The Scientific Ravi 2011 - Government College University

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The Scientific Ravi 2011 

Absorption of Pollutants and 

Production of Renewable Fuel: 

Potential of Algae in Pakistan 

Farooq Ahmad 

FaclIll)' J1ember & PhD Scholar 

In Pakistan. economic growlh has generally 

been achieved at the cost of the 

environment. since most production and 

manufacturing processes exploit healthy. but 

scarce ecosystems. The hellvy dependence 

on natural resources and resulting 

environmental degradation has generated a 

cycle' of "ecological poverty" with 

implications for the sustainability of 

economic growth. 

Studies conducted recently by the 

Government and donor agencies in Pakistan 

have highlighted a number of environmental 

issues. Broadly. the affected areas include 

water. energy. wastc management. irrigated 

agriculture and biodiversity. Overall. these 

studies reveal deterioration in all these areas 

but the increasing pollution of water bodies 

and energy crisis have an enormous impact 

on environmental conditions in Pakistan. 

The Government. private sector and civil 

society have not responded adequately to 

meet these challenges. although there have 

been some exceptions. such as the 

s\\ itchover to cleaner fuels in the transport 

sector. but still there is need to do more. 

Algae in this respect can playa vital role not 

only to treat wastewater. but to produce 

environment friendly biofuels. Algae are a 

diverse group of simple plant-like 

organisms. growing in fresh water and sea 

water. A specific group of algae are capable 

of producing oil more than 50 times than 

other oilseed crops. At present. the crude oil 

price in the world is around US$ 

120fBarrcl. One renewable and pollution 

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free energy source is biodiesel produced 

from natural oils. which arc non-edible like 

Algae (Kai). Jatropha (Jamal Gota). 

Pongame (Sukh Chain) and Castor 

(Arhand). Biodiesel burns cleaner than 

conventional gasoline while having similar 

efficiency as that of fossil fuel. The potential 

of biodiesel production can be made 

economical by growing Algae (Kai) in 

marginal land. in saline water or in the waste 

water ponds. Certain species of algae can 

produce 5.000-20.000 gallons of oil per acre 

per year. 

The Government of Pakistan announced 

that 10% blending of petroleum with 

biodiesel should start from 2015. Algae can 

also be economically converted into solid 

fuels. methane gas. or bio-ethanol. It can 

also be used to generate electricity which in 

turn can be used to obtain hydrogen fuel to 

power hydrol:en fuel cells. The amount of 

land requirement for growing algae is also 

minimal as compared to other oil yielding 

crops. Pakistan can use its 27million acre of 

saline lands to cultivate algae. which is the 

best alternative feedstock to biofuel 

production. It is estimated that Pakistan's 

import bill can be reduced by Rs. 69.5 

billion if only biodiesel produced from nonedible 

raw materials is used in the 

transportation sector. There arc a number of 

species of Algae (Chlorella. Scenede.l'mll.l'. 

Cladophora etc.) identified. which arc 

suitable to climatic conditions of 

Pakistan. Alglle having good oil yield can 

be grown and harvested very quickly. 

The cultivation of Algae is expected to bring 

double benefit to the environment in the 

sense that Algae can be used to extract 

nutrients from waste water. which it 

converts to fats for bio diesel 

production. Algal biodiesel resource 

requirement is land. water and CO 2 . this can 

support biodiesel production and CO 2 

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savings. Thus the scientists believe that the 

"Algae absorbs pollutants & gives us 

biodiesel" and during biodiesel production 

glycerin is obtained as valuable by-product. 

whose market price is Rs. 170/1iter. 

There are three well-known methods to 

extract the oil from algae: (i) expeller/press 

(ii) solvent extraction with hexane and (iii) 

supercritical lluid extraction. A simple 

process is to use a press to extract a large 

percentage (70-75%) of the oils out of 

algae. Algal oil can also be extracted using 

chemicals. The most popular chemical for 

solvent extraction is hexane. which is 

relatively inexpensive. Supercritical lluid 

extraction is far more eflicient than 

traditional solvent separation methods. 

Supercritical lluids are selective. thus 

providing the high purity and product 

concentrations. This can extract almost 

100% of the oils all by itself. In the 

supercritical fluid carbon dioxide (C02) is 

extracted and liquefied under pressure then 

heated to the point that it has the properties 

of both a liquid and gas. This liquefied lluid 

then acts as the solvent in extracting the oil. 

The chemical conversion of the oil to its 

corresponding fatty ester (biodiesel) is 

called transesterification. Transesterification 

refers to a reaction between an ester 

(triglyceride) of one alcohol (glycerin) and a 

second alcohol (methanol) to form an ester 

of the second alcohol (methyl ester). 

Hundreds of scientific articles and various 

other reports from around the world dealing 

with vegetable oil-based alternative diesel 

fuels or biodiesel have appeared in print. 

The main feedstock for producing biodiesel 

are rapeseed oil in Europe and soybean oil in 

the United States but algae can be the best 

option to replace these oi lseed crops. 

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barren lands for abundant biofuel 

production. Usually Algae contains about 40 

percent of oil and 60 percent residual biomatter. 

hence after extracting 40 percent of 

oil which can be used for biodiesel 

production. the left over 60 percell! biomatter 

can be used for animal feed. 

bioethanol production and some other 

purposes mentioned above. Pakistan Council 

of Scientific and Industrial research (PCSIR) 

is undertaking a research project to 

determine the feasibility of growing algae in 

saline water and wastewater ponds. 

Research on utilization of freshwater algal 

species for wastewater treatment and 

biodiesel production is also going on in 

Sustainable Development Study Centre. GC 

University Lahore. 

The advantages of using algal species 

include higher oil yield. cultivation in saline 

and wastewater ponds, a ready source of 

biomass for the production of heat energy, 

transformation of methane through algae 

culture grown material and the production of 

biological hydrogen for use in fuel cells. 

