Garbage to Clean Fuel: An Integrated Solution for Karachi

Karachi is the heart of the economic activities of Pakistan that accommodates hefty migrants from all over the country for their better livelihood. According to World Population report, 16.62 million people are the residents of the city. Due to the overburdened population, Karachi is facing two glaring problems that are directly connected with the climatic and health risks, these issues are:
1) Garbage Accumulation in the City
2) Pollution harms due to Excessive Transportation
According to the research study related to Karachi CO2 emissions, 151 million metric tons of emissions were recorded during 2007 which is increasing exponentially. On the other hand, according to the report of ‘Pakistan Today’, 16,000 tons of garbage was piled up in the metropolis during the last year. The final destination of this garbage is landfills developed in the suburbs of Karachi while 30% remain in the streets. Thus, a comprehensive development is required to stave off the conspicuous climatic and health risks of the biggest city of Pakistan.
In this article, a comprehensive integrated solution of the two discussed problems is proposed i.e. Power Generation through Garbage to provide Electric Charging stations for hybrid and electric vehicles.
According to the study of ‘Turning Trash into Electricity in Daily Pakistan’, 100MW of electricity can be produced while utilizing only 40% of the disposed of garbage. The generated power can be effectively utilized as source of charging for electric and hybrid vehicles. Since the biggest problem with the electric vehicles is its range anxiety which can be addressed while providing state of the art electric vehicle charging stations being fueled by the garbage of the city (after conversion of garbage into electricity).
Addressing the range anxiety with reliable power generation source would open new avenues for the indigenous electric vehicle production in the country.
The waste-to-energy power plants are used for power generation through garbage. These plants are installed all over the world whereas Sweden only holds unprecedented 34 operational waste-to-energy power plants instead of utilizing the Coal or other conventional power generation resources.
A comprehensive study can be prepared based on the economic viability of the Incineration plants to be installed based on the potential of available garbage. The key outcomes of the plan will lead to:
1) Utilization of Garbage which will reduce the garbage pile up and mismanagement in the city
2) Free of cost power production for electric and hybrid vehicles
3) Production of Electric Vehicles in Pakistan
4) Low pollution due to effective utilization of electric vehicles powered by a cleaner fuel
5) Provision of employment in the city
6) Power can be connected to the grid in case of excess r generation
The proposed solution requires comprehensive research on the waste-to-energy power plants, indigenous electric vehicle production, effective mechanism for garbage segregation and collection for waste to energy power plants and overall economic feasibility of the project. (The author is Ph.D. (Energy Management Systems) – Energy Research Center, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus. – fawad.azeem1@gmail.com)