Positions available: One Student

With the rapid economic growth in Bangladesh, the energy requirement is expected to keep going up. The challenge of adequate energy commensurate with the requirement of economic growth is a cause of concern for a country like Bangladesh as it is highly dependent on imported energy and is increasingly becoming more dependent on imports. Currently, nearly two-thirds of the county’s energy supply comes from domestic production of natural gas, the reserve of which is declining rapidly. Almost a quarter of the energy is met by oil, which is entirely imported.

The use of energy is an important indicator for social, economic, and infrastructural development as well as standard of living. The extent of energy consumption often gets related to the economic development [growth of GDP] and lifestyle of a society. Although the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth has not been without dispute, it is well accepted in the scientific community that they are interlinked. It is likely that the demand for energy will continue to increase with the economic development of Bangladesh. During the past couple of years, total energy consumption in Bangladesh increased by over 10 percent a year.

Our objective is to develop at least two forecasting models. The first one is a univariate model with the assumption that energy consumption is independent· The other models will take into consideration of other variables. We expect the model to forecast up to 2035 based on annual data from 1972 to 2019 or 2020.

The student is to develop mathematical or statistical models. Appropriate data will be provided.

Qualifications of Student Research Assistant – student must have a background in data modeling and/or statistics [especially, time-series and another statistical and mathematical background. A sufficient understanding of forecasting techniques will be of advantage.

Data will be provided for the analysis and a weekly meeting is expected until the work is done.