"The direct advantages to Pakistan include a 

pollution-free and greener Pakistan, 

employment for farmers. laborers and 

reduction in fossil fuel import. In addition 

import of fossil fuel from other countries 

will be reduced and local petroleum 

companies will also receive a welcome 

boost. Pakistan is depending on fossil fuel so 

there is dire need to establish a 'Biofuel 

Research Center' where we can focus to 

develop biofuel industry in the country using 

advanced technologies. 

Some countries had already started projects 

on saline algae farming to utilize their 

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Lahore 

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Bioplastics 

Conventional 

versus 

Plastics 

Fatella 

Bioplastics are the plastics which are 

manufactured using polymers derived from 

plant material called as biopolymers such as 

starch and cellulose. Some molecules 

deriwd trom plants, which are not polymers 

but are polymerizable, for example, lactic 

acid deri ved from corn and potatoes and 

triglycerides are also getting fame among 

scientists due to their appreciable role of 

these organic molecules in plastic synthesis. 

;-' ..1any plastic manufacturing companies are 

now concerned with the production of 

bioplastics and their use in coverings and 

packaging materials instead of conventional 

plastic. as the conventional plastic dumping 

is associated with emissions of hazardous 

gases. biophenoles (which are endocrine 

disrupters) and damaging of food chain. 

Dumping of plastics in oceans is one of the 

big issues regarding threats to aquatic life. It 

ha~ been reported that about 2.5 billion 

plastic bottles are dumped each year into 

oceans bv America alone which are less than 

30% or' the total dumped-plastic in the 

world. It is not that the conventional plastic 

is not degradable. but it requires hundreds of 

veal'S to-degrade which imposes threat to 

j'ood chain ~nd land resources. Moreover. 

polc-mer resins that are constituents of 

plastic are derived from petroleum and 

natural gas i.e. nOI1- renewable energy 

sourccs. This curtails the aspect of 

slistainabilit). 

On the other hand. biopolymers are obtained 

Irom the renewable energy sources like corn 

and soya bean. ivlanufacturing process 

involve; the biochemical process such as 

fermentation. To produce the constituents of 

bioplastics i.e. biopolymers scientists are 

tixusin~ on the use of al~ae ")I" this purpose 

- - 

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along with the bacterial use. On the basis of 

their-biotic origin bioplastics are referred as 

biodegradable plastics. The recycling of 

such ;vpe of plastic is also a pollution tree 

proces's as compared to conventional plastics 

recycling. 

One school of thought is that. the 

conventional plastic production consumes 

only 4% of the total world oil and these are 

obtained as a byproduct of natural gas. crude 

oil extraction and refining process. Majority 

of the countries \\here plastic is produced 

have the recycling setup for petroleum based 

plastics. On the other hand. biopJastics 

production will have impact on 

eutrophication. pesticides pollution and 

ecotoxicitv. that is, there production carries 

environm~ntal cost as well. Introducing the 

bioplastics for recycling into already present 

recvcling streams will not be possible, new 

stn;clUr;s will be needed. Moreover 

bioplastics can not only be stemmed as 

green just because of the fact that these are 

derived from biomass. In fact. there is still 

no studv which could prove that the 

degradation will be really very rapid and if 

th;v are reallv readilv degradable (as now it 

has' been w~rked O~il by scientists). then 

what's the assurance that thei I' 

decomposition will not release any harmful 

product and one step ahead degradation of 

that harmful products will be rapid or nol. 

So to s\\ itch to the bioplaslics from 

petroleum based plastics may not 

necessarily be a grecn and sustainable step. 

Certain t;lCts arc ignored b" the critics lhat 

althouoh onlv 4'Y; of the - world total oil 

produc~ion i~ consumed in conventional 

plastic pmduction but how much this 4% 

along \\'lth the production process and 

dumping process is contributing towards 

glohal \varming and eco toxicity is not 

~onsidered. Re~earchers have fo'und that 

production of bioplasties require less t,'ssil 

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fuels so less contribution towards global 

warming and reduced resource depletion as 

well. As for as recycling is concerned, the 

recycling and incineration of conventional 

plastic are generating a serious air pollution 

problem. Despite of the fact that less than 

2% of the plastic is recycled each year in the 

countries 

like USA. 

Viewing all the above mentioned facts. if the 

plastic which is expected to degrade rapidly 

due to their biotic origin and its production 

use and dumping will not impose 

devastating threats to environment as 

compared to conventional plastic consuming 

less energy as well are recycled atier their 

use, it will delinitely be a good step towards 

protection of resources and environment. In 

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China, Biodegradable plastic capacity 

reached to 80.000tones in 2007. China 

exported more than 95% of the bioplastics to 

developed countries Iike Europe and 

America (Global and china biodegradable 

plastic industry report. 20 I0). According to 

a report global demand for bioplastics is 

expected to reach 884,OOOtones by 2020. 

Although till 2009. bioplastics accounted 

less than I% of the global demand for 

plastic. (The future of bioplastics for 

packaging t02020. global market forecast). 

But it is an indication that markets are 

gradually shining from the conventional 

polymers towards biodegradable and 

compostable polymers. 

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L"horc 

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Electronic Waste Disposal in 

Pakistan 

Ai=ai=-c-Flllima 

Electronic waste (E-waste) refers to the 

electronic equipment that has passed its 

average aj;e. This electronic waste comes 

from circuit boards. cathode ray tubes. 

connectors and other elements that are 

essentral for most electronic goods and 

alwavs contain poisonous substances such as 

lead.-tin. mercury. cadmium and barium. 

These toxic compounds lead to serious 

health effects such as mental retard ness. 

censors. reproductive disorders. hormonal 

dvsfunction etc. Furthermore. chemicals 

s;Jch as beryllium. cadmium. chromium. 

lead and mercury that are used in computer 

motherboards. chip resistors/ 

semiconductors. floppy disks. 

batteries/computer monitors. alkaline 

batteries respectively. pose severe health 

risks. 

