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University to lead Pakistan waste-to-energy scheme

Hannah MitchellNorth East and Cumbria
News imageNorthumbria University Dr Shahid Rasul (L) and Dr Jibran Khaliq (R) and of Northumbria University's School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics stand side-by-side in front of a building at the university. Rasul has short grey/black hair and a short, neat grey beard. He has a dark blue suit jacket over a light blue shirt unbuttoned at the collar. Khaliq has short jet black hair and black, round-rimmed spectacles. He has a dark grey suit jacket on over a black shirt also unbuttoned at the collar. The Northumbria University logo is on the grey brick wall behind them, along with the institution's name in white letters above the word Newcastle in capitals.Northumbria University
Dr Shahid Rasul and Dr Jibran Khaliq are leading the project

Academics at a UK university have secured funding to build Pakistan's first full-scale plant that converts agricultural waste into clean energy.

Northumbria University's School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics is leading the project called, Safer Plus, which turns cotton stalks and sugarcane waste into biofuel.

Millions of tonnes of the waste products are burnt every year in the Punjab province, contributing to air pollution and Pakistan's seasonal smog.

The project, awarded nearly £1.25m by the UK government, will also offer women in Punjab a new source of income through collection and supply of the agricultural waste.

The base materials will be converted into bio-coal pellets through a heating process known as torrefaction.

Potentially the pellets can replace imported coal in brick kilns and textile mill boilers at 40-50% lower cost.

Dr Jibran Khaliq, one of the academics leading the project, said: "Pakistan spends over $2.5bn every year importing coal to power its industries, while millions of tonnes of crop residue are burned in fields because there is no market for it."

News imageNorthumbria University Dr Jibran Khaliq at a demonstration event held in Saleh Pat, Pakistan. In a laboratory setting, a man dressed in a white shirt and PPE holds a white sack while Dr Khaliq looks at its contents.Northumbria University
It's hoped the bio-coal pellets can be used to replace imported coal

Central to the project is a women-led biomass co-operative that will supply the waste product.

According to the university, women in rural South Punjab spend three to six hours a day collecting fuelwood and often work unpaid on family farms.

Through the co-operative, more than 120 households across local to the plant will receive a formal income for material that farmers currently pay to dispose of.

At least 60% of training places on the project are reserved for women and payments will be made directly into their own mobile wallets to ensure they have independent control over their earnings.

Three Pakistani textile manufacturers have signed letters of commitment to trial the bio-coal as boiler fuel.

"What makes this project different is that we are not proposing another laboratory study," Khaliq said.

"We have spent six years developing the knowledge and now we are building a live commercial facility with three textile mills already committed to using the fuel.

"This is the step that turns research findings into an investable, replicable business that Pakistan can own and scale."

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