CATTLE manure was first used by the Assyrians in the 900BC as flammable gas. Methane was confirmed as the major component of cow dung by Alessandro Volta in 1776. The first anaerobic digestion plant for treating sewage was constructed in Bombay (British India) in 1859. This technology was first introduced in Pakistan in the late 1960s by the Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR).

Gobar gas plants, as they were called, were introduced to the general public through documentaries aired on Pakistan Television (PTV) at a time when natural gas — Sui Gas — was not available in even major cities of the country. Gobar gas was meant for consumption in rural areas.

After initial PCSIR efforts, it was forgotten by successive rulers, and the trend of using kerosene oil and cylinders gripped the masses. Also, people in rural areas still collect timber for fuel which is not clean energy and also leads to deforestation. All this can change. In fact, all this has to change.

There are only about 23,000 biogas plants operational in Pakistan. Compared to the number of villages the country has, the availability of biogas plants is next to nothing. The largest of these plants is in Lahore’s Gujjar Colony which fulfils the gas requirement of the whole residential area. Another large plant was installed just last year in Karachi.

There is a need to move towards bigger, industrial-scale biogas and waste-to-energy projects, alongside household units, particularly in rural areas. Since cattle waste along with sewage and crop residue is used to generate biogas, a move in that direction will take care of un-hygienic conditions in the villages as well as the menace of smog that grips Punjab and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) during winters. Moreover, once methane has been extracted, the leftover can be sold as fertiliser on a commercial basis.

Dr Faheem Akhtar
Lahore

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2026