Pakistan is thought to be a dumping site for 

electronic waste bv the developed states due 

to poverty and i~equality. At local level. 

electronic waste is dumped in municipal 

waste and burned. This releases 

carcinogenic substances in the air. A good 

exam pic can be that of Karachi. It is a major 

dumping site for electronic waste rrom all 

over the world. Most of the dumping occurs 

on board. in 5hershah and Lyari. 

Pcople do much of the manual work. which 

comprises of separating useful electronic 

parts such as copper and metal scrap. out of 

the dumped material. Workers are 

continually being exposed to the toxins and 

radii)active decays and are completely 

unaware or the harm rul effects of it. They 

burn plastics and collect copper wires to sell 

in the market and use furnaces Itlr melting 


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purpose without any safety measure. 50 far. 

no action plan has been devised nor any 

regulatory measure is taken for the proper 

disposal of electronic waste. however. some 

private sectors are working on it. for 

example. :vlobilink. It is a leading mobile 

phone operator in the country. and has 

initiated the Mobilink Handset Recycling 

Program in collaboration with the Pakistan 

Ass~eiation of the Deaf (PAD) and the 

Disabled We 1t:1re Association (DWA). 

According to this program. old and damaged 

mobile phones. batteries. chargers. and other 

such accessories are donated by dropping 

them in the bins that are speeilieally being 

placed for this purpose at defined sectors. 

These cells are then collectcd and recycled. 

But People are unaware of this program. At 

local level. people use this common practice 

of dumping their electronic waste in 

municipal waste bins or by simply selling 

those items in private markets. 

From these markets. this electronic waste 

comes to Brantherd road in Lahore. 

The formal work of separating plastic and 

other metals is done manually. 

Hired laborers use hammers and other such 

things to I()rce open the locks of electronic 

equipments such as mobile phones. and 

make sure the complete separation of 

plastic. copper. iron. brass. nickel etc. all 

this process is done without any 

technological assistance. 

A Iter this separation. plastic is transported to 

the Ravi road Lahore. where furnaces are 

being placed and the proeess of melting 

Ol:eurs. Furnaces near Misri-Shah. Lahore. 

are used It>I" metal recvclin~. . ~ Thev. 

have 

numbers assi~ned to each furnace. according 

to the quality~or the mctal being melted in it. 

This metal that is being melted forms 

dilferent layws according to its purity. The 

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pure metal. settles down and the highly 

impure and low quality iron. !loats on the 

surface. which is collected and used in 

making different machines such as electric 

motors. A part of it is sold to the steel mills 

too. 

Copper is collected as it settles down in the 

furnace through an outlet and collected in 

rod shapes. This melted material is thus 

recycled through this process and made to 

fine sheets on large scale or made to many 

useful moldings. with the help of a dye. 

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lies in their implementation in countries like 

Pakistan with poor economic growth and 

facilities. 

Below given are some of those examples 

that tell us how we can and should treat e- 

waste. 

[-waste 

Processing 

management 

techniques 

On other hand. plastic. which is collected 

alier melting. is mixed in different 

proportions with other useful elements and 

made into "prills". which are remolded into 

different many shapes. or sheets'. depending 

on the function it has to perform. 

The problem lies in the open dumping and 

direct exposure to the hazardous waste. As 

said earlier. residents and the hired labors 

are at a constant risk of becoming ill due to 

carcinogens and other radioactive 

substances. Plus, the leeched material. that 

finds its way to the water bodies. pollutes 

aquatic life and produces toxic effects in 

those who consume this water. Furthermore. 

open furnaces pose major threats to 

environmental air quality standards. 

Solutions to these problems can easilv be 

understood. if one considers health care 

measures. Workers should be provided with 

glo~es and masks and proper hygienic 

environment. 

Landfill sites should be monitored carefully 

so that the leechet may not lind its wav to 

the water table beneath: . 

Talking about the e-waste management. 

developed countries provide us with some of 

the examples. but the problem once again 

(Recyclillg 

{he lead FU/II balleriesj 

One example IS an "alternative bulk 

system"; a hopper conveys material for 

shredding into an unsophisticated 

mechanical separator. with screening and 

granulating machines to separate constituent 

metal and plastic fractions. which are sold to 

smelters or plastics recyclers. Such recycling 

machinery is enclosed and employs a dust 

collection system. 

A dust collection system is an air quality 

improvement system used in industrial. 

commercial. and home production shops to 

improve breathable air quality and safety by 

removing particulate matter Irom the air and 

environment. Dust collection systems work 

on the basic formula of CAPTURE. 

CONVEY and COLLECT: 

First the dust must be CAPTURED. This is 

done by employing devices such as capture 

hoods to catch the dust at the source of 

origin. i\olany times. the machine producing 


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the dust will have an integral port to which a 

duct can be directly attached. 

Second. the dust must be COl\'VEYED. This 

is done via a ducting system properly sized 

and manit •.)ld 10 maintain a consistenl 

minimum air velocity required to keep the 

dust in suspension f •.)r convevance 10 the 

collection device. A mis-sized ducI can /ead 

to material settling in the duct system and 

clogging it. 

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As for Trommel: A Trommel is a screencd 

cylinder used to separate materials b\ size _ 

f•.)r example. separating the biodeg~,ldable 

fraction of l1li.,ed municipal \I'aste or 

separating di fferent sizes of crushed stolle. 

Finally. the dust is COLLECTED. This is 

done via a variety of means. depending on 

Ihe application and the dust being handled. It 

can be as simple as a basic pass-through 

filter. a cyclonic separator. or an 

impingement baffle. It ean also be as 

complex as an electrostatic precipitator. a 

multista~e.•.. ba~ ••... house. - or a chemical'" . 

treated \I et scrubber or stripping to\ler. 

