Pakistan attempts to address its environmental issues adequately despite population growth. Environmental regulations, in the shape of Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997, are already in place.
The national environmental control policies are being implemented, and the Pakistan Environmental Protection Council and its related provincial agencies have been established. Furthermore, the government has recently applied the National Environmental Quality Standards related to air, water and noise pollution.
The core areas targeted for priority implementation under the National Conservation Strategy include integration of population and environmental programmes, of which pollution prevention or reduction is a vital element. Understandably, motor vehicle emission is a significant factor causing the environmental degradation and pollution. Air pollution in Karachi and Lahore at present is reported to be 20 times more than the World Health Organization’s standards, and continues to rise. In Lahore, the motor vehicle exhaust accounts for as high as 90 per cent of the total air pollutants. The magnitude of the problem can be gauged from the fact that currently there are over 4 million vehicles in Pakistan, which generate about 550 metric tons of lead emissions yearly. An average vehicle emits 25 times as much and 20 times as many hydrocarbons and over 3-1/2 times as many nitrous oxide in the ambient air, as that of an average vehicle in the US.
Realising that the government is aiming at promoting environmentally-sound technologies and the use of alternate fuels for vehicles, besides taking other measures in this direction such as the use of better quality of fuel and improved maintenance of the vehicles. In recent years the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and the compressed natural gas (CNG) have emerged as alternate fuels for vehicles in the country. Many rickshaw, taxi and some private car owners have, in recent past, switched over to the LPG, a cheaper source of fuel and low cost kit. The option however, has various limitations and is no longer in vogue.
The CNG is an indigenous, smoke-free, and clean fuel. The government, therefore, widely promotes, as a policy, the use of the CNG not only to curtail the import bill of petroleum products but also to reverse environmental degradation. Pakistan has 32 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves of natural gas and the potential of 200 trillion cu. ft., whereas, it currently produces only 2236 million cu. ft. Under the scenario, even the extensive use of the CNG in vehicles in future will not pose any supply problem.
Recently the government has made tremendous progress in promoting the CNG through setting up filling stations, conversion of petrol-run vehicles, and providing incentives to entrepreneurs. As a result more than 265,000 vehicles have already been converted to the CNG. The car assemblers in Pakistan have also responded well and have started marketing dedicated CNG cars that have gained instant popularity. Thus, Pakistan is reported to be ranking number three among the CNG users in the world.
In addition, plans are underway to introduce the dedicated CNG buses in Pakistan, initially in Karachi and Lahore, and the conversion of diesel buses on the CNG. The network of the CNG buses will be extended to other cities, including Islamabad, in the second phase. For the purpose, the necessary infrastructure is being developed at national level. The government initially plan to import about 2,000 dedicated CNG buses a year. Private sector has already taken initiative and would shortly operate a fleet of 300 CNG buses in Karachi. Currently, there are about 100,000 diesel-run buses plying on the roads, which need to be converted to the CNG. Various countries have shown interest in extending economic and technical assistance for the conversion of these buses on the CNG in major cities.
In view of this, the CNG sector is considered a major area of investment. Given the necessary support by the government, an investment of Rs40 billion is to be made in this sector by the private sector alone in next three years. It is, however, unfortunate that Pakistan continues its dependence on the imported conversion kits and other related equipment, and no serious efforts seem to have been made by the government or the industry for its indigenous manufacturing.
For last many years the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan has made efforts to develop conversion kit in the private sector, but could not bear fruit, mainly due to the low volumes at that time, and now, because of the lack of the government initiative. It is more than three years that the proposal of a public-sector-engineering unit to undertake the local production of these kits was pending with the government for approval.
A study has already been carried out regarding the feasibility of local manufacturing and the marketing of the CNG kits, according to which the kit consists of 140 components. Out of these, 57 items are high precision parts and require high-class metal cutting and die casting machines. Such facilities are available with Pakistan Machine Tool Factory, a state enterprise, and a couple of private industrial units at Karachi. Most of these items have been developed at one of these units through the reverse engineering, utilizing in-house design and manufacturing facilities.
The balance 83 items are either low technology components or standard parts, and can easily be procured from the local vendors. Thus, all the components can be produced indigenously even at the initial stage, for assembly of about 50,000 units per year. The additional investment nonetheless will be required, firstly, for increasing production capacity, and secondly, for provision of tooling and creating testing facilities at the premises.
The major constraint is that of technology. The CNG technology is advanced and only a few Western countries like Italy, New Zealand, the UK, the US and Argentina have mastered it. Logic therefore, dictates to produce the equipment through acquisition of foreign technology, rather than reinventing the wheel. For this reason the CNG equipment is to be produced under technical collaboration, or through the joint venture arrangement, and the technology partner has to be renowned and well-introduced in Pakistan with commitment to transfer technology fully. On the other side, it is imperative for the life-safety reasons that the production is allowed under strict quality control. This will require the hiring of the services of foreign experts, and training abroad of Pakistani engineers and technicians in the fields of production, assembly and testing.
In due course, plans shall also be made to pursue the development of the sub-sector further by undertaking production of other allied CNG equipment such as the cylinders, machinery for the filling station (compressor, pump, etc.), and, at a later stage, the manufacturing of the complete CNG engines as well.
To promote the use of environmentally sound technologies in the country the government is expected to allow various incentives to all the stakeholders, with focus on the investment decisions. This will result in numerous economic and social benefits. In order to build the capacity of industry and institutions the government may consider the following recommendations:
1. Encourage and promote local manufacturing and marketing of the CNG kits, thereby discouraging the import from different sources, under a phased programme. 2. Facilitate the technology transfer to local industry through the selected partners and under the umbrella of Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan. 3. Channel soft-term credit to the entrepreneurs for promoting the use of locally produced CNG kits and allied equipment, in addition to the existing SME Bank facility for the installation of kits. 4. Release of financial grants, under the technology development fund or through multilateral agreements, required for the R&D and the acquisition of technology. 5. Direct all local assemblers of cars and buses to enter into the long term agreements with the indigenous manufacturers of the CNG kit for their requirements. 6. Extend favoured treatment to those undertaking indigenous productions of the CNG equipment, with regard to import duty, sales tax, income tax, etc.