Geothermal Energy Resources of Pakistan

ABSTRACT Most of the high enthalpy geothermal resources of the world are within the seismic belts associated with zones of crustal weakness such as plate margins and centers of volcanic activity. A global seismic belt passes through Pakistan and the country has a long geological history of geotectonic events: Permo-carboniferous volcanism (Panjal traps in Kashmir) as a result of rifting of Iran-Afghanistan microplates, Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous rifting of the Indo-Pakistan Plate, widespread volcanism during Late Cretaceous (Deccan traps) attributed to the appearance of a "hot spot" in the region, emergence of a chain of volcanic islands along the margins of the Indo-Pakistan Plate, collision of India and Asia (Late Cretaceous-Paleocene) and the consequent Himalayan upheaval, and NeogeneQuaternary-volcanism in the Chagai District. This geotectonic framework suggests that Pakistan should not be lacking in commercially exploitable sources of geothermal energy. This view is further strengthened by the fairly extensive development of alteration zones and fumeroles in many regions of Pakistan, presence of a fairly large number of hot springs in different parts of the country, and indications of Quaternary volcanism. These manifestations of geothermal energy are found within three geotectonic or geothermal environments, i.e., (i) geo-pressurised systems related to basin subsidence, (ii) seismotectonic or suturerelated systems, and (iii) systems related to NeogeneQuaternary volcanism. Pakistan, despite the enormous potential of its energy resources, remains energy deficient and has to rely heavily on imports of hydrocarbon products to satisfy hardly its needs. Moreover, a very large part of the rural areas does not have the electrification facilities because they are either too remote and/or too expensive to connect to the national grid. Pakistan has wide spectrum of high potential renewable energy sources, conventional and as well non-conventional, which have not been adequately explored, exploited and developed. Geothermal energy is one of them. Pakistan can be benefited by harnessing the geothermal option of energy generation as substitute energy in areas where sources exist. As Pakistan is the agricultural country and also has tremendous mineral potential where the major part of population lives in the rural areas, the electricity generated by renewable sources will also improve rural life, thereby reducing the urban migration that is taxing the ability of cities to cope with their own environmental problems

Satellite Image Identification of Wind Channels to Delineate Wind Energy Generation Sites in Pakistan

Technologically, all the renewable energy sources are viable and consequently suit to efforts for poverty alleviation and cleaner environment in Pakistan. They can play an important role in meeting the challenge of providing future electricity to all parts of the country. Wind energy is one of these renewable sources. Considering the geological & geomorphologic setup, geographical position and climatic cycles, Pakistan has tremendous wind potential. Pakistan has about 1000 km long coastline, which could be utilized for the installation of wind farms and wind-monitoring stations as well. Various preliminary comparative studies apparently show that the wind potential is not uniformly distributed along the coastal belt of Pakistan. The present research study is based on the analyses of the satellite images of different periods. On the bases of the result of the study, the prospective wind channels have been identified all along the coastal belt of Pakistan, which are the ideal regions to establish the wind farms for the generation of electricity on the commercial scale

Satellite Image Identification of Wind Channels to Delineate Wind Energy Generation Sites in Pakistan

Technologically, all the renewable energy sources are viable and consequently suit to efforts for poverty alleviation and cleaner environment in Pakistan. They can play an important role in meeting the challenge of providing future electricity to all parts of the country. Wind energy is one of these renewable sources. Considering the geological & geomorphologic setup, geographical position and climatic cycles, Pakistan has tremendous wind potential. Pakistan has about 1000 km long coastline, which could be utilized for the installation of wind farms and wind-monitoring stations as well. Various preliminary comparative studies apparently show that the wind potential is not uniformly distributed along the coastal belt of Pakistan. The present research study is based on the analyses of the satellite images of different periods. On the bases of the result of the study, the prospective wind channels have been identified all along the coastal belt of Pakistan, which are the ideal regions to establish the wind farms for the generation of electricity on the commercial scale