Some of the emissions arc cau~ht b\' 

scrubbers and screens. Nlagnets.~ edd;' 

currents. and trommel screens arc employed 

to separate glass. plastic. and ferrous and 

non ferrous metals. \I h ich can then be further 

separaled at a smelter. Eddy currents (also 

called Foucaufl l'urrl'nts arc currents 

induced in conductors. \I hen a conductor is 

c.\POSI.:O to n changing Illagnetic Ijl.,.'ld due 10 

relati\e motion of the field sourcc and 

conductor: or duc to variations of the field 

\\ ith timc. This can cause a circulatin" 110\1 

of electrons. or a currcnt, \\'ithin Ihc b~d\ of 

the conductor. Thcse circulating eddie~ of 

currenl havc inductance and thus induce 

magnetic fields. These fields can cause 

repulsive. attractive. propulsion and drag 

effecls. fhe strongcr the appficd magnetic 

field. or thc grcater thc elcctrical 

conductivily of thc conductor. l1I' the faster 

the field ehan~es. then the "reatcr the 

~ '" 

currcnts that arc devcloped and the greater 

the fields produced. 

(;C University', 

Lahore 

IAn uln'raring I rumll1


Hazardous smoke and gases are captured, 

contained, and treated to mitigate 

environmental threal. These methods allow 

for safe reclamation of all valuable computer 

construction materials. 

Hewlett-Packard product recycling solutions 

manager Renee 51. Denis describes its 

process as: "We move them through giant 

shredders about 30 feet tall and it shreds 

everything into pieces about the size of a 

quarter. Once your disk drive is shredded 

into pieces about this big, it's hard to get t~p 

data otT'. 

An ideal electronic waste recycling plant 

combines dismantling for component 

recovery with increased cost-effective 

processing of bulk electronic waste. 

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Additionally, recycling reduces the amount 

of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the 

manufacturing of new products. It simply 

makes good sense and is efficient to recycle 

and to do our part to keep the environment 

grcen. 

Environmental and social benefits of reuse 

include diminished demand for new 

products and virgin raw materials (with their 

own environmental issues); larger quantities 

of pure water and electricity for associated 

manufacturing; less packaging per unit; 

availability oftcchnology to wider swaths of 

society due 10 greater affordability of 

products; and diminished use of landfills. 

Reuse is an alternative option to recycling 

because it extends the lifespan of a device. 

Devices still need eventual recycling, but by 

allowing others to purchase used electronics, 

recycling can be postponed and value gained 

from device usc. 

Benefits of Recycling 

Recycling raw materials from end-of-life 

electronics is the most effective solution 10 

the growing e-waste problem. Most 

electronic devices contain a variety of 

materials, including metals that can be 

recovered for future uses. Audiovisual 

components, televisions, VCRs, stereo 

equipment, mobile phones, other handheld 

devices, and computer components contain 

valuable clements and substances suitable 

for reclamation, including lead, copper. and 

gold. 

By dismantling and providing reuse 

possibilities. intact natural resources arc 

conserved and air and water pollution 

caused by hazardous disposal is avoided. 

GC University. 

Lahore 

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Green Inspiration- SAFINA Z. 

SIDDIQI 

Eh\WI Gul 

An honouruble PakisllIlli: \l'ho achiel'ed 

UNEP Global 500 Rolls of HOlloul" jiJI" 

environmel1lal cOllservatioll ill 1995. 

When nearing the age of 60 - a time of 

retirement for most people - Safina Z. 

Siddiqi was just gearing up to lead the 

women in her neighbourhood in Karachi in a 

campaign to improve their environment and 

living conditions. Her living-room wall. 

plastered with "before" and "after" pictures. 

portrays the fruits of the women's efforts. 

Before. the streets were pitted with potholes. 

open sewers spilled over contaminating 

drinking water and uncollected garbage 

accumulated into stinking heaps on the road 

sides. Since 1989. when Siddiqi founded the 

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Karachi Administration Women's Welfare 

Society (KA WWS). the sites have changed. 

The women - the majority of whom are 

housewives (like Siddiqi) with no university 

education - pressured civil servants to help 

them build and repair roads in neglected 

areas. fix sewers and install street lights. The 

women themselves established a garbage 

collection system. planted tree saplings. 

established a caretaking system to ensure 

their survival. and established eight parks - 

one which replaced a sewage pond. In 199~. 

KA WWS made quality drinking water a 

national issue when it tiled public interest 

litigation bei()re the countrv's Supreme 

Co~rt as a human rights case: Siddiqi and 

her neighbours' efforts have attracted more 

mcmbe;s and international recognirion. 

1\lcmbership has swelled to more than 100 

and Siddiqi's story was one of ~OO 

community development successes reported 

during the 1991 Global Assembly of 

Women and Environment in Miami. USA. 


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Foreign Aid: a Blessing or a 

Curse for Pakistan'? 

Alleel /"iClOr 

Facully Memher 

Aid or forcign dcvclopmcnt assistancc has 

bccn a dominant fcature of thc relationship 

bctwccn Industrial and Dcveloping countrics 

since 1960s. Aid reccipts havc been a major 

sourcc of external financc for the majority of 

countries in A frica and Asia. since their 

independence. The prcdominant nature of 

aid has changed considerably from "projcct 

linancc" in the 1960s to "adjustmcnt 

support" in the 1980s but its economic 

importanec to rccipients has remained 

considerable. As aid flas becn such an 

impol:t,IIV source 1l1r development of 

linancc. a large literature has emerged on 

evaluating thc cffects. espccially the 

macroeconomic impact on savings. 

investmcnt and growth of aid. 

Foreign Aid is given primarily to the 

elwernmcnt and that hence' any impact of 

;id on the economy will depend on 

governmcnt bchavior: in particular how 

liscal decisions on taxation and expenditure 

arc affected by aid revenues. Government 

expenditures come from two sources: 

Foreign Aid and Governmcnt domestic 

revcnue. Government rcvenuc in turn is 

dependent on the tax rate. Governments 

have a target !lJr aid revenue and this 

"e"pceted" ;evenue is incorporated into thcir 

liscal planning. that is. whcn detcrmining 

revcnue and cxpcnditurc allocations. aid 

revenuc is wkcn into account. 

Since indepcndcnce I'akistan has had to 

dcpend on foreign assistancc in its 

development cfl,1I'ls and to balance its 

illlef'llational dcbt pa) ments. In 1960 the 

World Bank organizcd the A id-to-Pakiswn 

Consortium to facilitatc coordination among 

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the major providers of international 

assistance. Thc consortium held 92 perccnt 

of I'akiswn's outstanding disburscd deht at 

the end of Junc 1991. The consortium's 

membcrs include the United States. Canada, 

Japan. Britain. Gennany. francc and 

international organizations such as the 

World Bank and the Asian Development 

Bank (ADB). which was the largest lendcr 

in the carl v 1990s and it accounted for 15 

perccnt. ~lost non consortium funding 

comcs from Saudi Arabia and other oilproducing 

Middle Eastern countries. \Iost 

aid is in the form of loans. although the 

proportion of grants increased from around 

11 pcrcent in the late 1970s to around 15 

percent in the 1980s, mainly because of food 

aid and other funds directed toward Afghan 

refugecs. With thc decline in this aid after 

1988. the proportion of grants decreased to 

16 perccnt in fiscal Year 1991. Thc Unitcd 

Statcs has becn a major provider of aid since 

indepcndence and was the largcst donor in 

the 1980s. 

The underdeveloped coulllries like Pakiswn 

are entrapped in a "Vicious circle of 

I'overtv", Because of low incomes. the 

saving'ratios also rcmain low. resulting in 

low investmcnt levels. At thc same timc. due 

to low income thc taxable capacity remains 

lower. i.e. government earnings also remain 

low. In such situations. the under-developcd 

countries have to face saving investment 

delicit as well as the deficit in balance of 

paymcnts. 

Forcign aid. on positive sidc. has helped 

Pakistan in boosting the GDP. Growth 

through structural transformation of the 

ccononw: laid ttllindations of thc industrial 

and aericultural scctors: provided tcchnical 

assist,;nce: pol it:) ad vice and modef'll 

technology assisted in overcoming the 

budeet deficits 8:. the balance of payments 

deli~it and has also funded the projects for 

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Lahorc 

180

The Scientific Ravi 20 II SDSC 

the social sector developmcnt projects. Thus 

the overall impact of thc aid on the 

economic development IS positive and 

proves to be blessing. 

But on the ncgative sidc. aid sccmcd to have 

substituted for domcstic savings. increase 

debt burden, As the various deht indicators 

depicts that Pakistan's debt burden increased 

over time and the country may caught in 

severe debt servicing problem if the 

macroeconomic management. foreign trade 

and domestic saving policies are not 

designed and implemented appropriately. As 

a recipient country aid decreases taxation 

revenue in Pakistan. It is sometime believed 

thm foreign assistance has caused long term 

economic stagnation and the pcrpetuation of 

poverty in Pakistan. Of the total $12.3 

billion in U.S. aid to Pakistan since 2002. 

less than 27 percent went toward 

development and economic assistance. 

ivleanwhile. growing extremist violence and 

lack of access to insurgcnt areas has 

severelv constrained international aid 

officials as well as their Pakistani 

counterparts. Anger over suspected U.S. 

unmanned drone attacks has led militants to 

kill and abduct forcign aid officials in 

Pakistan's northwest and /lalochistan 

Province. Experts also say thc United States 

lacks the institutional capacity to implement 

sophisticatcd. targcted development 

programs in Pakistan. Under such conditions 

foreign aid appears a curse for Pakistan. 

In our countr} aid fungibility pn'cess occurs 

hecause as a recipient it tails to use aid in 

the manner intended by donors: the implicit 

assumption is that donors grant aid Il)r 

invcstment purposes and fungibility arises 

\\hen recipicnts diven these limds into 

consumption uses and this is \\hm happens 

with Pakistan, Political elites in Pakistan. 

dctined as the share of the population 

belonging to the upper income quintile. an: 

lew in number yet they are very resourceful. 

With the introduction of an elite group in 

our society we are implicitly bifurcated 

between the have and have-nots. Domestic 

political support is also dependenl on tile' 

we Hare of elite groups \\"ithin such a s()Ci,.t} 

like that of Pakistan. Milton Friedman ol'lh" 

Iloover Institution on War. Revolution. and 

Peace argued that "aid 1:11' fi'om contribuling 

10 rapid economic devclopmenl along 

dcmocratic lincs. is likel} to retard 

improvement in thc \\ell-heing of tlw 

masses". indicating that aid \\as onl} likel) 

to benefit a political elite. fn popular as 

opposed to academic discourse. one of the 

most pertinent problcms may be that e1it,., 

'steal' the aid resources. 

Very recently U.S. President Barack Obama 

called upon Congress to pass pcnding bills 

of $7.5 billion in nonmilitary aid to Pakistan 

for the next live years and create 

reconstruction opportunity zones to enhance 

regional trade and foreign investment. /lut 

security Ihreats 10 U.S. personnel. lack of 

oversight. a weak Pakistani leadership. I",'k 

of good governancc and mistrust het\\een 

Islamabad and Washington continue to pose 

serious hurdles. 

Consequently. what IS onen impli,.;tly 

blamed is n,lI fon:ign "id per se but the 

absence of democratic checks and b"lan,',', 

on politicians thm are either \Ieak or entirel} 

absent in the majority of developing 

countries. II' there is a political control of 

il)reign aid. democratization \\ould Ihus 

Iheoreticall} bencfit the relativel} poor 

when resources. such as forcign aid. '!I'C 

available. Accordingly. there is a need of nol 

only good policies but also th,' 

implementation of Ihese policies as \\ell as 

the proper monitoring of thc aid-utilizing 

projects is necessar} in order to avoid the 

misutilization and the mismanagemcl1I ot' 

the foreign capital resources. 

