Thursday, May 5, 2011

NUST inroduces cheap Biodiesel alternate energy


Students of National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) have produced low-priced bio-fuel, made from Jatropha plant. NUST is one of the top 350 universities of the world and is among Pakistan’s leading universities. The price to make one liter of biodiesel is just Rs 25 which is extremely cheaper than the current crude rates. Last year, cabinet committee drafted regulations to encourage bio-diesel production and cut the energy bills. Our oil imports are expected to reach 6.5 billion dollars by the end of this year.

NUST NUST inroduces cheap Biodiesel alternate energyHowever, if Pakistan assures that 10% of total furnace oil and diesel consumed is mixed with biomass energy crops, then we could cut import expenditure by as much as $ 1 billion. Ex-Federal Minister for Science &; Technology Senator Mohammad Azam Khan Swati had said, “This provision is going to limit the greenhouse gas emission from vehicles. It will also assure more reliable and secure sources of energy, as the level of fuel produced from crops are expected to double by 2015”.
The idea of “Fast track bio-diesel production process” was presented by School of Chemical and Materials Engineering- A school of NUST. Seeds are obtained from Jatropha plants which are processed further to get bio-diesel.

* Jatropha Carcus is an oil bearing tree, which can be cultivated easily in semi- arid regions of marginal soils. Sind, Baluchistan, many areas of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwah and Punjab are ideal places for its cultivation. It can also be cultivated as a hedge around fields or on already used lands.
* If Jatropha is planted in hedges it can produce 0.8 kg to 1.0 kg seeds per meter of live fence.
* Jatropha takes 4 to 5 years to mature fully. If rain fed, these plants can produce 0.35 to 0.375 gallon of oil per tree or 375 gallons per hectare or 150 gallons per acre. Whereas if irrigated with 3 to 5 liters per plant every 15 days, it can double the amount.
* One acre of Jatropha plant is sufficient to make 2000 liters of biodiesel.
* The biodiesel is clean burning and the process inherently removes a lot of impurities.

Currently, Philippines and Brazilians are using oil made from Jatropha seeds, where it grows naturally. NUST has also maintained a model farm consists of 15acre of Jatropha cultivation. Half a million trees have already been planted. Also some 4-5 million plants will be planted this year. Moreover, most of the generators and vehicles are also running on bio-diesel fuel in NUST with no issues at all.
If government supports this project, and shows honest concern in the field, then Pakistan can cut down heavy expenditures of Oil import. Moreover people of Pakistan will also observe a noticeable decrease in inflation.

Originally it was written by me for ApnaTime.See here

9 comments:

Muhammad said...

my comment to your blog article can be read here :
http://mbilal61.blogspot.com/2011/05/bio-fuelsthe-true-picture.html

Curl Jung said...

Hey,I was expecting an interview post..?
Change of plans?

Anonymous said...

i m shocked to see no comments on this post! well i dont think Government of Pakistan would show any interest in this field infact they will be devising ways to end it!! but if you encourage Financers from around Pakistan to support it in different regions than i m sure it can be a great success and more people involved less chances for the government to stop it! I M INTERESTED!!

ReeBz said...

Anonymous:

I m shocked too. it shows that first of all we need to aware our masses..they are not interested in clicking topics like this and dun consider such articles worth reading.

I donot know how financers can be encouraged?For this purpose too, there is a need of pro-investment policies and soft taxation.And you know govt isnot interested!!

how will you and me support financers ?

ReeBz said...

Hamza
Im sorry i couldnt post that interview. i definitely will inshallah on next weekend. you can find the answer in my last post that why i couldnt finalize the post :)

Curl Jung said...

@Reebz,You shouldn't be shocked.Your blog was away from the stream for a while,it''d take a week or so,to return to the usual flow of readers.

BTW,I was shocked too,I was expecting a total different post!!

ReeBz said...

Hamza:
Once again I m sorry for the delay :( but i really had some more important engagements for this weekend!

Syed Shah said...

hey nice blog...iam NEDian ..check out my blog on blogspot materialsengineering.blogspot and dont forget to share commments..THNKX

ReeBz said...

KingU there is something wrong with your blog. I cannot open it. Can you give me a direct link?

Post a Comment

You may disagree with the author's point of view.However,avoid attacking the author & offensive comments.Please keep in mind, comments with links will not be entertained!