By Qudsia Bano ISLAMABAD, Dec 07 (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan’s current and future energy needs can be met by utilising domestic biomass resources efficiently. Considering that Pakistan is an agricultural country, by-products of many processed and non-processed yields are always there to be utilised properly, especially for power generation. Biomass-based power generation can help Pakistan bridge the demand-supply gap, which worsens in the peak summer months. Biomass, which is usually the chaff of grains, fuel wood, dried cotton plants, sugarcane trash, dried and fresh animal dung, etc. is available round the year in Pakistan. About 85 sugar mills in the country create enough bagasse to generate approximately 5,800GWh of power. The most common crop leftovers are corn stalks, sugarcane trash, rice straw, wheat straw, and cotton stalks. Animal dung has a power generating capacity of around 4,800-5,600MW. Similarly, the thermochemical and biochemical conversion potentials of municipal solid waste for energy generation are 560kWh per ton and 220kWh per ton, respectively. Exploitation of biomass potential for power generation would definitely figure in the government’s plans to increase the number of renewables in the country's entire energy mix from the current 1.1% to 5% by 2030 to reduce air pollution, which is a major reason for the spread of diseases such as tuberculosis, abnormal births, lung cancer and pneumonia. Currently, a variety of biomass-based energy devices exist, all of which rely on the direct combustion process to provide useable energy. These devices have been used in sugar mill boilers and brick kilns to reduce hazardous emissions and save the environment. To help Pakistan tap the full biomass potential, Lanzhou University is transferring research and technology of biomass energy and circular agriculture to Pakistan. This Sino-Pak cooperation on biomass will help address both energy shortages and climate change issues. According to Pak-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman SM Naveed, collaboration on biomass energy between the two countries can be a new solution to both energy shortages and climate change. In an interview with Gwadar Pro, Zhang Dayong, Secretary General of the Biomass Energy Industry Promotion Association (BEIPA), said, "As Chinese researchers on biomass energy, we are also eager to give Pakistan support in terms of technicians, equipment, and technology." "Developing biomass energy could alleviate many of Pakistan's existing intractable challenges." To begin with, biomass power generation can help Pakistan meet its carbon reduction target by alleviating energy shortages and reducing carbon emissions. Second, it is particularly successful in dealing with both urban and rural garbage, maximising waste safety and reuse. Finally, it will be a blue ocean for commerce, boosting the economy and improving people's lives.