GC University, Lahore 1 () •


A final possible explanation rests on how 

closely donors are monitoring the Oows of 

aid resources within developing countries. 

Particularly the possibility exists that donors 

are morc lenient in implementing 

developing projects. monitoring aid flows 

and upholding conditionalities when 

partnering with democratic developing 

countries. 

Most donor agencies officially monitor the 

process of democratization in recipient 

countries and earmark a significant part of 

their budgets for democratization purposes. 

As a result we can say. the aid may be 

helpful in boosting economic growth only 

under the presence of appropriate monetary, 

fiscal and the trade policies and thus should 

be given to the countries that will use it 

wisely, and not to the countries that will use 

it otherwise. 

The Story of Bottled-water 

Fawad Ali 

The other dav while roaming in universitv I 

'" ••.. ",' 

noticed that every third or so student was 

swinging bottled-water in his hand. It might 

not seem strange. because you also use 

bottled water. But travel back in time about 

40 years from now. in 1968 when bottled 

water was first introduced in Pakistan. Most 

people laughed off passing by, water is free 

they said. what would they sell us next. air!! 

Back then. the health conscious people of 

Pakistan used to install homc water filters or 

simply boiled the water from the tap which 

cleaned it partially and used it for drinking, 

but soon using bottled-water become a 

trend. Let us now hear the actual story of 

bottled water. is it cleaner? Sometimes. 

sometimes not. Many bottled-water 

companies water is less clean than tap water. 

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A recent report launched by "Pakistan 

Council of Research in Water Resources" 

(PCR WR) mentions that 33 out of 63 brands 

of bottled water are unsafe for human 

consumption in Pakistan. Is bottled-water 

healthier? Many doctors believe that people 

who completely rely on bottled-water for 

drinking purposes have weak immune 

system. They advise to mix some clean tap 

water with it for better immunity. and yes 

most importantly. it is hundreds of times 

more expensive than cleaned tap water. But 

people were still using it. Companies 

producing bottled-water used to say that 

they were just meeting the consumer 

demand, so who would demand a less 

sustainable less healthy and way more 

expensive product. but here is a twist, after 

1968 the bottled-water demand was 

increasing at the rate of about 40 % per 

annum in Pakistan, 

To understand this. The answer lies in 

knowing how our materials economy and 

one of its key drivers . Manufactured 

Demand' work. if a company wants to keep 

on growing. it has to sell more and more of 

its stuff, so when the manu facturers of soft 

drinks got their heads back on the graphs 

.they got worried as they saw that their 

gro\\1h projections were leveling off. the 

other thing they found out was that people 

were getting aware of the fact that soft 

drinks are not that healthy and are turning 

back to tap water. Just then companies 

came up with a really unpredicted idea of 

producing bottled-water. now coming back 

to the point how can you actually fringe 

people to buy it? 

Here. the phenomena of Manu factured 

Demand comes handy. now imagine you are 

the owner of this unnecessary product and 

nobody cares to spend their hard earned 

money for it, what would you do~ You 

would actually create or manufacture a 


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The Scien tifie Ravi 20 II 

demand for this product for it to sell, and 

that is exactly what bottled-watcr companies 

did, they scared the people and made them 

fcel insecure fringing them to buy it. they 

scared people from using the tap water 

through advertiscments saying tap water is 

harmful for drinking. one of the executives 

of thc bottled-water company said "When 

we are done. the tap water would be 

relegated to showers and washing dishes 

only" they also seduced people portraying 

the minerals the bottled-water contained and 

with the pictures of nature on them .which is 

actually pure fantasy. and guess what the 

third off all the bottled water in many 

countries is actually filtered TAP water. 

Pepsi's Aquafina and coke's Dasani are 

examples. 

Here's another thing they claim, Nestle 

recently said in a full page add that "bottled 

water is one of the most environmentally 

responsible consumer product in the world" 

which is totally a false statement, how? Is 

the question. problem starts with the 

extraction and usage of fossil fuel in the 

manufacture of the bottles. in America 

enough oil and energy is used in the 

manufacture of bottles which can otherwisc 

fuel a million cars. even more energy is used 

in the shipment of these bottles all around 

the world where it ends up in market. and 

used in 2 minutes ending up in trash from 

where another end of a huge problem 

begins 'The Disposal' 80 % of it may end 

up at large landfills polluting the 

environment, or it may end up at 

incinerators producing huge amount of toxic 

gasses. another thing done is the recycling of 

these plastic bottlcs which is also mislead 

most of the times. the real thing would have 

been that used bottles being recycled into 

useable bottles but these bottles are most of 

the times converted to cheap plastic from 

which various products are formed and new 

plastic is mostly used for the manufacture 

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of new bottles. Scaring us seducing us and 

misleading us these are the core 

fundamentals of the manufactured demand. 

It is .time to "Say No" to bottled-water 

unless the water in your communily is truly 

unhealthy. yes it takes a bit of foresight to 

grab a reusable bottle while going out but I 

think we can manage it. There are other 

solutions as well. our government should 

invest more in the public water 

infrastructure. aliaI' the money spent by the 

governmelll in dealing with the bottles we 

throw out can be used in various activities 

like 53million people in Pakistan are 

deprived of the clean drinking water we can 

arrange clean drinking water for them or at 

least it would prevent the pollution. we can 

make the authorities install local water 

filters in the city. or we can run a campaign 

that would ban the use of bottled-water in 

our institution or work place. This is the 

time that we should wake up and protect our 

wallets, health, and the planet. It is lime to 

tell the world that we are not falling for your 

manufactured demand and we can chose on 

our own-------whal is better for us and our 

environment. 

