Renewable Energy for Sustainable Growth and Development: An Evaluation of Law and Policy of Bangladesh

Bangladesh's constant growth with an annual 6% plus Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for more than the last two decades and achievements in other socio-economic metrics in recent times is impressive and recognized by various global authoritative bodies. The extent of overwhelming economic ventures...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Karim, Mohammad Ershadul, Karim, Ridoan, Islam, Md Tariqul, Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus, Bani, Nurul Aini, Muhtazaruddin, Mohd Nabil
Format: Article
Published: MDPI 2019
Subjects:
_version_ 1825722203171192832
author Karim, Mohammad Ershadul
Karim, Ridoan
Islam, Md Tariqul
Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus
Bani, Nurul Aini
Muhtazaruddin, Mohd Nabil
author_facet Karim, Mohammad Ershadul
Karim, Ridoan
Islam, Md Tariqul
Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus
Bani, Nurul Aini
Muhtazaruddin, Mohd Nabil
author_sort Karim, Mohammad Ershadul
collection UM
description Bangladesh's constant growth with an annual 6% plus Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for more than the last two decades and achievements in other socio-economic metrics in recent times is impressive and recognized by various global authoritative bodies. The extent of overwhelming economic ventures in the private sector coupled with the commitments of the government clearly demonstrates the transformation of the country from a primarily agro-based economy to one influenced by the manufacturing and service sectors. Bangladesh is fortunate to have fossil fuel reserves on a limited scale, though these are not enough to run the ongoing massive scale development activities, both in private and public sectors. Thus, the constant and uninterrupted supply of energy at an affordable price remains a serious concern for the successive governments. Therefore, this issue of supply of constant energy has turned to be an important part in the national development agenda. Besides, the country is one of the worst victim nations of the devastating effects of global warming and climate change. As Bangladesh is geographically located in a favorable place in the world map with the availability of plenty of renewable energy sources (RES), the policymakers started to take initiatives leading to exploiting these sources to meet the energy demand of the country. There are both prospects and administrative, legal, technological, socio-cultural and environmental challenges. To address these challenges, it requires comprehensive policy initiatives. A good number of technical and scientific research containing findings and recommendations are available. This paper, which is based on adopting a qualitative research methodology where the contents of secondary sources were analyzed, is an initial attempt to highlight the renewable energy developments in Bangladesh, and subsequently, to evaluate the relevant legal and policy initiatives in the light of international best practices. We advance several recommendations that the stakeholders can consider exploiting RES effectively to attain inclusive, equitable and sustainable development in Bangladesh. These include, inter alia: (1) Enhancing government participation to lead the development of renewable energy (RE); (2) ensuring localization of RE technology; (3) reducing the expenses of energy generation through RES and providing assistance in initial investments; (4) introducing comprehensive legal and regulatory policy for the development of RE industry in Bangladesh; and (5) conducting effective public awareness. © 2019 by the authors.
