Pakistan’s 75th birth anniversary coincided with news claiming to have produced a prototype of the country’s first electric car—the mode of transportation societies are forced to adopt in the wake of the impacts of climate change.
The producers of the car named Nur-E 75 unveiled it as Pakistan’s first locally manufactured electric car though at least two such efforts are known in the recent past. The first was made by Dr. Jamil Ahmed Khan at NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi, and another by Dr. Abid Karim at Usman Institute of Technology (UIT)—now a university.
UIT’s effort has also entered a mature phase and the innovators from the university led by Dr. Abid Karim are busy converting Suzuki into an electric car. He says they are waiting for the kits while their project is complete.
Meanwhile, Nur-E 75 has been produced by a non-profit organization DICE Foundation in collaboration with NED University of Engineering and Technology, DHA Suffa University, National College of Arts, Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) Punjab, National University of Sciences and Technology, Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, Amreli Steels, PSG and Kruddson Aluminum.
DICE is a US-based non-profit organization run by expatriate Pakistanis who have designed the prototype in collaboration with academia and industry.
The five-seater hatchback has a top speed of 127 kilometers per hour and will be introduced in the market at the end of 2024, a Dice Foundation statement says.
The car takes eight hours to get fully charged, after which it can run for 210 kilometers. It costs around Rs 4 million.
Dice Foundation Founder and Chairman Dr. Khurshid Qureshi termed the car a “gamechanger both for Pakistan’s economy as well as for the well-being of the common man”.
Dr. told the media that the work started in 2019 after TEVTA and Dice Foundation announced plans to develop Pakistan’s first electric vehicle. A ceremony had been organized to unveil the concept design of the car and MoU signing at the TEVTA Secretariat in Lahore.
DICE’s plans are not restricted to Nur-E 75 only, it has also planned to develop a sedan and a small SUV in the next two phases.
Nur-E 75, according to the producers, will consist of 60 percent imported parts while 40 percent be locally made.
In other words, the motor and battery—the two most essential components of the vehicle—will be imported and have a say in the assessment of the cost. However, the DICE chief says the level of local parts will hit 80 percent by 2026.
He said the battery pack has been designed and developed at DICE Energy Innovation Centre at NED University; exterior design visualization was developed at NCA, Lahore. Detailed computer-aided engineering was done at DICE automotive CAE Centre at DSU Karachi.
Fabrication and testing were done by DICE, NCA, and TEVTA teams mostly using the facility of TEVTA Punjab. Subsystems/components have been developed or acquired from the existing vendor base (Amreli Steels, PSG, Kruddsons, and others) or aftermarket.
He said some systems imported will be indigenized later. He said the vehicle control was done by the DICE team, locally. – KARACHI: ER

One does not know how Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reacted when officers around him put their plans to generate 9,000 megawatts from solar projects on a priority basis, the people in the business, however, did have their eyebrows raised for sure. And there are very pertinent reasons for it.
This is just a part of the Shahbaz government’s plan of generating 14,000 megawatts from solar energy projects this year. Seemingly, it’s a robust step to raise the share of green energy in Pakistan’s overall pool of energy.
The impetus is caused by the devastating national economy which, as the government believes cannot afford to generate energy by using expensive oil—the commodity that Pakistan solely imports.
To promote solar, the federal government wants to introduce reduced prices for solar systems and offer tax incentives. Besides, a comprehensive policy is required to provide the foundation for the shift from expensive fuels to alternative energy sources.
The prime minister said that the alternate energy policy introduced by the Imran Khan government in 2020 failed not only to produce the required results but also to attract investment.
If the former government’s line of action and its policy are lacking then the present government needs to take such potential initiatives missing in the said policy that distinguishes it from its predecessors. For instance, if the policy of Imran Khan’s government did not bear fruit then the policy should be formulated in a manner that speaks the discourse required for the country.
In addition, many other decisions are a must to get the required results. They include the policy support to localization of solar systems so that the value addition be ensured and thus imports can be reduced in this sector.
None of the components of the solar system is made in Pakistan and thus the consumers have no option but to go with the systems that are not as efficient as the modern systems being used in the developed world.
Experts say the efficiency of solar cells being used in Pakistan is not more than 20 percent as they are from older versions and produced by older assemblies being imported in Pakistan.
Since there is no local industry and the absence of research and development culture in Pakistan, the target of the government to go solar in a hefty manner seems unrealistic. ‘we shall require US$7 billion to have the capacity of 14,000 megawatts,’ says a senior engineer.
The government, he says, needs at least 2 years to formulate the policy and implement it.
Besides, Pakistan needs a culture of research and development and the engineering universities have to be pushed for research in genuine terms. We need our universities to work on increasing the efficiency of solar cells and, of course, on other components too.
Moreover, batteries are one more issue to be looked after. They are expensive and also they require a complete chain to ensure their availability.
In the presence of all these issues, the prime minister has directed prioritizing Balochistan in the provision of solar systems. As an intent, it is good but such systems require ownership that unfortunately has been missing in our societies. Therefore, the government has to make an arrangement to ensure it in a province where development outlays have gone into the vein for a long time.
The prime minister directed the authorities concerned to carry out comprehensive planning for the early execution of the solar projects. He called for giving priority to Balochistan in the provision of solar systems across the country.n

Over 800 graduates were awarded degrees in the first convocation of Nazir Hussain University (NHU).The event was held on the campus with Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah as the chief guests and Karachi Admi­nistrator Murtaza Wahab as the guest of honour.A total of 809 students got their degrees in the ceremony. Some 33 students were awarded gold medals for performing well in their respective subjects.Sadima Sohail of the Electrical Engineering Department was awarded a gold medal in the best graduate category.

