Critically Discuss Availability, Pros and Cons for Each type of

Fuel for Pakistan

Definition of Fuel:
Any substance (natural or artificial) which can produce a useful amount of energy upon
combustion is called fuel.
Types of Fuel:
Fuels either renewable or nonrenewable (conventional) are generally found in the
following states:
1) Solid
2) Liquid
3) Gaseous
Availability of each type of fuel in Pakistan and their advantages and disadvantages
have been discussed below in detail.
Solid Fuels:
1) Wood: As per the survey of 2018, ruler population of Pakistan is approximately
134 Million where the major & ancient source of energy for house hold
necessities is wood, which can be used in several forms i.e. firewood, wood
pellets, saw dust and wood chips etc. Some advantages and disadvantages of
the wood usage as fuel are as follow:
a. Advantages:
i. Easily available and cheap or free in ruler areas.
ii. Easy to use and technology is very cheap.
iii. Byproduct can be reusable.
iv. Multifunctional energy source.
v. A kind of renewable energy source.
vi. Moderate ignition temperature.
b. Disadvantages:
i. Over utilization of forests has serious effect on environment and
forest species.
ii. Air pollution may occur if over-exploitation.
iii. Large Portion of energy wasted.
iv. Burn with clinker formation and Ash content is high.
2) Biomass: Biomass is a source of renewable energy, derived from plants, animal
residue and industrial wastes that is biodegradable (excluded materials normally
used as foods). However, the technology in Pakistan for conversion of Biofuels
from Biomass is still under development.
a. Advantages:
 i. Widely available as a renewable source and not expensive, almost
free in ruler areas.
ii. Biomass production may increase revenue for manufacturer.
iii. Less garbage in fill lands due to reuse of waste.
iv. Biomass is versatile fuel; it can be convert into many different fuels.
b. Disadvantages:
i. Not as efficient as fossil fuels
ii. Biomass is a carbon nature fuel source; it is not a completely clean
fuel.
iii. Although biomass fuels are renewable but they also need to be
maintained. Failure to do this can lead to widespread deforestation.
iv. A huge space is required to grow the Biomass plants (specifically)
and also need water for the production of the same.
v. As the efficiency of Biomass fuels is not as per fossil fuel.
Therefore, this technology is still under development.
3) Coal: is a hard rock which can be burned as a solid fossil fuel. It is mostly carbon
but also contains hydrogen, Sulphur, Oxygen and Nitrogen.
a. Advantages:
i. Coal is available in abounded supply. Pakistan holds 20 th ranking in
the world with 3,377,477,840 tons of coal reserves.
ii. Coal has a high load factor and produce a huge amount of energy
through combustion.
iii. Cheap energy source.
iv. Reliable energy source and efficiency may increase through
different technologies.
b. Disadvantages:
i. Coal energy produces large amount of carbon dioxide which leads
to global warming and climate change
ii. Nonrenewable source with huge carbon footprints.
iii. Coal mining puts the lives of people (specially the coal miners) in
danger.
iv. Transportation cost is high and sometime dedicated Railway lines
needs for uninterruptable supply to a coal fire based thermal power
plants.
4) Uranium (Nuclear): Uranium deposits were found in several locations in
Pakistan. The Atomic Energy Minerals Centre (AEMC) in Lahore was responsible
for the exploration and mining operations. West area of Dera Ghazi Khan, was
identified as the most promising location. However, this uranium ore is of
relatively low grade, containing only a few kg of uranium per ton.
a. Advantages:
i. Zero carbon emission fuel.
ii. Reliable source of energy
iii. Uranium has high energy density
 b. Disadvantages:
i. Uranium waste is highly radioactive, therefore, safe disposal is very
difficult and expensive.
ii. Uranium enrichment process is very costly and difficult.
iii. Mining and enrichment of Uranium is not environmental friendly
iv. Risk of nuclear accident.