first_indexed 2024-03-06T06:02:04Z
format Article
id um.eprints-24192
institution Universiti Malaya
last_indexed 2024-03-06T06:02:04Z
publishDate 2019
publisher MDPI
record_format dspace
spelling um.eprints-241922020-04-09T11:26:45Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/24192/ Renewable Energy for Sustainable Growth and Development: An Evaluation of Law and Policy of Bangladesh Karim, Mohammad Ershadul Karim, Ridoan Islam, Md Tariqul Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus Bani, Nurul Aini Muhtazaruddin, Mohd Nabil HD Industries. Land use. Labor K Law (General) T Technology (General) Bangladesh's constant growth with an annual 6% plus Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for more than the last two decades and achievements in other socio-economic metrics in recent times is impressive and recognized by various global authoritative bodies. The extent of overwhelming economic ventures in the private sector coupled with the commitments of the government clearly demonstrates the transformation of the country from a primarily agro-based economy to one influenced by the manufacturing and service sectors. Bangladesh is fortunate to have fossil fuel reserves on a limited scale, though these are not enough to run the ongoing massive scale development activities, both in private and public sectors. Thus, the constant and uninterrupted supply of energy at an affordable price remains a serious concern for the successive governments. Therefore, this issue of supply of constant energy has turned to be an important part in the national development agenda. Besides, the country is one of the worst victim nations of the devastating effects of global warming and climate change. As Bangladesh is geographically located in a favorable place in the world map with the availability of plenty of renewable energy sources (RES), the policymakers started to take initiatives leading to exploiting these sources to meet the energy demand of the country. There are both prospects and administrative, legal, technological, socio-cultural and environmental challenges. To address these challenges, it requires comprehensive policy initiatives. A good number of technical and scientific research containing findings and recommendations are available. This paper, which is based on adopting a qualitative research methodology where the contents of secondary sources were analyzed, is an initial attempt to highlight the renewable energy developments in Bangladesh, and subsequently, to evaluate the relevant legal and policy initiatives in the light of international best practices. We advance several recommendations that the stakeholders can consider exploiting RES effectively to attain inclusive, equitable and sustainable development in Bangladesh. These include, inter alia: (1) Enhancing government participation to lead the development of renewable energy (RE); (2) ensuring localization of RE technology; (3) reducing the expenses of energy generation through RES and providing assistance in initial investments; (4) introducing comprehensive legal and regulatory policy for the development of RE industry in Bangladesh; and (5) conducting effective public awareness. © 2019 by the authors. MDPI 2019 Article PeerReviewed Karim, Mohammad Ershadul and Karim, Ridoan and Islam, Md Tariqul and Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus and Bani, Nurul Aini and Muhtazaruddin, Mohd Nabil (2019) Renewable Energy for Sustainable Growth and Development: An Evaluation of Law and Policy of Bangladesh. Sustainability, 11 (20). p. 5774. ISSN 2071-1050, DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205774 <https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205774>. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205774 doi:10.3390/su11205774
spellingShingle HD Industries. Land use. Labor
K Law (General)
T Technology (General)
Karim, Mohammad Ershadul
Karim, Ridoan
Islam, Md Tariqul
Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus
Bani, Nurul Aini
Muhtazaruddin, Mohd Nabil
Renewable Energy for Sustainable Growth and Development: An Evaluation of Law and Policy of Bangladesh
title Renewable Energy for Sustainable Growth and Development: An Evaluation of Law and Policy of Bangladesh
title_full Renewable Energy for Sustainable Growth and Development: An Evaluation of Law and Policy of Bangladesh
title_fullStr Renewable Energy for Sustainable Growth and Development: An Evaluation of Law and Policy of Bangladesh
title_full_unstemmed Renewable Energy for Sustainable Growth and Development: An Evaluation of Law and Policy of Bangladesh
title_short Renewable Energy for Sustainable Growth and Development: An Evaluation of Law and Policy of Bangladesh
title_sort renewable energy for sustainable growth and development an evaluation of law and policy of bangladesh
topic HD Industries. Land use. Labor
K Law (General)
T Technology (General)
work_keys_str_mv AT karimmohammadershadul renewableenergyforsustainablegrowthanddevelopmentanevaluationoflawandpolicyofbangladesh
AT karimridoan renewableenergyforsustainablegrowthanddevelopmentanevaluationoflawandpolicyofbangladesh
AT islammdtariqul renewableenergyforsustainablegrowthanddevelopmentanevaluationoflawandpolicyofbangladesh
AT muhammadsukkifirdaus renewableenergyforsustainablegrowthanddevelopmentanevaluationoflawandpolicyofbangladesh
AT baninurulaini renewableenergyforsustainablegrowthanddevelopmentanevaluationoflawandpolicyofbangladesh
AT muhtazaruddinmohdnabil renewableenergyforsustainablegrowthanddevelopmentanevaluationoflawandpolicyofbangladesh