Adeem Niaz

The authorities will be able to reduce air pollution and increase economic activities in Pakistan by upgrading the oil refineries, WealthPK reports. The oil refineries in the country will be technically upgraded by the year 2026. The upgradation of the oil refineries will reduce air pollution considerably besides triggering economic activities in the country.

Muhammad Haroon, a Ph.D. scholar at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML), told WealthPK that air pollution would be reduced in the country during the next decade owing to upgradation of the oil refineries. He said that switching from Euro-2 to Euro-5 standard of emission would also help Pakistan to improve its different sectors as it would be a great step towards the upgradation of the oil refineries in the country.

“Compared to fuel that meets the Euro-2 standard, which contains 500 parts per million (PPM) of sulfur, the fuel that meets the Euro-5 standard is 98% cleaner and contains only 10 PPM of sulfur. A reduction in sulfur content in Euro-5 standard will prevent air pollution and improve vehicle efficiency, primarily caused by low-quality fuels,” said Muhammad Haroon. He said that using high-quality and clean fuel would also boost the performance and durability of vehicle engines. In the long run, this will result in the use of less fuel since a vehicle will get more mileage using the same quantity of fuel.

According to a research study, Pakistan imports 70% of its fuel and only produces 30% of refined petroleum domestically. Once the refineries are upgraded, the country will be able to produce more petroleum on its own and cut down its need for the import of fuel. It will assist in decreasing the country’s import bill because petroleum products make up a bigger portion of the bill.

Muhammad Haroon said that Pakistan was declared the third most polluted country in the world in 2021 according to the air quality index. He said that it is an alarming situation as the health and performance of people are affected by the poor air quality. Air pollution in Pakistan is mostly caused by vehicles powered by low-quality fuel, which emits a significant number of pollutants. The country’s air pollution will undoubtedly be decreased by switching to cleaner fuel.

“A clean environment is beneficial to one’s health because breathing clean air will improve one’s well-being,” he said. He added that the productivity of the workers would also improve and their medical expenditure would reduce. The upgradation of oil refineries will help the country in various ways to increase its growth and reserves.

Muhammad Haroon said that the upgradation of the oil refineries would help to create more jobs as more industries would be set up in the country. “In addition to upgrading the refineries to produce Euro-5 fuel, it is also necessary to upgrade the vehicles so that they can perform well by using the new fuel,” he added.

The government has made a good decision to upgrade the oil refineries because it will enable the nation to manage a relatively cleaner environment as highly efficient fuel results in less emission of pollutants. “It will help the administration to resolve numerous economic problems. Once we begin producing refined oil, the main problem of the country, the current account deficit, will be also resolved,” Muhammad Haroon told WealthPK.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk