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Ethanol fuel to meet energy requirements: Zaka Ashraf
Staff Reporter
Islamabad—The Technical Sub-committee on blending of ethanol for
motor vehicle and Bio fuel technology held its meeting under the
convenorship of Zaka Ashraf, President ZTBL, here today. The
President of Pakistan has earlier constituted high powered committee
on use of ethanol as alternate fuel to meet the concerns of critical
energy crises. The Technical Committee met here to discuss the
technical aspects of this vital Bio-fuel alternate to gasoline.
Ethanol was a renewable energy source commonly used to power
automobiles and was derived from sugarcane molasses and other crops.
It was easy to manufacture and could be made from very common crops
such as sugar cane and corn and was increasingly common alternative
to gasoline. Thus, Pakistan being an agricultural country could
produce additional 160,000 tons fuel without losing additional
dollars on import, said Zaka Ashraf.
The President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari has been showing keen
interest in alternate source of energy to minimize the heavy import
bill on oil of $ 11 billion and we could save upt Rs 1.6 billion on
promotion of Bio-diesel technology while Blending of Ethanol could
further save 500 million dollars, said the convenor in the meeting.
The Committee also attended the presentation of Ethanol and divulged
in detail the benefits and its use in the world over. The members of
the committee were apprised that ethanol was cheaper than gasoline,
Ethanol was a renewable fuel as were could make it again and again
without depleting valuable resources in the earth, Ethanol supported
local farmers as it was produced in local markets from available
renewable resources, such as corn and sugar cane, and above all it
was eco friendly resource.
The meeting was also attended by Member Planning Commission,
Additional Secretary, Ministry of Industries Production and Special
Initiatives, Director General, Environment Board Islamabad, Director
General, Chief Executive, Hydrocarbon Dev. Institute of Pakistan,
Islamabad, DG, Oil. This committee will submit its report to the
high powered committee constituted earlier by the President of
Pakistan. |
