capture (removal of CO & CO2) is expensive but technology to resolve this problem also exists.

Its not that bad because Pakistan will gradually stop using furnace oil based power plants and replace them with coal. Currently Pakistan generate 29% from oil, in 2022 it will come down to 12% and coal will increase to 16%. By 2030 oil will likely drop to 0%.

"In the current 20,857MW power-generation capacity, the share of hydroelectric power was 34%, furnace oil-based electricity 29%, locally produced gas 19%, liquefied natural gas (LNG) 8%, renewable and nuclear energy 5% each.

In 2018, hydroelectric power will contribute 30% of installed capacity, furnace oil 18%, LNG 16%, locally produced gas 12%, imported coal 10%, renewable energy 8%, nuclear energy 4% and locally produced coal 2%.

In 2022, hydroelectric power will contribute 36% of energy, furnace oil 12%, LNG 10%, renewable and nuclear energy 9% each, locally produced gas 8%, locally produced coal 8% and imported coal 8%."

 

[mdcp]

We should try to reduce furnace oil to minimize cost.

Coal is causing damage to environment and we dont have much choices so govt should focus of multi billion tree project to safeguard environment