Source: ENB
Economic, Geopolitical, Scholar, and Energy Analyst, a true industry thought leader. We talk about global and Pakastan energy and humanitarian issues.
Boy, this was a great conversation about the energy, financial and humanitarian crises impacting people and some wild discussions around Pakistan and disproportionally affected people.
In the United States, we typically take a narrow view of others with their energy problems. Educating people about elevating humanity out of poverty through the use of low-cost, sustainable energy is critical. Education is one of the biggest ways we can be part of the solution rather than the problem.
Thank you, Syed, for stopping by the ENB podcast. I enjoyed our conversation and look forward to our next one. – Stu
Here are some key contact and information from Syed. Please follow and help get the energy dialogue spread around the world.
Twitter: osamarizvi10
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orizvi2?mibextid=ZbWKwL
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/syed-muhammad-osama-rizvi-60679269
Instagram: @osamarizvi10
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@PrimaryVisionNetwork
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@JWTCSSVideos
Please connect with Syed Rizvi on his LinkedIn HERE:
00:00 – Intro
01:30 – Tell us about your class/ Knowing Syed Muhammad Osama Rizvi
04:20 – Children and the lack of Energy in the Pakistan Communities for natural gas
06:50 – Talk about LNG in Pakistan
08:47 – 7 million people have been laid off in the textile sector
10:33 – In the Business Reporter Pakistan’s crisis is a moral one, not an economic one
14:05 – Inflation in Pakistan
17:32 – American vs Pakistan Life
20:53 – Is there any Solutions for whats going on in Pakistan?
24:58 – How do you attract outside investments into developing in your area?
26:07 – Pakistan’s ballpark, 16, 17% natural gas a lot of that’s imported in from LNG. How much of this coal for your energy?
28:50 – What is Next for Osama Rizvi
32:27 – Outro
Automatic Video Transcription may be edited for grammar. We disavow any errors unless they make us look better or smarter. – Check out the YouTube or podcast for the actual language. (I am from Texas and Oklahoma, so I talk funny).
Stuart Turley [00:00:06] Welcome, everybody. Today is just not a great day. It’s a fabulous day. My name’s Su Turley, president and CEO of the Sandstone Group. And I got a special guest today on our podcast from Pakistan. I’ve got Osama Rizvi.
Stuart Turley [00:00:19] And Osama I’ve had a pleasure of being able to follow him on LinkedIn, and we’re going to have his contact information in the show notes.
Stuart Turley [00:00:27] He is a true industry thought leader and teaches college and teaches folks other folks we’re going have a nice talk about the world of energy and things going on in Pakistan. Thank you, Osama, for stopping by.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:00:43] Thank you so very much, Stuart, for such a lovely and very kind introduction.
Stuart Turley [00:00:48] Oh, well, I’ll pay you later. You know what as we sit back, I just. I’ve got two main articles that we really want to cover. And this is your time. I really want to cover things that are important to you.
Stuart Turley [00:01:02] I always enjoy. I always when I see a post from you, I snag it. I want to make sure that I see it. And before we get started, you were talking about who you were teaching. You just had a class this morning, and it’s, what, 7:00 there now, I think, in Pakistan. Yeah.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizvi [00:01:19] Yeah. 7 p.m.. Yep.
Stuart Turley [00:01:21] And I was up at 4 a.m. Central U.S. time to try to visit. So tell us about your class.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizvi [00:01:30] Yeah. So I amongst other things, I also happen to teach in World Times Institute. It’s one of the best institutes in Boston that trains people for competitive examinations of Pakistan. You know,.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:01:44] So India and Pakistan have this bureaucratic structure to them, sort of a colonial legacy it’s going to be frank, but it has redeemed itself. So the whole government machinery, such as the assistant commissioners, you know, District Commissioners, people going into police, people going to foreign services, people going into different, you know, National Accountability Bureau and other departments of the government, they come here, the demand for the examinations.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:02:13] Most of them have already cleared the written examinations to come here and to prepare for the interview. So I trained them. Regarding the communication, regarding international relations, regarding how to do argument and how do you know how to actually be respectful and at the same time, you know, drive home your point and sort of these things.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:02:31] So I did classes on topics like energy, climate change my favorite is actually, by the way, not surprisingly, the asymmetry in carbon emissions between the global, not invisible and then I also train them for the interviews in terms of communication, body language, nonverbal, verbal and all that sort of things. Yes.
