Executive Summary

Many countries of the world have embarked upon successful ethanol fuel production programs. Although the name of Brazil comes to mind when we think of following a successful model; however in the past ten years many other countries have developed and are in the process of switching their fuel reliance from traditional gasoline products to ethanol based fuels. The primary reason for such a shift is volatility in the prices of oil. Pakistan being a country that produces sugar needs to carefully examine the hidden potential in the area of ethanol production. As this report highlights, using ethanol as a fuel is viable in Pakistan and the policy makers need to give it a serious thought in order to lessen our dependence on oil as well as to capitalize on an already developed sugar industry from whose byproducts ethanol fuel is manufactured.

Introduction

Pakistan is shortly approaching a crisis situation with regards to its energy resources. At present the country meets its energy demands from coal, hydro, nuclear, oil and gas resources. However, the reliance on gas as a source of energy remains overwhelmingly apparent. Although Pakistan is rich in gas reserves due to which over 50% of its energy requirements are met by indigenous gas, yet the supply of gas is certainly finite. It is therefore absolutely crucial that we look for alternate sources of energy in order to save up on our valuable gas reserves. Moreover, importing oil to fill in the fuel requirements is putting a great burden on the import bill of the country. The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of using ethanol from sugar cane sources, a by-product of sugar production, as an alternate source of fuel.