Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged the government to take measures to harness biomass potential for generating electricity. The biomass is now recognised as a clean and reliable renewable source of energy, ICCI president Zahid Maqbool said in a statement adding that Pakistan was producing enormous quantity of biomass through agricultural residues and different solid wastes which could be used for generating electricity.
Biomass like rice husk, cotton stalks, jute waste and other crop residues are produced in thousands of tons in Pakistan that should be used for power generation, he added. He said that Pakistan currently needed 11,500 MW power to meet its energy demand while it is producing just 8000 MW of electricity.
He said that one of the best options to cope with this shortfall is to exploit abundant biomass energy potential. He said country's energy demand is expected to increase three-fold by the year 2040 and the currently used resources such as natural gas and oil would not be able to meet its future energy needs as the fossil fuel reserves are on the decline while the natural gas is likely to go to alarming low levels by 2020.
In this scenario, biomass offers an attractive and cheap alternative source of energy, he said. Moreover, every city produces thousands of tons of solid municipal waste as well as millions of gallons of waste-water which can be converted into energy and organic fertiliser.
He was of the view that installation of biomass energy plants will also contribute positively to the country's economy by providing jobs apart from generating electricity, conserving fossil fuels, preserving precious foreign exchange and saving the space required for land filling.
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