Stuart Turley [00:02:51] Boy, those are life skills. All of that is very important.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizvi [00:02:55] One more thing we also have a YouTube channel as well where I do, but I’m the host of a podcast just like you. So I host a podcast as well.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:03:05] We like to talk leaders, senior people from the government, our senior authors and, you know, we try to present as you know, I always try to look at the apolitical, objective analysis and point of view of anything. So I try my best to do that.
Stuart Turley [00:03:25] Fantastic What’s the name of the podcast?
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizvi [00:03:27] It’s the WTI talks. The World Times Institute talks, The WTI talks.
Stuart Turley [00:03:33] Oh, I was like, Man, you’re honoring West Texas Instruments Intermediate Opinion.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizvi [00:03:38] Well, maybe.
Stuart Turley [00:03:40] I like your description better, but you have two articles and you and I were chit chatting right before this this episode about the travesty of the Pakistani people. And there was a story that came out that one of our joint acquaintances, David Blackman, had also talked we’d talked about on a different podcast with him.
Stuart Turley [00:04:01] And that was the children and the lack of energy in the Pakistan communities for natural gas. And they were carrying bags of natural gas that’s kind of like a bomb waiting to happen. I mean, that’s not good. Tell us what this was that sparked it.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:04:20] So gas and domestic gas production in Pakistan has been falling since 1990s and that is where it gets tricky, because given the diplomatic orientation of our country, it isn’t very easy for Pakistan, let’s say, to get, you know, friendly with Russia, which can be a savior for us in terms of gas as a large, very big gas production going on and everything.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:04:48] But Addax said there are lots of inherent internal issues due to which our gas production have fallen. Of course, first of all, no focus on the research and development of our oil and gas reserves have been exhausted, about more than 44% of them there was a recent story. I’ll share it with you off the podcast. Actually,.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:05:07] It was really, you know, unnerving to learn about this, that the reserves we have exhausted the very reserves. And Pakistan’s a daily oil consumption isn’t that high it’s around 500,000 barrels per day.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:05:20] So but due to the lack of ENP activity, due to lack of capital and given the whole scenario where we operate in, it’s actually getting really bad. So you talk about and even in my house, right, So I lived I’m fortunate enough to live in a rather I live in a very centralized location. So the you know, all the important buildings and government buildings and all are on the same is in the vicinity.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:05:47] So you assume that it would be a good area to live in however, we get no gas there is no gas at all. We have to cook on a cylinder as well on a gas cylinder. Yeah, I am a very you know, I’m a very finicky person in that because they are little bombs. You just, you know, one round the back on it or, you know, you can’t handle the pressure on them they’re literal bombs.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:06:11] But turns out every household or most of the households are using it, Moreover, moreover, in Pakistan, about one third of our electricity is produced by natural gas. And most of that, that natural gas, oil and gas and most of that is Imported.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:06:29] And what happened this month stood was that E and I and the Italian bomb ENI due to some reason they could not deliver Pakistan the whole cargo for this month. So we have no gas for the whole month of that.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:06:46] Oh for the LNG. You had the LNG tanker that didn’t come in.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:06:50] Yeah. Yeah. And I don’t know how as temperatures rise, as the electricity consumption goes off, the just because, you know, it gets really, really off, you know, because it’s squashing solids get really it gets really hot here and the energy the electricity consumption goes beyond you know the levels. It is like, now.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:07:10] I don’t see how the industry how the manufacturing sector, especially the textile industry, which accounts for 60% of our export earnings, one sector, 60% of their export earnings and textile sector is solely majorly dependent upon government electricity and gas provision. I don’t see I don’t know how the summers are going to unfold. You know, it’s a very serious situation.
