To ensure “the continuous availability of energy in varied forms, in sufficient quantities and at affordable prices, the world is looking towards coal to play an important role in providing energy security.

The productive utilisation of indigenous coal and lignite reserves could promote economic progress while addressing environmental concerns. The function of coal in the energy sector would largely depend upon the transformation modes and technologies that offer better fuel options.

The versatility and novelty, present in biotechnology could contribute to efficient and beneficial utilisation of coal and lignite reserves. Biotechnology of fossil fuels and coal can be exploited in a number of ways. Desulfurisation, degradation and solubilisation of low rank coals, liquefaction and gasification are the major areas where biotechnology would be applicable.

The mild conditions of coal bioprocesses make them preferable over conventional thermal technologies requiring a great deal of temperature. Similarly, the novel developments in bioprocess technology offer lower processing costs, less stringent processing conditions and cost effective commercial scale microbial processes. Bio-gasification of Thar lignite ( largest lignite reserve in Pakistan) would be a revolutionary step towards the achievement of energy security through our own lignite reservoir. The high moisture content and low rank of Thar coal pose its suitability for the bioconversion into methane.

The complex heterogeneous nature of coal and network of large structural aromaticity make it an inappropriate substrate for micro-organisms. But the biological origin of coal forced researchers to pursue some gospels in the field of coal-biotechnology and to use it as a substrate for micro-organisms. Similarly, the degradation of leonardite (highly oxidised lignite) by fungal species have been studied and resulted into the formation of liquid products from lignite. These researches, until the late 1980s, opened up new horizons and thus biotechnology got penetrated into the “coal matrix”. It is well-understood that various microbial metabolites perform, synergistically, to degrade and solubilise coal and results in the formation of high value products like methane and methanol.

By exposing Thar lignite to in situ-biotransformation, Pakistan would be able to produce methane on a profit-oriented scale and, probably, the one in the world converting the coal into methane through the application of biotechnology. The physical features of Thar lignite are enough to take initiative for the task. An alkaline pre-treatment or treatment with lignin degrading fungi like Phanerochaete chrysosporium or combination of both these strategies, can lead to synthesis of solubilised lignite which will be treated with “acid formers”, acetogenic microbes and methanogens to yield methane and carbon dioxide under mild conditions with respect to conventional thermal gasification of coal.

The combined action of these microbes will open up the intricate macromolecular structure of coal and lead to packaging of smaller molecular units of methane and carbon dioxide. Traditional anaerobic packed bed and underground salt caverns have been suggested which can be cost-effective. In this way, bio-gasification will provide a satisfactory return for outlay in terms of alternative fuels from coal.

Methane and carbon dioxide constitute between 54-80 and 20-45 per cent in biogas, respectively and nitrogen and hydrogen are in trace amounts. This biogas stream can easily be transported to various parts of the country using conventional natural gas pipelines, thus avoiding the transportation cost which may be faced during the traditional utilisation of Thar lignite. Methane could be used as a domestic and transportation fuel and driver of power plants for electricity generation and steam turbines.

The cracking of methane would generate hydrogen i.e., the cleanest fuel of the world and future. Carbon dioxide can be separated from the stream and, in the perspective of global climate change in order to reduce the Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and combat global warming, can be stored in deep saline formations, depleted oil and gas fields and unmineable coal seams. While the solid phase isolated from the reactor should be explored for further potential use.

Biogasification of coal holds ultimate supremacy over conventional technologies in terms of reaction prerequisites and parameters. It is time for setting the compatibility of the use of fossil fuels with environmental imperatives through biotechnology. Moreover, government, industry and financial institutions have to take responsibility to spawn a suitable investment framework.

The National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) has given us a platform for advancement in coal beneficiation processes using biotechnology. The well-established Bioprocess Technology Division in NIBGE is working to investigate and develop innovative systems in the field of bio-treatment of coal.

A well-equipped Fossil Fuels Biotechnology laboratory has been set up in which the area of bio-desulfurisation has been explored successfully at laboratory and on commercial scale. Coal bio-desulfurization by heap leaching has been attained with the sulphur removal efficiency of 75 per cent. The research on removal of organic sulphur from coal is also in progress.

In short, NIBGE has paved the way for the efficient utilisation of indigenous coal resources through biotechnology and the bio gasification of Thar lignite is the best possible use of low rank indigenous coal resources. The current situation of energy crisis may steer us towards shortfalls and blackouts. To avoid it, it is recommended to initiate research and development in the field of novel conversion technologies of lignite and coal resources. Available expertise could be utilised to make a provision against future energy challenges.