Pakistan's need for economic growth focusing on solar energy and working water filtration plants - Research Paper Example

? Pakistan's Need for Economic Growth Focusing On Solar Energy and Working Water Filtration Plants of the [Project [Name of the Institution] [Date] Pakistan's Need for Economic Growth Focusing On Solar Energy and Working Water Filtration Plants Introduction Economic stability is considered to have deep relation to the industrialization, business, education and health. Energy is required to operate any institution in the modern world. On the other hand, the management of energy and its efficient use can reduce the demand of energy. Energy efficient devices and appliances save a lot of electrical units. Electrical energy is mostly generated by utilizing the fossil fuel resources. With the passage of time, the fossil fuel resources are becoming short due to the depletion in the fossil fuel reservoirs. As, the supply is becoming short the demand of the fossil fuel resources is rising and thus the value of the fuel resources is increasing. It is a general concept that fossil fuel based generated power is considered the costliest power as compared to hydro power or solar or wind. A research designed to evaluate the water shortage in the world depicts that about 1.3 billion people worldwide suffer from water shortage. People, in the underdeveloped and developing regions of the world, are more likely to catch the diseases that are transferred from contaminated water. Water contamination kills more people in underdeveloped regions than cancer, aids and other such diseases. People are less aware of water filtration and treatment. Small scale water filtration plants can solve the problem and prevent diseased water from entering the human body. Low energy consuming filtration plants based on solar distillation, RO filtration or other water purification methods can be utilized that consume less energy and still maintain the acceptable quality of water. Pakistan shows the similar conditions as other under developed countries due to the lack of the clean drinking water, lack of electrical energy, lack of heath services and lack of economic stability. A deep study depicts that the cost of electrical energy in Pakistan is 13 times the cost of electrical energy in Saudi Arabia. There is a need to develop a small or a large scale power generation units by utilizing the solar energy in Pakistan to bring economic stability. On the other hand, it is equally important o provide people with safe drinking water by utilizing the small scale water filtration plants. Research Questions Can solar energy and small working water filtration plants bring economic stability is Pakistan and how women can play their part in he economic stability of the Country? Body of the Paper The maintenance cost of the fossil fuel based power plant is considerably high. Moreover, a fossil fuel based power plant can be only 40% efficient, as the major part of the fuel converts to waste heat. Besides the environmental perspective, it is also economically less feasible to utilize coal, oil or gas for power generation. On the other hand, in future the fuel will cost more than the current price due to its short supply in the future. The need of the time is to utilize the alternate resources for the generation of energy1. Solar and wind energy have more potential than our current needs. Solar energy can be utilized to generate power directly by utilizing the solar photovoltaic panels. It can be adopted individually or on a large scale. It is an efficient way to generate energy. Economic Evaluation of Solar energy Solar energy converts solar radiation into electrical energy. Solar energy has two contents; one is light energy and other content is thermal energy. Solar Photovoltaic cells are capable of converting solar light into electrical energy that can be stored in batteries and can be utilized in night. Solar energy can be harnessed for individual as well as industrial demand. Solar PV panels only consume sun radiations to generate energy. Solar light is free of cost and it will remain till the solar system remains2. The operational cost of solar power generation system is negligible. In this perspective, solar energy is much economically feasible resource of energy. In regions, where there are less fossil fuel resources solar energy present the best economic solution. However, solar energy has much high initial cost comparatively. In Pakistan, the per unit cost of electrical energy is much higher and thus the initial cost can be covered in 2-3 years, that makes the solar energy economically much feasible for the region. In most of the Pakistan, solar energy is considered as the best renewable energy that can be individually harvested to reduce the load of energy. On the other hand, in the regions where fewer sources are available to generate energy, solar energy can provide the power efficiently3. Energy Crisis in Pakistan In Pakistan, the rural population is about 80% of the total population and most rural regions have no electricity. People still use kerosene oil to light their houses at night that is not only a health hazard but also an expensive way to attain light. Solar energy is not only feasible sources of energy but also an effective way to generate energy from inexpensive resource. It should be encouraged and promoted particularly in rural regions where some people are unable to afford the kerosene oil4. Poverty and illiteracy ratios are rising due to lack of basic resources in rural regions. About 40% of Pakistan has not electrical transmission lines. Hence population residing in the 40% regions has no electricity. The people in the regions are illiterate and economically weak. It is more feasible for the people and government to utilize the solar energy for the communities instead of supplying power through the electrical