Stuart Turley [00:07:36] You know, I’ve always taken a look at just as a consumer or some of the goods and things that come out of Pakistan. I’ve got two beautiful leather briefcases here from Pakistan. I didn’t even know they were from Pakistan till I ordered them off the Amazon and then all of a sudden it was like, you know, holy smokes, this is from Pakistan.
Stuart Turley [00:07:59] Yeah.
Stuart Turley [00:08:00] That kind of trace is Important.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:08:01] Yeah. Pakistan’s leather industry, Pakistan’s sports industry, Pakistan’s surgical equipment industry. All of these are I talked last and last day, you know, But unfortunately, you know, there is a limit when you don’t get gas when you don’t get electricity.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:08:21] You know, the liquidity issue comes springs in that only those who can survive, you know, the big guns, the you know, the nodes that have a lot of power, only that can survive, that disrupts the whole competition spectrum, that disrupts the whole internal economy of a country. Right. Of the companies might be able to get a lot of profit from the current situation. But I’m talking about overall. So just to give you the context, about 7 million people have been laid off in the textile sector, 7 million.
Stuart Turley [00:08:53] What’s the time period?
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:08:54] Osama And this year and then this year, Yeah, this year, some 7 million.
Stuart Turley [00:09:00] Wow.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:09:00] This Physical Year. It’s it’s crazy. It means 7 million families, right?
Stuart Turley [00:09:07] Is that because of the energy Osama? Is that because the energy crisis?
Stuart Turley [00:09:11] Yes. So majorly, I would say there are lots of different reasons. First of all, due to the rising cost of energy, by the way, the gas prices will increase to 122% overnight recently, 122% overnight.
Stuart Turley [00:09:26] And this is worse than that. It’s being told over here we’re not.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:09:30] Yes, that that is crazy and petrol prices are over 100% increase year on year basis similarly, that preceded by prices are about 150% more than we did last year. God prices God. Prices have increased 150% year on year.
Stuart Turley [00:09:49] That was in your article. I was like, Yeah, tell us about that. Tell us the article titled In the Business reporter Pakistan’s crisis is a moral one, not an economic one. First, I want to give you a shout out as an author, and this was in the business recorder. So you write for the business recorder, is that correct?
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:10:09] Amongst yes, amongst many. I have had the honor to write in every English newspaper of my country. And then I wanted to do.
Stuart Turley [00:10:15] Nice, well done. And being a true industry thought leader, it’s reflected in your thoughts on LinkedIn and that’s how I met and started following you. But tell us about this article, because I was I saw this and it was like, Whoa, wait a minute, I got to talk to you.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:10:34] Yeah. So I wrote it. Clearly, when you see the language and the style, I’ve written this and I wrote it in a very I was really exasperated and. Disappointed. It is really frustrating as a sensitive human being, you know, you and me and others tend to be sensitive, not sensitive enough to be affected by the socio political economic environment around us.
Stuart Turley [00:10:57] Right.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:10:58] It just it is unnerving. It is so disturbing to see whatever is happening right now and idly, you know, Google is full of facts and figures. There are millions of professors in Pakistan who have extremely good degrees, PHDs, you know, definite breaks and whatnot they have the solutions in everything.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:11:19] There is only one thing that we lack that is the political will to implement those brilliant solutions and everything. So as I mentioned in the article, that individual brilliance is dying a slow death because the overall the game environment where those individuals lie.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:11:36] So I loaded well it was mostly it was sort of a rant because whatever is happening, you know, this is a crisis of morality, morality, because nobody is doing the job properly. If I was the energy minister or if I was at the helm of the affairs life now, I would be worried instead of the political mudslinging and instead of the political, you know, intrigues,.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:12:01] I would be worried, what are we going to do in summer is June, July and August.
