Non-renewable power

Geography of Pakistan · Power. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

Non-renewable fuels are coal, oil, natural gas and uranium. They took millions of years to form, so once burned they are gone. Most of Pakistan's electricity comes from thermal power stations, which burn a fuel to boil water; the steam turns turbines joined to generators.

Pakistan has a very large coalfield at Thar in Sindh, but the coal is lignite: low grade, wet and bulky. Gas comes from fields such as Sui and moves by pipeline. Home oil output is small, so most crude oil is imported through Karachi.

Each fuel reaches users in the cheapest way for its form: coal by rail or lorry, gas and oil by pipeline, LPG in cylinders.

Rules to remember

Thar coal (Sindh) is lignite: low heat value, so it is burned in power stations built beside the mines.
Local coal cannot make coke, so coking coal for steel is imported; imported coal travels inland from the ports by rail.
Sui gas field is in Balochistan; gas goes by pipeline to cities, power stations and fertiliser factories.
Old oilfields such as Dhulian and Balkassar are on the Potwar Plateau; home production is far below demand, so oil is imported.
Pipelines carry large volumes cheaply; road tankers and LPG cylinders serve places with no pipeline.
Nuclear power stations (Chashma on the Indus, and the coast near Karachi) need a lot of cooling water.
Non-renewables get dearer: the easy reserves are used first while demand keeps rising.

Common mistake

Students say Pakistan has little coal. It has a great deal, but most is low-grade lignite, so the problem is quality, not quantity.

Worked example

A power station near Karachi burns imported furnace oil. The world price of oil rises sharply. What happens to the cost of the electricity it makes, and why?

A thermal station must keep buying fuel, because the fuel is burned and cannot be used again.
The oil is imported, so the station pays the higher world price.
Fuel is the main running cost, so each unit of electricity costs more to make and the import bill grows.

Answer: The electricity becomes more expensive, because the station depends on an imported non-renewable fuel.

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