Energy security for socio-economic and environmental sustainability in Pakistan

Heliyon. 2018 Oct 15;4(10):e00854. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00854. eCollection 2018 Oct.

Abstract

One of the prime concern of policy makers should be to ensure energy security in the country. The case of Pakistan is interesting in a sense that with the growing age of the country, the increasing reliance on imported sources of energy is resulting in huge demand-supply gap which is evident in suppressed demand for electricity and natural gas. It has social, economic and environmental consequences. Most of the countries in the world have shifted their focus from imported to indigenous resources which are more often cheap, environmental friendly and provide competitiveness. The study reveals, through exploring secondary data, descriptive analysis, Johanson Cointegration and Granger Causality test results based on error correction model, energy insecurity is damaging for environment and socio-economic conditions. The study suggests policy makers to move toward long run energy security to get environmental and socio-economic sustainability in the country through minimizing reliance on imported energy and promoting energy efficiency.

Keywords: Economics; Energy.