Stuart Turley [00:12:07] Right.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:12:07] That is it. 55 degrees Celsius,.
Stuart Turley [00:12:10] Right
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:12:11] 55. What are we going to do when we are not getting LNG? What what is the what exactly is going to happen? Are we going to Pakistan? Like I was reading in Bloomberg and other stories, they are covering a lot of power blackouts in South Africa, right?
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:12:29] Guess what? That is the usual life here in Pakistan it’s the normal life here. Those blackouts that are being covered so widely and surprisingly for many, it’s it’s the normal in Pakistan, 15 to 16 hours of loadshedding, as it is called. It’s the norm. It’s been happening on the bus 70 80 years.
Stuart Turley [00:12:46] Wow. You know, and and it’s their project. I’m sorry I get so excited because I there’s so many things that are parallel from what you just said to the United States Administration and how they’re and how they’re handling things.
Stuart Turley [00:13:02] They’re even saying that blackouts are on the horizon, which is very unusual around the United States. And it’s because of the grid putting renewables on the grid without proper planning.
Stuart Turley [00:13:15] And you got to have planning on the grid and our grid is not had any money put on it. But the South Africa and the political stuff and the you also talk about inflation, what’s going on with the inflation as well.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:13:30] First of all, I’m really surprised, I think, you to get these sporadic shots. If you make one site, you know, read a news coming out of the Western world or the development of the of the world is well.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:13:43] It seems like at many point the developed and developing countries are converging, which is quite concerning, especially for the developed countries, because in developing countries, for them it’s unfortunately business as usual right?
Stuart Turley [00:13:54] Right.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:13:54] But as you said, for a developed country like the US to say that the blackouts are on the way, that’s something very serious and concerning.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:14:05] Going back to the inflation so the story of inflation is Pakistan is very different. I actually I these days I am trying to explore because I have been sort of frustrated or you can say I am unimpressed by the fragility of the of the policy level that is the interest rates.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:14:26] Why do I say that? I have my degree in economics as well, and I know how it works. Inflation goes up you increase the interest rates, inflation comes down.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:14:35] But the point is, in Pakistan, we have Cost Push Inflation there is no demand for inflation. Pakistan is going through a classic stagflation phase. Inflation is 31%, 31.5%. That is the official number.
Stuart Turley [00:14:51] You said 51%.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:14:53] 31%.
Stuart Turley [00:14:54] 31. Okay.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:14:55] But but Steve Hank from the Johns Hopkins University, he he he puts out inflation figures based on purchasing power parity, which are which gives a true picture of what the inflation is. And according to him, inflation levels in Pakistan are about 67%. And I was just in the class and I told them this and I asked them that Which level do you think feels more right? They all said 67%.
Stuart Turley [00:15:23] Wowl, that’s that’s that’s food that’s energy that’s.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:15:28] Said 40% of this increase in inflation has been because of food and Pakistan’s, too. It is the second most vulnerable country to rising food prices in the world after Nigeria. Pakistani and an average Pakistani household spends 51% of their income on basic food items can you can you only just imagine the extent of this calamity you know.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:15:52] So there is inflation of 67% then there is food price inflation, which is more than that. And then you have 51% of your household income is spent on basic food items it’s it’s not stopping.
Stuart Turley [00:16:05] It’s not sustainable.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:16:07] That’s what I’m saying, actually and people you know, I say a steer clear from politics. Absolutely. I don’t delve into political analysis. I do not comment on anything because for me, it is all noise in all the noise with a single thing. So this is all noise. I don’t I don’t want my mind to be adulterated by this. I don’t know. Sort of. Yeah. You know, for lack of a better word, but something like that.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:16:33] But the point is, whatever is happening right now, I believe and I’ve been saying this continuously, I believe that we’re nearing the proverbial tipping point. So we’re near the tipping point and whatever is happening right now, it won’t evaporate. It won’t diluted. It won’t dissolve. Something new will come out of it, whether it be positive, whether it would be negative, but something new. Business as usual won’t continue. I absolutely do not believe.
