Green technology in Bangladesh

The use of green technology showed a significant rise last year, covering some new areas from rural farming to city restaurants, corporate houses and government offices. Industry insiders said a fall in prices of green technology-based products on the global market caused by recession has attracted more entrepreneurs to such business, which ultimately pushed the growth up. Infrastructure Development Company Ltd ( IDCOL), a major financier for green technology in Bangladesh, says it receives at least five new proposals for green technology-based business every day. Installation of solar home system increased to 17 ,000 month in 2008. Solar irrigation pumps, water pumps, telecom base stations, and solar panels were the major hit last year. Experts termed the trend as a 'hidden revolution'. However, they suggested introducing a monitoring system to ensure sustainability of such technology. According to IDCOL, installation of solar home system by 15 421 300 Farzana Rahman, senior investment officer of IDCOL, said this market is becoming more dynamic gradually with the introduction of new solutions. Citing an example, she said IDCOL has recently financed a 250- power plant in Kapasia, Gazipur as a pilot project. The plant uses rice husk for power generation and supplies grid-quality electricity to 500 households and commercial entities of that area. A total of 9 September 2009. IDCOL and some private entrepreneurs are engaged in this business. The company has a target to finance 12 power plants equivalent to 5- 2012. Some brick kilns also started using environment- friendly solutions to make bricks in 2009. Diamond Auto Bricks in Narayanganj had set up such a brick kiln. The new technology being used by Diamond Auto and the likes is Hybrid Hoffman Kiln (HHK) technology imported from China. A single kiln that runs on HHK technology will produce 15 by 5 produce 30 emission by 10 Around 4 billion bricks a year, and the number is increasing by 10 estate. United Nations Development Programme also took a project under which 31 brick kilns will initially be set up in different parts of the country. Telecom came to the forefront to go green in 2009. Bangladesh's largest mobile phone company Grameenphone is going for a transformation to become a 'green company' with a target to reduce 30 installing solar base stations. "We are all contributors to this global crisis and need to be part of the solution," said Oddvar Hesjedal, chief executive officer of Grameenphone. The major change in the green technology market is that the local firms are increasingly opting for new solutions. Grameen Shakti and Rahimafrooz are developing telecom base stations. Rahimafrooz also developed solar pumps. The Prime Minister Office installed a solar power system to encourage people to go for green energy amid acute power crisis. A similar move the Bangladesh Bank took in 2009 example for banks. Nando's, a restaurant in Dhaka, installed solar panel as backup. "Our plan was to use something environment- friendly as backup during power cut," said Abdur Rahim, director of Nando's. Saiful Haque, secretary of Bangladesh Solar Energy Society, said: "We should understand what we're going to face due to climate change. Green technology should replace the one that emits a huge carbon." He said sustainability of such technology is crucial for Bangladesh, and so the government should introduce a monitoring system.