Wind sweeping across the sea’s surface causes waves to form. There is an energy transfer from the wind to the waves as long as the waves propagate at a slower rate than the wind speed immediately above the water’s surface waves. In comparison to other well-established renewable energy sources such as wind, hydroelectric, and solar power, wave-power generation is not an extensively used commercial technology. Deepwater is defined as a water depth greater than half the wavelength, which is frequent in the sea and ocean. Longer-period waves propagate and carry energy more quickly in deep water. The phase velocity of the deep-water group is half that of the phase velocity. In shallow water, the group velocity equals the phase velocity for wavelengths greater than around twenty times the water depth, as encountered frequently along the coast.
Wind speed, the length of time the wind has been blowing, and fetch (the distance the wind has travelled stimulates the waves), and the depth and topography of the seafloor all contribute to wave height (which can focus or disperse the energy of the waves). The mechanism utilized to catch or harness the energy of the waves, as well as the location and power take-off system, are used to characterize wave power converters. Shoreline, nearshore, and offshore are all possibilities.
The device width of the point-absorber must be substantially less than the input wavelength. A good wave-maker has the same properties as a good point absorber. By sending out a wave that interferes with the incoming signal waves, the wave energy is absorbed. Buoys generate power in a variety of methods, either directly through linear generators or through generators operated by mechanical linear-to-rotary converters.
Swells provide a flexing action, which powers electricity is generated by hydraulic pumps. Environmental impacts are comparable to point absorber buoys, with the added risk of organisms being squeezed in the joints.
There is the possibility of a negative impact on the maritime ecosystem. Loudness pollution, for example, could have a detrimental influence if it is not controlled, despite the fact that each design’s acoustic and visual impact differs substantially. Other biophysical effects of scaling up the technology (flora and fauna, sediment regimes, and the structure and flow of the water column) are being investigated.
A wave farm, wave power farm, or wave energy park is a collection of wave energy devices installed in one location. Wave farms are a way to increase the amount of electricity produced. The number of machines, the distance between them, the geometric arrangement, the wave climate, the local geometry, and the control tactics will all influence how a park’s devices interact hydrodynamically and electrically.
An efficient wave power device absorbs as much of the wave energy flux as possible. As a result, the waves in the area behind the wave energy generator will be shorter.
Significant wave height is a word used at sea to establish a well-defined and standardized statistic to represent the distinctive height of random waves in a sea state, such as wind and swell. It’s written in such a way that it’s easy to understand closely resembles what a mariner sees while evaluating the average wave height visually.
The significant wave height can thus be Hm0 or Hs, with only a few percent variation between the two in magnitude. Significant wave height is used to describe the status of the sea, including wind and swell. A significant wave height is likewise defined similarly for the various systems that make up the sea, based on the wave spectrum. The wind-sea or a particular surge then has a significant wave height.n

BYU engineering students have designed an affordable water filtration device to help provide clean water in Pakistan, which has long been plagued by illnesses from unclean water.
Roughly 30% of diseases in Pakistan are the direct result of poor water quality, according to the National Library of Medicine, and a group of BYU engineering students decided to use their expertise and resources to help.
The BYU team created a device that takes water through both microfiltration and ultrafiltration using affordable materials.
Capstone coach Corry Cloward said that the system can filter down to .02 microns, which is a small enough measurement to remove bacteria like E. Coli, pathogens that cause waterborne illnesses and viruses.
After multiple rounds of building the device, the engineering capstone students at BYU tested the filtration system earlier this year in the school’s botany pond south of campus.
“We set the device up at the edge of the pond, ran the tube down into the water and turned on the pump. When the water came out of the filter for the first time, we were thrilled. It was as clear as glacier water,” BYU engineering team member Bethany Parkinson said.
The filtered water sample returned no harmful bacteria compared to the original pond water.
Elder Peter F. Meurs, lead manager of the project, said that while in communication with government leaders of Pakistan they found the No. 1 issue they needed help with was water purification.
“In talking to government leaders about the highest humanitarian priorities, leader after leader identified clean water as a very significant priority for the country,” said Elder Meurs, whose professional background is in engineering.
Elder Meurs, a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints currently serving in the Asia Area Presidency, has already been able to order 15 water treatment devices which are being placed immediately in various communities in Pakistan. — ERMD