Stuart Turley [00:17:03] Wow. And, you know, I think Pakistan is only systemic of what’s coming around for Europe, what’s coming around and you nailed it just a minute ago when you said things are you know, when you see the West and then other countries are merging together.
Stuart Turley [00:17:20] And I from a cultural standpoint, if you said Pakistan’s already doing these things, they’re going to deal with it a little easier it’s still going to be horrible. The Americans don’t know how to do anything.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:17:35] I know.
Stuart Turley [00:17:36] My dad. My granddad came in to Oklahoma on a covered wagon. My dad did not have indoor plumbing until he was 16. I’m of integration that I can get by on very little. Anybody passed me is not to be able to do it very well.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:17:57] You see, you know, during all the COVID time so I happened to be in London during the COVID at the peak of the Covid I was doing my master’s in global political economy from University of London at that point.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:18:10] And I saw my friends and I sort of saw a reflection of this it’s not it’s not something that is inherently wrong, you know, But there is this is just that due to the progress and industrialization and, you know, all of those things, people have led a very comfortable life in these parts of the world.
Stuart Turley [00:18:32] Right.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:18:32] For a person here, an average person, literally, I’m not kidding. Any typical American muscular bodybuilder or anyone would not even survive a month here when he has to. When he comes home after eight hour workday and when he’s about to open the tap to wash his face, he finds that there is no water because there is no water.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:18:54] And you lay down on the bed and you say, okay, it’s 55 degree Celsius out there. I loved 8 hours, Now I’m back. There is no longer at least I can have some you know, I can watch TV and then there is no electricity, no water, no electricity.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:19:10] All right. What’s happening outside? Lets go outside oh, there is a protest happening there is a sit in doctors are staging a sit in outside of the main road because the salaries are going up. All right.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:19:22] Imagine. Imagine the strain on your mental health imagine the strain on your mental health. This is years over years over years over years.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:19:31] So somehow I developed a sort of I was at an anti fragile position when I went to London and doing a poll with people who are having mental issues and mental health issues. And for me it was I said all I’m having the time of my life because, you know, I never had I never had the I never had the provision of 24 hour running warm water, no electricity blackouts. But this is a reality.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:19:58] People need to and I used to highlight this stupid in my class amongst my professors, because I think that academia that the whole discourse and I said this in David Spot podcast as well it is school did it unfairly towards a Eurocentric point of view that we tend to forget that half more than more than half of the humanity lives in conditions that are unimaginable to many, many people in the developed countries.
Stuart Turley [00:20:26] And from a socio standpoint, when people don’t understand how to even survive the basics, it gets really ugly. And so it’s not sustainable. Do you see any Solutions, even though you Osama, you stay out of the politics from that standpoint, what solutions do you see? Because those may be able to transport to the West.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:20:53] Yes. So the point is, there are solutions. Of course, there are solutions at any given point right now. But the solutions will not be quite melody for most people, unfortunately, because to the extent to which we have managed to mess this up, it will require, you know, a lot of surgeries. Pakistan has many a times be patient ICU. Right.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:21:19] So we will need some intensive care and that, you know, the drugs and whatever intensive care may or may not be very healthy for your body. Right. In the short term, in the longer run.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:21:31] But you need to go to work in order to survive so that you don’t die. So that is the similar analogy for Pakistan right now pakistan is about is about to get the the state level agreement with IMF staff level agreement with IMF as of today.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:21:47] Once that happens, I believe current uncertainty would die down. However, to make that happen, government has already devalued by a lot. So our interest rates of 20%, the highest in the country’s history, 20% interest rates themselves are down, but volume sales are down. I’ve already told you about the food prices. Onion onion prices. Onion prices increased 450% in one year.
