The option of biogas

E-Paper | May 03, 2026

THIS is apropos Mohiuddin Aazim’s report ‘Slow progress on solar-powered tube-wells’ (March 30). Mr Aazim points out that the installation cost of a solar panel to drive a tube-well ranges between Rs1.50m and Rs1.80m and is not affordable by the majority of farmers.

Millions of head of cattle in Pakistan provide an opportunity to convert their manure into biogas. This biogas can drive a generator which can not only run the tube-well but would also provide much-needed electricity to our dark villages. Mian Ishaq of Bastee Shahbazpur, Sadiqabad, has designed and installed a biogas plant at less than Rs1million. His plant does the following:

a. Operate a generator to produce 30 KW of power.

b. This power runs his tube-well.

c. When the tube-well is not operating, the generator provides electricity to the houses of Mian Ishaque and his five brothers.

d. Biogas is also used as natural gas to cook food in six houses.

e. Mian Ishaque washes and compresses his biogas to fill the CNG cylinder of his car and propel it to 80km.

f. The by-product is a fertiliser which is used in his Kinnow orchard.

Why can’t we have 1,000,000 plants across Pakistan like the one made by Mian Ishaq. I can help design a modular plant which can be duplicated easily and quickly.

S. Nayyar Iqbal Raza

Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2015

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Muhammad Ashtar

Mar 31, 2015 12:25pm

Biogas is untaped resource in Pakistan. The cattle manure if is used for biogas production becomes even better organic fertilizer . Millions of cattle produce dung which give rise to CH4 in anaerobic condition . It is more potent green house gas than CO2. If we burn CH4 and change it into CO2 we get double benifit of energy and reduction in CH4 . So biogas being renewable resource has least carbon foot print . Actually half of rural China cooks on biogas. In Sweden one model train is running on biogas. In cheap and simple plants biogas is released slowly so can be used for cooking purposes directly. Howere for electricity genetation , it first needs to be refined which is a bit costlier prosses . After 100 years we will have no mineral fuels. It will be better if we start to shift our technology on alternative energy resources like biogas and solar energy . Both solar energy and biogas are renewable as sun will continue to burn with same intensity for half a million years.

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