(The Writer is the Associute Editor ofSDSC) 

Natural Disasters and Their 

Causes 

Asi/a AslulII 

Natural disastcrs are suddcn and extreme 

events that occur time and again in various 

countries of the world. Earthquakcs. 

windstorms. noods. disease and other 

natural disastcrs all strike suddenly. oftcn 

withoul warning. leading to the devastation 

of economy, infrastructure and lives. The 

resulting loss depends on the vulnerability "I' 

the affected population to resist the hazard. 


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183


The major natural disasters in Pakistan arc 

earthquakes. tloods and landslides. An 

earthquake is the result of a sudden release 

of energy in the Earth's crust that creates 

seismic waves. The seismicity or seismic 

activity of an area refers to tlte frequency. 

type and size of earthquakes experienced 

over a period of time. Earthquakes arc 

measured using observations from 

seismometers. 

The lllost recent natural disaster 111 

Pakistan was the earthquake of 7.2 

magnillldes and its epicenter was 45 

kilometers \\est of Dalbandin In 

Balochistan. It took place on January 19. 

20 I I at 0 I :23 am local time at 28.838°:--J. 

63.974°10. The depth of the earthquake \\as 

believed to be 68 km. It caused hundreds of 

deaths and other economic losses. The 

tectonic environment of this region is 

dominated by the motions of the Arabian 

Plate. the Indian Plate. and tlte Eurasian 

Plme. This earthquake occurrcd as a result of 

fault within the lithospherc of the subductcd 

Arabian Plate. 

The second reccnt earthquake of 6.4 

magniwdes struck Balochistan on Octoher 

29. 2008. It caused large scale destruction 

and millions of pcople became homeless. At 

least 160 people dicd. The trcmors \\ere felt 

in Quella. Ziarat. Pisltin. Qila Abdullah. 

Mastung. Sibi. Bolan. Kuchlak and Loralai 

areas. 

The most dcvastating carthquake of 8 

October. 20IJ5 struck Pakistan 111 thc 

moulltainous regions or Kh) ber 

Pakhtunkl1l\a. Northern areas. Kasltmir and 

caused a number of deaths in Islamabad as 

well. Estimates of the death toll range wcre 

ncar 80.000 to 100.000. The magnitude of 

this earthquake was 7.6 and it was declared 

the most drastic disaster of Pakistan's 

history. 

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Tlte 1974 Hunza Earthquake was a 

magnitude 6.2 earthquake in the rugged and 

isolated Ilunza. I {azara and Swat districts of 

northern Pakistan at 12: II UTe on 

Decembcr 28. 1974. An oflicial estimate of 

the number killed was 5.300 with 

approximately 17.000 injured. A total of 

97.000 were reported affected by the tremor. 

Rcasolls of carthquakes in Pakistan: 

Earthquakes and active faults in western. 

northern Pakistan and adjacent pal1s of 

Afghanistan arc the result of the Indian plate 

moving northward at a rate of about 

40 mm/yr and colliding with the Eurasian 

plate. i\ long the northern edge of the Indian 

subcontinent. the Indian plate is subducting 

beneath the Eurasian plate. causing uplift 

that produces the highest mountain peaks in 

the world. including the !lima/uHII1. the 

Karakoram Range. the Pamir and the Ilindu 

Kush ranges. West and south of the 

Ilimalayan front. the relative motion 

between the two plates is oblique. which 

results in strike-slip. reverse-slip. and 

oblique-slip earthquakes. 

Major Floods in Pakist'ln: Pakistan has a 

long history of !looding from Indus River 

and its tributaries. Floods in Pakistan arc 

mainly caused by heavy rainfall in the 

catchments during the summer monsoon 

season. which is augmented by snowmelt 

!lows. 

The 2010 Pakistan floods began in late Joly 

2010. resulting from heavy monsoon rains in 

the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Sindh. I'unjah and 

Balochistan regions of Pakistan and affected 

the Indus River basin. Approximately one- 

Iifth of Pakistan's total land area was 

underwater. According to Pakistani 

government data. the !loads directly affected 

about 20 million people. mostly by 

destruction of property. livelihood and 


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The Scientific Ravi 2011 SDSC 

infrastructure. with a death toll was near 

2.000. 

During the summer monsoon season in 1992 

heavy rainfall occurred o\'er the Jhelum 

River basin in the month of September 

\\'hich caused severe flooding in the Jhelum 

River. This was the worst ~vent recorded 

since 1959 and brought in its wake large 

economic losses and infrastructure dama~e 

in Pakistan. This severe !loading event w';s 

induced by the severe precipit~tion event 

associated with the summer monsoon. 

depression traveling from Sav of Bengal 

through India to upper parts ot' Punjab aild 

adjoining areas of Kashmir and Khvber 

Pakhtonkhawah. . 

Suggestions: The natural disasters arc 

getting quite common. Therefore. in order to 

minimize the inevitable losses from these 

disasters. we should immediately respond. 

and thus efforts should be made in avoid inn 

" 

such disasters. The best wav to avoid natural 

disasters is to learn to 'live in greater 

harmony with the natur:J1 world. 

respecting its natural evcles of "destruction" 

which ar: actually crucial for life on Earth. 

• 

• 

• 


There must be institutional 

preparedness to ensure the highest 

level of ph" sical preparedness. as 

well as the speed and effectiveness 

of the response when a disaster 

actually strikes. 

There must be earlv warning svstems 

and increase prote~tion of ~buildings 

and infrastructure fi]eilities against 

disasters. ~ 

Post-disaster response to rehabilitate 

social and economic infrastructure 

and to ensure the earliest 

reinstatement of economic activity 

without prejudicing the highest 

prolessional standards. 

Lahore 

• Houses or shanty towns should not 

be allowed to be built in flood zones 

of rivers and those alreadv living 

there should be settled' in a~ 

alternative area. 