lines5. Supplying power through the transmission lines requires an infrastructure involving grid stations, transformers and transmission lines that will cost more than the cost to implement the solar energy for the small communities6. It will benefit the small businessmen in the communities to invest in the solar energy power generation systems and supply power to their communities and collect bills from the community residents and local schools without government involvement. In this way, the communities will economically strengthen themselves by implementing solar energy in far and arid regions. Small electrical problems can easily be sort out without any prior information to the higher authorities. On the other hand, the whole scenario with provide jobs for the community members and make them a useful citizen of the nation. Portable Water The water can be made portable to reduce the transportation costs. A portable water generation is an onsite safe water purification method that purifies the water available in the region to an acceptable level. In Pakistan, several fresh water resources are present but, the water in the resources is considered to have bacteria and microorganisms of different diseases that can affect human health. The appropriate way to reduce the impact of water contamination on health is to purify water and make it free from microorganisms. Water Purification The most effective way to kill the microorganism in water is to boil the water but boiling water is the most costly process and consumes a large amount of energy. Moreover, boiling does not filter the particulate substances from water. On the other hand, other filtration methods like RO, and simple purification methods consume less energy and provide high quality water7. Water Purification and Nanotechnology Nanotechnology can solve the problem of water purification. Nanotechnology can utilize filtration membranes, metallic and nonmetallic nanoparticles. Membrane technology filters the water by passing it through the porous membrane with pores of diameters in nanometers range. These membranes allow only water molecules to pass through the pores. Nanoparticles such as titanium dioxide and silver catalysts disinfect water through photo-catalytic disinfection method. Nanotechnology is much energy efficient and provides high quality water8. The development of small water purification systems with low cost local material is much efficient water treatment system such as “Pani Ghar” in Pakistan. The system is not RO purification methods but it purifies fresh water that it contains no harmful microorganisms. A small system can serve a small community and it consumes as less energy as 5 fans. Women and Economic Growth More than 50% of the population in Pakistan comprised of women. Most of the women in Pakistan are unable to contribute in the economic growth of the country due to family obligation, illiteracy and several other factors. The illiteracy in woman population is more than man population. On the other hand, people consider it a stain on their honor to educate daughters, mothers, wives and sisters and allow them to work. Governmental and non governmental organizations should operate small industries where educated as well as uneducated women can work with freedom9. Conclusions Solar energy is the most effective way of generating electrical energy. By the passage of time, oil prices are becoming higher. It is economically a burden to generate electrical energy from fossil fuel resources. Besides the environmental perspective, solar energy is considered as the most feasible energy that can be harnessed on small or large scale. In Pakistan, the energy crisis prolonged due to the lack of management, lack of planning and lack of implementation of renewable resources. Solar energy can be implemented in Pakistan to increase energy efficiency and generate electrical energy efficiently. Fuel prices are unstable in the region and it is economically no feasible to generate energy with such costly fuel. Solar energy can be implemented in the arid regions of the country. About 80% population of Pakistan lives in rural regions and has no or lacks access to the primary resources of the modern world like the energy and clean water. Solar energy is the most feasible for the rural regions where transmission of energy is a challenge. A small off grid solar system can provide power to a small community. In the arid regions, small portable water purification plants that consume less energy can be used to supply clean fresh water to the communities. These power purification plants can use solar energy. Bibliography Bhutto, Abdul Waheed, Aqeel Ahmed Bazmi, and Gholamreza Zahedi. "Greener energy: Issues and challenges for Pakistan—Solar energy prospective." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16, no. 5 (2012): 2762-2780. Ghauri, Moinuddin, Suhaib Umer Ilyas, and Irfan Ahmad. "Application of Nanoparticles in the Removal of Micro-Organisms from Water." Gleick, Peter H. The human right to water. Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security, 1999. Haq, D. N. U., and Khalid Hussain. "Energy Crisis in Pakistan." IPRI Factfile (2008). Husain, Nusrat, Richard Gater, Barbara Tomenson, and Francis Creed. "Social factors associated with chronic depression among a population-based sample of women in rural Pakistan." Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology 39, no. 8 (2004): 618-624. Luby, Stephen, Mubina Agboatwalla, Abida Raza, Jeremy Sobel, Eric Mintz, Kathleen Baier, Mohammad Rahbar et al. "A low-cost intervention for cleaner drinking water in Karachi, Pakistan." International Journal of infectious diseases 5, no. 3 (2001): 144-150. Lutfi, N., and T. N. Veziroglu. "A clean and permanent energy infrastructure for Pakistan: Solar-hydrogen energy system." International journal of hydrogen energy 16, no. 3 (1991): 169-200. Read More