Lahore (Web Desk) – The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) has stressed the need to spend sufficient funds and amount of energy & resources for the promotion of biotechnology that is the best substitute of conventional energy resources.
LCCI President Ijaz A Mumtaz on Friday said that there is no doubt about the enormous potential of biotechnology in Pakistan. It is rightly said that 21st Century belongs to biotechnology.
He said that there are a number of fields derived from biotechnology like agriculture biotechnology, environmental biotechnology, health biotechnology, industrial biotechnology and non biotechnology.
The LCCI President said that renewable and sustainable energy resources are the best substitute to the conventional fuels and energy sources as the business community understands that bio-fuels will reduce our dependence on petroleum to some degree and enhance energy security.
Likewise it will also contribute in rural economic development. Mumtaz said that the countries like USA, Brazil and China are leading consumers of ethanol. Many countries world over have gradually introduced Flexible-Fuel Vehicles (FFV) which engines are designed to run on more than one fuel. In Brazil, for instance, 70% of all new cars sold now are FFV.
He said that their sources of deriving ethanol are corn, sugarcane, soybeans, palm oil etc. Europe has also progressed remarkably in this connection by utilizing grain starch, sugar beets and rapeseed etc. Further research and development has made it possible to use different kinds of wastes and herbs for bio fuel production.
He said it is really unfortunate that no significant work has been done in Pakistan in this field. There is abundant availability of cultivable area in the shape of barren and waste land in our country. He said that government should encourage utilising this land for growing jatropha plant at a wider scale. We can extract non edible oil from this herb to produce bio-diesel. This can be used in vehicles by way of mixing up to 10% with diesel.
He said that it will certainly help to a great deal in bringing down the import of oil but also serve as an environment friendly source of energy.
The LCCI President stressed the need for highlighting the importance of bio-fuel at national level and also project this area as a profitable sector for national and foreign investors.
He urged the government to provide bio gas plants to the rural community at subsidized rates to promote alternate energy resources.
He said that since more than 60 per cent of country’s exports belong to agriculture therefore biotechnology is of prime importance.
He said that the recent electricity shortage has badly affected the Agriculture and the industrial sectors and it is very unfortunate that the country is getting no benefit of its bio-fuel potential while by reportedly next year neighboring India would be fulfilling 20 per cent of its total energy needs through bio fuels.