Long Term Wind Trends Analysis of Coastal Belt of Pakistan

Pakistan has a long coastal belt, stretched over an area of more than 1000 km from Indian border in east to Iranian border in west, which has varying nature of geomorphic, geologic and climatic setups. In view to understand the characteristic nature of the area in relevance to undertake the wind energy assessment study, it is imperative to carry out the time-series climatic analyses especially for the wind parameters. Pakistan coastal belt has its unique windy nature because of the monsoon period in summer and land-to-sea wind behavior in winter, which further varies respect to coastal geomorphologic features. A research study has been conducted to analyze the long term wind speed trends for the salient cities lying near the coast of Pakistan. The seasonal decomposition technique, i.e. multiplicative model, was applied for the wind trend analyses using the wind data of 60 years for five major cities namely Karachi, Badin & Hyderabad in Sindh province and Lasbella & Ormara in Balochistan province. The present study describes the methodology adopted for the calculation of long term wind speed trends and subsequent the results indicate different wind variables of long term time-series analyses for the selected five cities

Long Term Wind Trends Analysis of Coastal Belt of Pakistan

Pakistan has a long coastal belt, stretched over an area of more than 1000 km from Indian border in east to Iranian border in west, which has varying nature of geomorphic, geologic and climatic setups. In view to understand the characteristic nature of the area in relevance to undertake the wind energy assessment study, it is imperative to carry out the time-series climatic analyses especially for the wind parameters. Pakistan coastal belt has its unique windy nature because of the monsoon period in summer and land-to-sea wind behavior in winter, which further varies respect to coastal geomorphologic features. A research study has been conducted to analyze the long term wind speed trends for the salient cities lying near the coast of Pakistan. The seasonal decomposition technique, i.e. multiplicative model, was applied for the wind trend analyses using the wind data of 60 years for five major cities namely Karachi, Badin & Hyderabad in Sindh province and Lasbella & Ormara in Balochistan province. The present study describes the methodology adopted for the calculation of long term wind speed trends and subsequent the results indicate different wind variables of long term time-series analyses for the selected five cities

Review of geothermal energy resources in Pakistan

Pakistan, despite the enormous potential of its energy resources, remains energy deficient and has to rely heavily on imports of hydrocarbon products to satisfy hardly its needs. Moreover, a very large part of the rural areas does not have the electrification facilities because they are either too remote and/or too expensive to connect to the national grid. Pakistan has wide spectrum of high potential renewable energy sources, conventional and as well non-conventional. Many of them have not been adequately explored, exploited and developed. Geothermal energy is one of them. Pakistan can be benefited by harnessing the geothermal option of energy generation as substitute energy in areas where sources exist. Most of the high enthalpy geothermal resources of the world are within the seismic belts associated with zones of crustal weakness like the seismo-tectonic belt that passes through Pakistan having inherited a long geological history of geotectonic events. The present study of the geotectonic framework suggests that Pakistan should not be lacking in commercially exploitable sources of geothermal energy. This view is further strengthened by (a) the fairly extensive development of alteration zones and fumeroles in many regions of Pakistan, (b) the presence of a fairly large number of hot springs in different parts of the country, and (c) the indications of Quaternary volcanism associated with the Chagai arc extending into Iran and Afghanistan border areas. These manifestations of geothermal energy are found within three geotectonic or geothermal environments, i.e., (i) geo-pressurized systems related to basin subsidence, (ii) seismo-tectonic or suture-related systems, and (iii) systems related to Neogene-Quaternary volcanism. A few localities, scattered sporadically all over the country, have been studied to evaluate only some of the basic characteristic parameters of the geothermal prospects. The present review study the geothermal activities of varying intensity and nature, associated with different geotectonic domains, and reveals the viable potential of the geothermal environments, which could be exploited for the generation of sustainable indigenous energy in Pakistan.Geothermal energy Geothermal resource characteristics Geothermal potential in Pakistan