Month: December 2019

By SYED AKHTAR ALI ISLAMABAD: Biofuels are agro-based fuels as opposed to fossil fuels, which include both liquid and gaseous forms. Current ethanol production is crop based, called 1G Ethanol, made out of fermentation of corn, sugar and others. Recently, 2G Ethanol (also called advanced liquid biofuel) has been introduced, which is based on cellulosic material such as bio-waste material including crop waste, municipal solid waste, sewage, etc. Biofuels have been mandated for all petroleum products including gasoline, diesel and furnace oil. Biogas and bio-CNG are gaseous inclusions. Our discussion will focus…

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ISLAMABAD: Vietnamese firm Phat Mechanical Manufacturing Company (Cophaco) has expressed willingness to import light fans from Pakistan for their supply in the local market following increased demand for luxury light fans primarily in resorts and hotels in Vietnam. The firm is one of the most prominent manufacturers of electric fans in Vietnam and exports its products to the US, Thailand and South Korea. According to Pakistan Electric Fan Manufacturers Association, Cophaco intends to import light fans from Pakistan to meet demand in the Vietnamese market. The Engineering Development Board (EDB), along…

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ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has worked out minor adjustments in the costs of various imported petroleum products in the range of 1.8 per cent to a maximum 3.2pc for January 2020. The Finance Division will make the final decision on Tuesday whether to keep the petroleum products prices unchanged largely as a good gesture of the New Year or pass on the raise to end consumers. The Ogra has worked an increase of Rs2.61 or 2.3pc in the per litre petrol price. In case, government approves…

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In the transport-starved Karachi, 2019 was not a surprising year as like all the previous years since 2009, when the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) came into power in Sindh, not a single mega transport project for Karachi saw the light of day in the outgoing year. Here are the details of the bureaucratic red tape and Sindh government’s apathy that neither did let the ongoing mega transport projects be completed nor did let the approved ones be started. Green Line Karachi’s dream of having a mass transit system inched nearer,…

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ON Jan 1, 2020, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is set to impose new emission regulations designed to curb pollution produced by the world’s ships. The new IMO rule is poised to ban shipping vessels using fuel with a sulphur content higher than 0.5 per cent. At present, the upper limit on sulphur oxides is 3.5pc, unless the ships are equipped with exhaust-cleaning systems known as scrubbers, down from 3.5pc. The change is drastic. This meant ships would require a fuel product to meet the more stringent rules. It also…

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