RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES

ASSIGNMENT 1

Submitted by:
Ahsan Rauf
Hamza Saqib
Atta ur Razzaq
M. Hammad Islam
Saif ur Rehman
Ali Faizan Watoo
M.Umair Qazi
Submitted to:
Sir Ikhlaq Khattak
Date:
15-11-2016

PROBLEM
Indicate current energy resources and give reasons why Pakistan may need alternative
energy sources in future

SOLUTION
What is Energy?

Energy is a property of objects which can be transferred to other objects or converted into
different forms. It is the capacity of a system to do work. In SI units, energy is measured in joules.
Basic forms of energy include Kinetic energy, potential energy (elastic and gravitational),
Chemical energy, nuclear energy and electric energy.

Current Energy scenario of Pakistan

Pakistan has been facing a persistent unprecedented energy crisis owing to ever increasing
demand and supply gap. The countrys current energy needs are reliant on oil and gas and the
demand far exceeds its domestic supplies. Thus, its primary energy supplies are heavily
dependent upon imported crude oil and imported petroleum products due to which the
countrys oil import bill has risen to approximately US$ 15 billion in FY13, which is a huge burden
on the economy.

Oil and gas are two key components of primary energy mix contributing almost 80 percent (oil
31 percent and gas 49 percent) share to the 64.73 million TOE of energy supplies during FY12
while share of coal and nuclear is almost 7 percent and 2 percent, respectively. During 2012,
net primary energy supply remained at 64.73Mn TOEs compared to 64.52Mn TOEs during FY11,
thus posting growth of 0.32 percent. However, on average, the growth rate of net primary
energy supply remained 1.3 percent for last six years. The source-wise primary energy supply is
shown in figure 1 below.

The final energy (which includes energy from both secondary and primary sources) consumed
during FY12 came at 40.03Mn TOE. When compared with final energy consumed in FY11, there
is a 3.1 percent growth, as it was 38.84 Mn TOEs in FY11. However, on average, the growth rate
of final energy consumption remained 2.10 percent for last six years. Statistics on energy

consumption by source revealed that gas and oil had largest share. This is shown in figure 2
below.
Electricity and gas outages have hampered economic growth of Pakistan for last few years.
Further, since early 2000s, the electricity sector has received greater attention because of the
higher rate of growth in its demand. There is no doubt that there exists high correlation between
growth rate of GDP and that of energy consumption. The following graph depicts that periods of
high growth rate of energy consumption usually coincides with high growth rate of GDP and
periods of lower energy consumption coincide with lower growth in GDP. The GDP and final
energy consumption are shown in figure 3 below.

Statistical figures

Figure 1

Figure 2

FIGURE 3

The need for alternative energy sources in the future

Studies and research conducted recently clearly indicate that Pakistan is in a strong need for
alternative energy sources. Renewable energy sources are being targeted mainly to replace
conventional sources.
Renewable energy:
Renewable energy is generally defined as energy that is collected from resources which are
naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and
geothermal heat.
There are several reasons which support the need for alternative sources and are discussed
below.

The population of Pakistan is rapidly increasing, which means an increase in the energy
demand, however we cannot just rely on the current energy sources to meet this increase
in demand, hence alternative energy sources must be used.
Stats indicate that large sums of money are being used to provide energy using the
conventional sources in Pakistan. This lowers down the budget available for tertiary
sector i.e. for education, health, infrastructure and transport. This inhibits development
in the country, therefore attention must be paid towards renewable energy sources as
they provide energy at low costs.
Pakistan has been experiencing an acute shortage of energy right across all sectors in
particular, industry and through energy disruption to domestic users. These shortages
have highlighted the need for reliable, cost realistic and effective sources of energy and
an improvement in the distribution of energy to facilitate development of the country.
The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is increasing year by year,
mainly due to the use of fossil fuels for energy generation. This is causing a lot of problems
including ozone depletion, extremely high temperature levels etc. To overcome this
problem alternative sources of energy must be brought into use.
The poor communities of Pakistan rely on wood and dried dung to heat their homes and
in food preparation. The effects of a lack of clean energy on the poor community were
part of the study with particular emphasis on household air quality and how it affects
women and children. This clearly indicated the need for alternative energy sources to
support the remote areas of Pakistan.
The fossil fuel reserves in Pakistan are depleting. To prevent the existing reserves from
running out, we need to focus on alternatives.
Most of the oil that is being used to provide energy is imported. Huge sums of money are
being spent on these imports, hence use must be made of alternative renewable sources
to improve balance of payments.
Pakistan has abundant availability of sunlight, which makes it feasible to genera te heat
and electricity by harnessing solar flux.

The coastal areas of Pakistan have a high wind energy potential, therefore wind turbines
can be installed near the coastal areas to meet the energy demand of Sindh and lower
Balochistan.
The energy of the waves breaking on the coastal areas of Pakistan can also be utilized.
Pakistan has tremendous hydropower potential. Dams can be built, especially in the
northern areas. Water flowing from a reservoir to a river through a hydroelectric dam can
be used to make power.
The potential to produce power from biomass is very promising in Pakistan. Being an
agrarian economy, more than 60% of the population is involved in agricultural activities
in the country. As per World Bank statistics, around 26, 280, 000 hectares of land is under
cultivation in Pakistan. The major sources of biomass energy are crop residues, animal
manure and municipal solid wastes. Biomass can be burned to produce heat and
electricity.

Conclusion
In the light of the discussion above, it can be concluded that Pakistan is in a strong need for
renewable energy sources to meet its ever-growing energy demand. This will provide socioeconomic stability. Renewables can progressively replace conventional capacity and cover most
of the energy demand of Pakistan by 2050, provided that this opportunity is fully integrated in
the energy policy.