Liquid Fuels:
Most of the liquid fuels are produced from the petroleum (Fossil Fuels). In Pakistan daily
oil production is 88,000 Barrel per day (in 2016) and consumption is more than 556,000
(in 2016) Barrels per day. Pakistan imports roughly 24% of its oil consumption.
1) Petrol / Gasoline: Petrol or Gasoline is a clear fossil petroleum derived highly
flammable fuel which is most commonly used in all over the world. Some
advantages and disadvantages of the petrol / gasoline are as follow:
a. Advantages:
i. Most common fuel, easily available.
ii. High energy density fuel, Average 1 Kg burnt fuel can provide
10,000 Kilocalories.
iii. As the extraction technology is almost fully developed, therefore, it
can be extracted at low cost.
iv. Due to liquid in nature, it can be easily transport with pipes or
vehicles.
v. Reliable energy source.
b. Disadvantages:
i. Highly flammable and required specialized storage tanks for
storage.
ii. Burning of gasoline produces greenhouse gasses that contributed
to environmental pollution and global warming.
iii. Relevantly available in high cost as compare to other fossil fuels.
2) Diesel: is similar to the gasoline / petrol extracted from fossil petroleum and
nonflammable at room temperature. Diesel fuel is the backbone of Pakistani
transportation sector; Pakistan Railways still use diesel locomotives.
a. Advantages:
i. Diesel is nonflammable fuel at room temperature, therefore,
storage is easy.
ii. Diesel fuel has more energy content then gasoline / petrol.
iii. Less corrosive than the other fuels.
iv. Diesel fuel provides significantly more torque than any other fuel
(That’s why semi's use diesel to pull heavier loads.)
v. Diesel also extract from different Biomasses.
b. Disadvantages:
 i. Like other fossil fuels Diesel also emit the greenhouse gasses that
contributed to environmental pollution and global warming.
ii. As the combustion temperature is high therefore, heaters are
required in vehicles to achieve the certain temperature for
combustion.
iii. Price of Diesel fuel is little bit higher in Pakistan.
3) Kerosene: is a low viscosity, clear liquid formed from hydrocarbons obtained
from the fractional distillation of petroleum between 150 and 275 °C. Kerosene or
lamp oil is widely used in aviation (blend with kerosene) as well as households.
a. Advantages:
i. kerosene is its safety. It is a fuel that produces less fumes in its
paraffin.
ii. kerosene is its long shelf life
iii. Much cheaper than the gasoline and diesel.
b. Disadvantages:
i. kerosene can produce high levels of pollutants, and can
significantly contribute to air pollution.
ii. It has an unpleasant smell and frequently adds an unpleasant taste
to the food being cooked with Kerosene oil.
Gaseous Fuels:
Gaseous fuel is generally composite of hydrocarbons. Presence of hydrogen and
carbon monoxide in gaseous fuels are the basis of heat and light potential. Gaseous
fuels may be divided into four (04) classes: Natural gas, Producer gas, Water gas and
Coal gas.
1) Natural Gas: is a mixture of gases which are rich in hydrocarbons and generally
found deep in earth near other solid or liquid fossil fuels like coal and crude oil.
Total reserves found in Pakistan is 24,700,000 Million Cubic Feet (MMcF). Total
production and consumption of natural gas in Pakistan is 1,454,987 & 1,436,261
MMcF respectively (data shown is for 2015).
a. Advantages:
i. Less expensive than the other fossil fuels.
ii. Less harmful (when combustion) than the other fossil fuels. If
natural gas has burn under perfect combustion circumstances, then
there will be minimal or non-harmful compound.
iii. Extremely reliable fuel.
iv. Can be store or transport in Liquid form i.e. LNG (Liquid Natural
Gas)
b. Disadvantages:
i. It is dangerous in case of irresponsible use.
ii. Natural gas does contribute to greenhouse gases, if burnt under
improper conditions.
 iii. Not a renewable energy source and a toxic gas.
iv. Gas infrastructure is expensive, pipelines cost a significant amount
of money to construct.
v. Unless and odorant is added to the gas, leaks can go undetected
In view of above, following are some renewable fuels which are also widely used in
Electricity generation in Pakistan. Below mentioned fuels are not satisfied the definition
of fuel (as cited in the start), however, these fuels have potential to operate energy
generation system.
1) Water (hydral)
2) Solar
3) Wind
Summary:
Above referred fuel have their own pros and cons, but most efficient / significant fuels
are those which are Environment friendly, shall available locally in sufficient amount and
shall competitive w.r.t cost and efficiency.