DUSHANBE, October 21, 2011, Asia-Plus — Member of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) Committee on Energy, Industry and Construction, Shodi Shabdolov, has pointed to the importance of hydropower resources as world reserves of other energy resources run.
“The whole world now moves towards use of renewable energy resources as world reserves of coal, oil and gas annually decrease,” Shodi Shabdolov told a roundtable entitled “Raising Awareness of the Governmental Bodies and Non-Governmental Institutions, including Communities of Legislative Frames for Application Renewable Energy Resources in Tajikistan” in Dushanbe on October 21.
“According to estimates, the oil and natural gas reserves will be exhausted in the second half of this century and it is unknown how the economies of even advanced countries will function,” said Tajik M. “Stake has been made on nuclear power, but tragedies at the Chernobyl and Fukusima nuclear plants have shown that this technology is quite a dangerous.”
Besides, use of hydrocarbon fuel entails carbonic dioxide emissions into the atmosphere causing change of climate, Shabdolov noted.
“Another factor that makes use of the renewable energy resources efficient and economically reasonable is the economic one,” said MP. “Central Asia has reserves of water and power resources in the amount of 554.5 billion kWh, including Tajikistan’s water-and-power reserves estimated at 525 billion kWh. According to the Word Bank estimates, the region’s requirements will amount to 180 billion kWh in ten years and to 206 billion kWh in fifteen years. That”s what caused political pressure from our neighbors that are opposing construction of the Roghun hydroelectric power plant (HPP).”
“Our neighbors realize that Tajikistan will become the main player in Central Asia’s energy market in the future and we must build this and other large hydropower facilities.”
