Regressing on our road to development

I've been in New York for just over two weeks now. Schools are on summer holiday in America and so we are spending time with the grandchildren. There are all sorts of extracurricular camps and activities for them. My elder grandson is with a baseball camp and the younger one with a science camp. They go in the morning and return in the afternoon. We share the duty of dropping them and picking them up from the camps with our daughter and son-in-law. So there is a lot of free time on hand during the day.

I use that free time to visit the New York Public Library. I am doing some reading and research as I am committed to write two articles, one on 'green and sustainable energy' for Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, and another on 'Adam Smith and the study of economics in Bangladesh' for Banglar Pathshala.

I cross four avenues and two streets on my walk to the library. There are no ruts or potholes along the roads. There are four zebra crossings at every intersection. There are signals for both vehicles and pedestrians  -- green and red lights for the traffic, and white and red human silhouettes for the pedestrians. The white figure means 'go' and red figure means 'stop'. Before it turns red, the white figure begins to flicker and the numbers count down from 20 to 1, and then 0. Not all the streets have traffic police, but the drivers follow the signals and allow the pedestrians to pass. Even if there are green lights to allow cars to pass, they stop if a woman or an elderly person is waiting to cross. Horns are hardly ever heard.

I visit the public library in the 58th Street. There is a queue of people -- old, young, children, infants in strollers, women, men, boys and girls -- waiting in front of the library before it opens at 10:00 in the morning. Entry is restricted to members so I had to get a library card. It took just 1 minute 13 seconds to issue my card. I took my passport and proof of residence along with me. I had to submit for pieces of information about myself -- my name, email address, phone number and a four-digit PIN. I can use this PIN in 92 libraries and library branches in New York City.

There is not a single public library in Gulshan, Banani or Baridhara. How shameful! But why is this so? I have found two explanations for the time being. The first explanation was offered by former army officer Pankaj Barua. He said, "I had just retired in 2005. A friend from the upscale area of the capital city wanted to know how I spent my time. I said that I visit the central army library at around 9:00am or 10am every day. I spend quite some time there. He asked me what work I had at the library, what I did there, etc. That precisely is the main reason why there are no libraries in those localities."

I got the other explanation when I visited the public library the other day. A woman was reading a book there, wearing a t-shirt with the words 'Dissent is Patriotic'. Dissent is being openly upheld here, not just a matter of rhetoric. We possibly don't want anyone to express dissent. And the slogan of New York Public Library is 'Knowledge is Power'.

The pin-drop silence in the public library is amazing. The only conversations there are between the librarians and the visitors. The first day I visited the library, my phone was on and it rang. Immediately a soft-spoken person came up and told me firmly that talking on the phone in the library was prohibited. From the next day I kept my phone silent when entering the library. I didn't even see any romantic couples whispering by the bookshelves. The library was just for borrowing books, reading books and taking notes.

I had almost completed the draft on green and sustainable energy in two weeks, when I was informed by email that a book I had requested for - 'Renewable Energy - Ten Short Lessons' - was waiting for me as an inter-library loan. The book of the Pocket Einstein Series has been published by the Johns Hopkins University Press. The book was actually very small - around 7 inches by 4 inches, 186 pages and could easily be carried in a pocket. Small it may be, but the book was packed with information. The author is a professor of Cambridge University and a physicist. I read the book with full attention and reached two conclusions -- 1. I had worked with solar energy at IDCOL at one point of time and so I thought I had adequate knowledge on renewable energy. I was wrong. 2. Alongside with the knowledge I already had, after reading all the other books I felt I really needed to thoroughly revise the draft I had prepared for my article.

The question should rather be, what wasn't there in the book? There was discourse on physics including the second law of thermodynamics, chemistry and math energy-related formula all explained in understandable terms for the layperson, and simple examples of technical matters like megawatt. It contained descriptions and comparative analysis of all sorts of renewable technology as well as the roadmap of turning to sustainable energy worldwide. In the explanation of megawatt, it was said that the light of a 100 watt incandescent bulb is available from a 15 watt CFL or 10 watt LED bulb. So if an LED bulb is used instead of an incandescent bulb, 90 megawatts of power is saved or 90 megawatts of electricity is produced. If 10 million bulbs are changed in this manner, investment in generating 90 megawatts of electricity can be saved.

Broadly speaking, the book's message is -- 1. The time to end use of fossil fuels has arrived; 2. Saving energy is the most inexpensive energy; 3. There is no alternative to reducing carbon emissions; and 4. It will be possible to meet the energy demands of all countries by increasing the reach of renewable energy.

We are doing exactly the opposite. In the interests of businessmen, we have set up power plants of generation capacity more than required. With local gas supply decreasing, we are importing LNG. This has not resolved the problems, but increased the threats to the macro economy. Yet even neighbouring India is researching on various ways to lower carbon emitting energy. The country has already achieved its target of producing 43.6 per cent of its energy from sources outside of fossil fuel, 9 years earlier than the 2030 deadline. They now target all energy from sources outside of fossil fuel by 2050.

In conclusion, like the pedestrians, the common people must be at the centre of development. Knowledge, not ignorance, must be the basis of development. A sustainable energy policy must be implemented, immediately curtailing dependence on fossil fuel, saving energy and increasing renewable energy with lowered carbon emissions.

It would certainly benefit everyone if Stephen Peake's book, 'Renewable Energy -- Ten Short Lessons' was translated into Bangla.

* Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan is an economist and former secretary

* This column appeared in the print an online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir