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The potential of solid waste as an energy source is clear, owing to its wide availability and renewable properties, which provide a critical answer for energy security. This can be especially effective in reducing the environmental impact of fossil fuels. Countries that rely heavily on coal should examine alternatives such as electricity from solid waste to provide a constant energy supply while also contributing to atmospheric restoration. In this regards, Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) is used for simulation the entire energy system in Pakistan and forecasted its capital cost and future CO2 emissions in relation to the use of renewable and fossil fuel resources under the different growth rates of solid waste projects like 20%, 30% and 40% for the study period 2023–2053. The results revealed that, 1402.97 TWh units of energy are generated to meet the total energy demand of 1193.93 TWh until 2053. The share of solid waste based electricity in total energy mix is increasing from a mere 0.81% in 2023 to around 9.44% by 2053 under the 20% growth rate, which then increase to 39.67% by 2053 under the 30% growth rate and further increases to 78.33% by 2053 under the 40% growth rate. It is suggested that 40% growth rate for solid waste based electricity projects is suitable for Pakistan until 2053 because under this condition, renewable sources contributes 95.2% and fossil fuels contributed 4.47% in the total energy mix of Pakistan. Hence, CO2 emissions are reduced from 148.26 million metric tons to 35.46 million metric tons until 2053 but capital cost is increased from 13.23 b$ in 2023 to 363.11 b$ by 2053. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authors used Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) model in this paper to develop and analyze future energy demand, production and CO2 emissions in Pakistan from 2020 to 2040. The model is developed based on Governmental Progressive Scenario (GPS), which forecasts sector wise (agriculture, commercial, domestic, industrial and others) energy demand of the country, and analyzes future energy supply pattern based on the domestic energy sources like RLNG, hydro, coal, natural gas, nuclear, furnace oil and renewable (wind, solar, biomass). The results of this study show that the growth rates of future energy supply and demand are 18% and 11% respectively. CO2 emissions based on future energy production are also forecasted from 2020 to 2040 which is showing declining trend due to the use of cleaner technologies in the future. The total cost of energy projects is also forecasted based on net present value at a discount rate of 4%, 8% and 12%. It is found that energy projects cost will be 50% less at discount rate of 8%. The results of this study are useful in making long term energy and environmental planning and policy formulation in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an energy plan for harnessing electrical power from hybrid energy resources, including biomass and solid waste, through hybrid technologies for microgrid development to overcome the current energy crisis and provide future sustainable electricity pathways for a developing country. Biomass and solid waste were collected from different dumping sites in Pakistan and were tested for their calorific value, which was found to be 6519Kcal/Kg. The total power was calculated based on this calorific value and it was found that there is a potential of total 11,989.5GW of power generation. Thus, hybrid energy resources are suitable for harnessing electrical energy through hybrid technologies. Different hybrid systems were examined for these resources and the gasification technique is finally proposed as the most suitable method for producing energy from biomass and solid waste resources in Pakistan. This technique is also found to be economically feasible for processing all kinds of waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]