Stuart Turley [00:22:19] Wow.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:22:21] And Onion is a product that is used by all and sundry in all sorts of food items, everything.
Stuart Turley [00:22:28] I love Onions
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:22:29] Yeah. So I’m looking at some some really some really tough measures in terms of fiscal discipline, in terms of austerity. You know, I am not really a fan of IMF policies, but that’s a different discussion.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:22:45] But as we have managed to mess this up, there is no other way to you and for us than the IMF. So we will get the IMF staff level agreement. We will have to endure a decade. High electricity bills will have to endure a decade, higher petrol prices and all these things.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:23:01] But it can go away if the policymakers start to turn a new leaf and the history of the country and to start to work on what I call the structural issues, they start to address low productivity, the start to address the low, the falling agricultural yields off the public, and the start to address the energy crisis and the circular debt within the energy prices to start to start to reshape the short termism in policymaking with long term political policy approach.
Stuart Turley [00:23:33] All right.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:23:33] You know, the stop doing taking measures just to make the people happy and in the end, I’m happy.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:23:40] So these are some of the things I, I, I’ve said this multiple times that we need to work on resolving these structural issues of Pakistan. Until that happens, we will continue to go, you know, do IMF, the love affair, the threats to the IMF would never end.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:23:57] We are we have already had 23 agreements with IMF since our independence. 23 times have been to the IMF. It can go up until 30 and, you know, you and I both know that IMF policies aren’t really healthy for developing countries economy, but that is that is not their issue. That is covered issue. You know, we go to them, they don’t come to us.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:24:20] So but I’m sort of 50/50. I believe the current crisis would be averted. I’m talking about the economic crisis but we need to work a lot in order to secure our future.
Stuart Turley [00:24:33] In attraction of energy production. If you lost 60% of your reserves, how do you attract outside investments into developing your area? Think because that almost seems like a better way to invite investing in rather than having borrowing money. That to me seems a better fix.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:24:56] You are absolutely right, but for that’s what you need to work on what is called the ease of doing business and that we need to work on standardization, digitalization of our economy so that when an international investors comes into Pakistan to invest, he does not find himself being submerged with hundreds of bumps and thousands of steps to getting one thing done and thing done. And all the bureaucratic red tape is of an administrative interest and whatnot.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:25:29] So FDI, yes, we need to increase the CapEx. We need to increase EIB within Pakistan by a lot. A lot. But that would be a stable first of all, first and foremost, it would require a stable. Political environment. That is the key and that is where, you know, things get pretty.
Stuart Turley [00:25:49] Wow!. Hey, from a end, I believe you had in your article, I have to think about this. It was Pakistan’s ballpark, 16, 17% natural gas a lot of that’s imported in from LNG. How much of this coal for your energy?
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:26:07] Yeah. So it’s it’s about 27%. Coal is responsible for 27%. This is 27% is for the electricity. I’m not sure of the total energy mix, but electricity is made from coal.
Stuart Turley [00:26:21] Wow. That’s a lot of coal, as so is the natural gas is if you don’t get that LNG shipment coming in.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:26:28] I know that and that’s like and that’s why it surprises me when I hear people talking about Pakistan for decarbonize. How are we how are we actually going to do that?
Stuart Turley [00:26:38] Right. And the cost of decarbonization is something that is. Why don’t we try to get the lowest cost kilowatt per hour to all people of the planet with the least amount of impact on the environment? That seems like a fairly easy solution if we got to.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:26:56] Yeah.
Stuart Turley [00:26:57] You nailed it, Osama. You got to have the political working together, you know? Yes. In the U.S., we finally had one bill of unanimous between the Republicans and the Democrats, and it was to release the origins of COVID.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:27:16] All right.
