Pakistan’s large chunk of the economy is spent on petroleum imports, which is used in 3 sectors, namely transportation, energy, and industry. Of the total, 60% of the petroleum is used in transportation, and the rest is divided into 32% and 8%, for power and industry, respectively.
By Fizza Jay
Due to Pakistan’s high inflation and poverty rate, the imports from the foreign world and expenses within the country are hard to manage and have caused economic woes in the country.
Pakistan, in this situation, needs to change its perspective of thinking and jump into science and technology. The country could solve the problem through ethanol, which is Agro based, just like Brazil has done.
Many developed countries like USA and Brazil use ethanol as a substitute for petroleum and as a biofuel for the economy. Ethanol is produced from sugarcane, corn, and sorghum. Pakistan is the 5th largest producer of sugarcane, whereas corn and sorghum are both produced in good quantities in the country. These plants are C4 plants, which convert atmospheric CO2 and water into sugar and other polymers. Sugars produced are then fermented by the yeast and converted into ethanol, which is used as a biofuel. Besides that, flexfuel vehicles are also available and can be powered by a blend of gasoline and ethanol. These can be run on 100% hydrous ethanol or a blend of both. These special vehicles have sensors installed that detect the fuel blending and automatically adjust the engine combustion.
This ethanol is a climate-friendly Agro-economy because it reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHG-emissions) by 40 to 60% as compared to gasoline because the conversion of atmospheric CO2 and water into sugar and polymers occurs in the presence of sunlight through photosynthesis. So, as the vehicle emits CO2 into the atmosphere, it is readily converted into sugar. A cycle that prevents carbon emissions and greenhouse gas effects from deteriorating our environment.
Moreover, keeping the economic crisis and inflation in mind, this could be a lot cheaper than importing fuel. Furthermore, the deterioration caused by climate change in the form of floods and ecological collapse has affected many previous lives. Our management should adopt eco-friendly methodologies to run the country so as to avoid further climate change calamities.