Environmental research

In the absence of adequate urban mass transport systems in Pakistan, three wheeler rickshaws and mini-buses carry the major share of commuter traffic. The rickshaws use a 1950 s technology of Italian origin Vespa for automotive power. It is a two-stroke, 175 cc engine that runs on a mixture of petrol and Mobil oil. The vehicle is being produced in Pakistan now, since copyrights have been abandoned by Vespa. Many local manufacturers produced virtually the whole of the vehicle with the exception of some components like the carburettor. The Auto-rickshaw, as it is called in vernacular terms, is a cheap commercial transport vehicle, price ranging between Rs. 75,000 to Rs. 90,000 but it is extremely fuel-inefficient, noisy and produces toxic exhaust emissions that are dangerous to health. (Carbon Monoxide, Hydro Carbons, Nitrogen Oxide, Particulates). Ill-tuned diesel engines of public transport and haulage vehicles along with auto-rickshaws are producing unacceptable levels of air pollution in the cities of Pakistan. Cleaner alternatives to two-stroke petrol engines include four-stroke petrol engines, engines powered by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG) and electricity. Replacement of two-stroke vehicles with four-stroke vehicles would significantly reduce hydrocarbon and particulate emissions; however nitrogen oxide would increase. Replacing the wide base of two-stroke auto-rickshaws with four-stroke vehicles is not a viable solution; not only because of higher cost of four-stroke engines but that existing assets would have to be scrapped. However, a new breed of three wheelers is appearing on the market with four-stroke engines but these are underpowered and too slow for urban traffic. Increasing demand of petroleum products at a rate faster than domestic availability and rising costs of imported oil are necessitating search for alternative fuels. The project will promote LPG kits in auto rickshaws to reduce carbon emissions by replacing gasoline with LPG by eliminating barriers in promotion of LPG kits in auto rickshaws. Though in case of LPG carbon content is not very low as compared to gasoline but With LPG the auto rickshaws can give better mileage. With 1 litre of gasoline an auto rickshaw on average covers 18 km whereas in case of LPG the rickshaw travels upto 52 km on average in 1 kg LPG. 1 kg LPG is equivalent to 1.346 litres of gasoline. Thus with 1 kg of LPG a rickshaw covers 26 km more than same quantity of gasoline.

Pakistan