Are Sustainable Technologies 

Really Sustainable? 

.\/udiha 

Furor}(1 

Sustainability is a concept about the 

interconnectedness of the environment. the 

economy. and social equity. It is a journey. a 

path fon\ard w.hich we demonstrate as a 

responsibilitv for our future legan'. It is a 

vision. an a;piration lor a bette; lit~ for our 

future generation. The most olten quoted 

definition of sustainable development (SO) 

coined by the Brullllillld commissioll is that 

"Suslainahle de\'e!opme/1/ meels Ihe /leed\ vi 

Ihe presenl lI11hoUI compromi.l'in~ Ihe ahilill' 

ol.lil/ure genemlion 10 meel' Iheir Oll';/ 

neec/l'" (sometimes thought as EI.F- 

Environment. l.ocal. People. Future). 

The basic objective of the sustainabilitv is to 

reduce consumptions of non-rene'wable 

resources. minimize waste and create 

healthy productive environment. The word 

sustainable has been used in manv situations 

today: an Ecologica/ Suslaillabi/fll' is one of 

those terms that confuse a lot of people. We 

hear about Sustainable Development. 

Sustainable Growth. Sustainable Economics. 

Sustainable Societies. Sustainable 

Agriculture. and everything sustainable. 

ElIl'irollmelllal SU.I'laillilbili(1' is the process 

of making sure that the current processes of 

interaction with the environment are pursued 

with the idea of keeping the environment as 

pristine as naturally possible. There arc 

many examples of development for 

sustainability around the world such as 

Sustainable Cities. "co-industrial Parks and 

IRS

l 


Corporations using Biofuels. Solar energy, 

Wind energy. Geothermal Energy. 

Hydropower etc. all moving towards greater 

sustainability. By the adoption of such 

technologies. the Environmental 

Performance has always been expected to 

Improve. 

Being familiar with sustainability. I would 

like to put some light on few questions 

which may arise in our minds that: Are these 

sustainable technologies really sustainable? 

Do they have any demerit? Does 

environment have to pay some price for it in 

the long term? I would like to discuss it with 

the help of few examples. 

Firstly Biofuels are wide variety of fuels that 

in one way or another are derived from 

biomass: it is a term that comprises liquid 

fuels. solid biomass and biogas. The 

rationale behind using biofuel is that plants 

grow up taking carbon dioxide from the 

atmosphere and when the fuel extracted 

from them is burnt, only carbon dioxide 

which was previously in the atmosphere is 

released. the idea is to phase out the use of 

fossil fuels and start using biofuel in 

automobiles. 

But the question is: is biofuel really 

sustainable? A pair of new studies in 

October 22 issue of science damningly 

demonstrates that the answer is NO. A group 

of researchers projected out the effects of a 

major biofuel expansion over the coming 

century and found that it could end up 

increasing global green house gas emissions 

instead of reducing them. Biofuc\s are 

incorrectly treated as 100% carbon neutral. 

One study estimates that if the world were to 

meet a 50% cut in the global greenhouse gas 

by 2050 under the current calculation, the 

necessary biofuel crops expansion would be 

large enough to displace 59% world's 

natural forest cover which would release an 

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additional 9 billion tons of CO" a year. In 

another paper. a team of researchers 

uncovered a potentially damaging flaw in 

the way carbon emission from bioenergy are 

calculated under the Kyoto Protocol and in 

the carbon cap and trade bi II. Of the 

calculation goes unfixed. a future increase in 

biofuel use could end up backfiring and 

derailing efforts to control global warming. 

In addition to this. biofuel can be a big 

reason of corrosion of engines and may lead 

to a higher maintenance cost. 

Secondly. it is a good thing that solar is 

getting popular, but what about all the 

material that go into making the panels. 

recycling them etc.? Is solar really green as 

it is made out to be? Environmentalists 

claim that after devising technologies they 

have uncovered a solution to some 

ecological ill. The way that solar power 

helps the environment is that it uses no fossil 

fuels (which is a non-renewable resource) to 

make energy. Instead. it uses the biggest 

renewable resource on the planet. the sun' 

There are no emissions with solar energy 

except heat. if that even counts as emissions. 

Still it's not surprising that solar panel has a 

dark side. As Compact Fluorescent Bulh~' 

reduce electricity consumption by 75 % but 

comes with a dart of mercury. Photovoitaic 

(I'V) panels generally have long lifecycle up 

to 30 years yet they require huge 

manufacturing and maintenance cost. a lot 

of toxic chemicals are used in solar 

manufacturing including Arsenic. Cadmium. 

Telluride. Chromium and Lead. Immediate 

risks will be able to a wave of Electronic 

Waste in the next few years to come. 

developing nations will pile up solar waste 

on digital dumping grounds and pollute the 

air. ground water and sicken the people who 

live nearby 

I would also like to say that the words 

Sustainable. Green. Renewable and Organic 


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186


etc. come up so often in energy and climate 

debates that they tend to sound as iI' they 

mean the same thing. But. of course. they do 

not. Nuclear reactors emit no carbon and 

are therefore sensed green. but uranium is 

nonrenewable; Hydropower is green and 

renewable but may not always be 

sustainable. because the ecological 

consequences can be bad and reservoirs are 

not limitless; Wind power is a good source 

of energy but does disturb the scenic beauty 

of the area; coal is organic but its carbon 

emission makes it very opposite of green. 

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I came across lots of literature that says all 

above mentioned technologies are 

Sustainable and are an excellent way to 

reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. But 

few experiences tell that these technologies 

can not be adopted in each and every 

country around the world on a.large scale. 

especially in developing country like 

Pakistan. Therefore. we cannot say that one 

technology is 100% carbon neutral and is 

green. it may be good in one aspect but we 

must also cater its long term atiermath 

effects and put solutions to expected 

problems in advance so that environment 

does not have to pay for our doing. 


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Lahore 

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