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The cement industry is one of the basic mineral-based industries that need strategic and operational sustainable development based on social, economic, and environmental indicators. The government's major infrastructural projects together with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is one of the factors that motivate numerous local producers to aggressively install new plants and increase the capacity of existing plants. According to all Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), there are 24 cement plants within the country producing approximately 47 million tons of cement per annum and many are planning to increase their capacities. The aim of this paper is to identify and rank the economic key performance indicators (KPIs) that have a significant impact on the economic sustainability of cement industries in Pakistan, using Taguchi signal to noise ratio (S/N). This study is based on survey perceptions held by the experts in the cement industry. 14 KPIs identified through literature review are discussed. The ranking provides an insight into what the industry experts regard as important KPIs and how they can be used to achieve economic sustainability. Increase in market share, new export markets, and operating cost per ton of cement production are considered to be the most important KPIs whereas investment in community, carbon credits, and tax reliefs from the government are considered to be the least important KPIs for economic sustainability of cement industry. Based on the results, it has been determined that increase in market share (i.e. Ec-2) is the most important KPI for economic sustainability and is followed by new markets explored for exports (i.e. Ec-5) and operating cost per ton of cement production (i,e.Ec-7) having scores of 28.6693 and 28.4952 respectively. Similarly, the Ec-14 representing "value of tax credits and tax reliefs received from government" is ranked the lowest with a score of 10.441. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan is primarily an agriculture country with the capability of producing wheat, cotton, sugarcane and rice, which together are more than 75% of the total crop output. Underground water is the main source of irrigation. Most of the water pumps use diesel generator while others run on electricity. The diesel is very expensive and electric supply situation is very unreliable in Pakistan. Photovoltaic (PV) powered water pumps are an attractive alternative solution, but due to the high cost of solar panels, they are not within the reach of a common farmer. In this paper, a novel architecture for an irrigation water pump, simultaneously powered by utility and PV panels, is proposed. No battery backup is required. The system employs maximum power point tracking. The pump controller receives a single control input to produce desired water flow rate and concurrently maximizing the utilization of PV resource. The proposed solution allows the farmer to incrementally add solar panels to an existing grid powered pumping system, thereby reducing the initial investment required for full solar deployment. The investment in the partial deployment of solar panels is paid back to the farmer in reduced electricity tariff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthquakes are one of the deadliest forces of nature that can shake structures to their limits. No comprehensive study has been done in Pakistan on seismic performance of electric supply substations and requires immediate attention as Pakistan is one of the highly seismic area in the world with potential of large earthquakes. Seismic qualification of electric supply substation equipment (132 kilo Volt surge arrester) by time history shake-table testing is presented in this paper. This equipment was tested under "Seismic Qualification Level Moderate" that is according to earthquake input requirements of this region. An artificial time history was generated that qualifies the Required Response Spectrum of Pakistan Electrical and Telecom Safety Code (PETSAC-2014) and IEEE Recommended Practice for Seismic Design of Substations (IEEE Std. 693-2005). Two types of measurements (displacement and acceleration) were recorded during time history shake-table testing at four different points using six accelerometers and four displacement transducers. Seismic qualification of electric supply substation equipment is totally a new dimension in Pakistan's electrical power system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan has been experiencing energy crisis owing to its sole dependence on fossil fuels. Reduction in local fossil fuel reserves has led to an increase in their prices, thereby increasing the cost of electricity. Since the tariff remains the same, Pakistan is over-burdened with circular debts and observes a daily power shortfall of about 12–14 h. Being an Agra-economic country, many major and minor crops are produced and exported in large quantities. This results in a bulk of the agricultural waste which are not utilized. The waste can be utilized to meet the country’s energy demand while mitigating climate change and its impact. The study examines the electricity production potential and social benefits of rice husk in Pakistan. It is estimated in this study that if 70% of rice husk residues are utilized, there will be annual electricity production of 1,328 GWh and the cost of per unit electricity by rice husk is found at 47.36 cents/kWh as compared to 55.22 cents/kWh of electricity generated by coal. Importantly, the study will increase the awareness of the benefits of utilizing agricultural waste for useful products such as silica, with several social and environmental benefits such as a reduction of 36,042 tCO2e/yr of methane, reducing carbon dioxide emissions, improving the air quality, and providing 4.5 k new jobs. The paper concludes with the policy recommendations based on this study. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]