The Petroleum Division has developed a concept note to develop a plan for introducing Green Hydrogen in Pakistan in order to replace imported fossil fuels that cost billions of dollars in foreign reserves while also contributing to global greenhouse emissions.
According to Business Recorder, the Secretary of Petroleum shared the concept note in a letter to M/s GIZ, the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, the World Bank, UNDP, and the Ministry of Climate Change.
The letter acknowledged the growing global acceptance of hydrogen as a sustainable energy source and emphasised its potential to help Pakistan save precious foreign reserves while meeting its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the international community on climate change.
According to the letter, with the rising relevance of climate financing, the international community would need to invest significantly in R&D to develop Hydrogen in Pakistan.
PD has sought help from all relevant ministries in order to build a strategy that will make it practicable. It will be necessary to identify major economic sectors suited for hydrogen consumption, appropriate venues, feasibility studies to examine the viability of hydrogen as an energy source across various sectors, the cost of production and distribution, and prospective demand for hydrogen.
The government has also recommended public-private partnerships for conducting R&D by providing incentives to private parties.
Last year, Pakistan spent roughly 66% of its foreign reserves, or $21.4 billion, on fossil fuel imports for transportation and electricity generation. Furthermore, the energy industry accounts for more than 70% of Pakistan’s greenhouse gas emissions, despite the country being one of the most vulnerable in the world to variable climate change.
In particular, hydrogen is one of the most creative and environmentally reliable energy sources in development, accounting for 2.5 percent of worldwide energy consumption. The use of technology in Pakistan has the potential to tackle numerous crises at once, but there are huge challenges ahead.