Stuart Turley [00:27:16] Why don’t we get more of that on energy? You know, anyway, hey, we’ve already solved the world’s problems here why don’t we just.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:27:28] Just like that
Stuart Turley [00:27:30] We’ve got about five more minutes but I do want to share one horrible story with you. And that is one of my dear friends. He and I were Scoutmasters Boy Scouts together with our sons. And we were going through there we were on a camping trip and he was and he and I have had great religious discussions our entire life and through our going through these things, loved our discussions.
Stuart Turley [00:27:56] And he I kept seeing him fall down and then come back up, fall down and come back up in the bushes. And I thought he was having a heart attack. So I came over and gave him a chair. It turns out he was doing is called a prayer.
Stuart Turley [00:28:08] So he thought it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen as a rescue him from his call to prayer. And so when you asked for the stopping and the call to prayer, I understand, but at least I didn’t heckle you and then save you
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:28:23] Praise God, have you.
Stuart Turley [00:28:24] From that call to prayer because I thought you were having a heart attack.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:28:27] That is good that we’re doing this Online
Stuart Turley [00:28:32] So what are your thoughts about coming around the corner? What’s next for Osama? Since you’re teaching, you’re writing for the papers and you are looking at all these other kind of things going on? What’s coming around the corner for you personally?
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:28:50] Yes, I am thinking, and I’ve been thinking this from quite a while, to start working on the first draft of my book. That is something that yeah, that is something because once again, I just want to point out that I have seen a criminal black off the other side of the game, which is the developing countries, the global South and the global literature and global research and all those things.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:29:15] So I really want to write, I really want I really want to contribute or really want to bridge the gap between, you know, both the words by highlighting, not being pointing them, not blaming any one sort of ideological orientation or your geographic orientation, but just trying to bridge the gap between that.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:29:35] Look, this is another world look, this is another world. People live like this as well, to believe like this as well, so that we embrace the inclusivity in all of that, too that is the beauty of the world.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:29:46] So that somewhere there I also want to, of course, continue building up my research skills and the writing can do even writing more. I want to I want to I’m really trying to look forward to work on the energy demand being created in the global South or the Asian continent in the continent. Because you see, that is really what I’ve done as the decarbonization dilemma.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:30:11] That is where this dilemma plays out.
Stuart Turley [00:30:14] Right,.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:30:14] Asia, As we would say, speaking of the recent boast that I did so, Asia, you see, is full of coal when it comes to its electricity resource.
Stuart Turley [00:30:24] Right.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:30:24] But then Asia is also going to be the country of the continent that is going to have a huge population explosion. Asia is ultimately the country that is also going to drive the energy demand. And then Asia is not going to be the continent that is going to have enough funds that is going to have enough, you know, other things, regulatory and infrastructural support to undergo a very big and hasty energy transition.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:30:51] So this is the decarbonization dilemma. How does this big chunk of the world, Asia and Africa, where the energy demand is going to come from?
Stuart Turley [00:31:00] Right.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:31:01] Already the deal with the energy transition, how do they deal with the climate change and everything because that’s the reality, of course. I don’t deny that we just had a flood that cost around $30 billion for the country.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:31:14] But then how this is going to these are some questions that remain out there and you need I think, collectively, we all need to work on these questions.
Stuart Turley [00:31:24] WOW!, you know, Osama, I would love to visit with you again in the future because I just I had a blast talking to you and I love you and I love the way you’re thinking about all of this. And it’s the same thing that I like is talking about solutions and elevating the discussions and not throwing rocks.
Stuart Turley [00:31:45] Now I make fun of our political folks because it’s part of the you got to make fun of people and you just got to do that. But I love having these worldwide discussions because I’m going to say, as an American, so many Americans do not think about the rest of the world. That’s a downfall of the American society is is my opinion.
Stuart Turley [00:32:07] So but thank you so much for stopping by the podcast and we’ll have this out there and I’d love to visit with you again. I’ll have all your contact information in the show notes as well too. So thank you very much.
Syed Muhammad Osama Rizv [00:32:19] Thank you so much to it. It was a pleasure.
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