Sustainability of Villages Through Electricity from Wheat Straw in Pakistan

Abstract

The sustainable and socioeconomic development of any country is based on reliable energy resources which are also to be considered as the lifeline of the country’s development. Pakistan is facing a severe energy crisis. Despite strong economic growth and rising energy demand during the past decade, some efforts have been made to install a new power plant for energy generation but have not achieved any sustainable development in this regard. The aim of this work is to utilize agricultural waste-based biomass like wheat straw to generate electricity in Punjab (PAKISTAN) to overcome the specter of load shedding and to fulfill energy demands in PAKISTAN. In this article, a detailed analysis of the production of wheat and wheat-straw has been debated. It is also studied that such field-based residues are a significant energy resource that can be used to generate electricity, based on clean energy technologies. In this paper, two biomass conversion technologies such as biomass gasification and biomass combustion are discussed in detail. It is also proposed one model village based on the wheat straw to fulfill the electricity demand of the village. Such proposed way can be implemented in the wheat rich areas. Therefore, in this paper, many recommendations have been reported for future consideration. Also, some clean energy-based technologies have been recommended which can lower environmental pollution and CO2. The potential of such waste/residues can be a sustainable source of income for the farmers as well as for the economy of the country. Therefore, some small units can be installed at the village level which can lower the overall energy crises. The impact of this research will be on the country economy, environmental friendly, and socio-economic.