THE COMPETITIVENESS OF COAL BRIQUETTES IN PAKISTAN

Firewood and charcoal use in Pakistan has led to extensive deforestation, whereas kerosene use depletes the country's foreign exchange earnings. Substituting coal briquettes from indigenous coal for these fuels in residential and commercial, institutional, and light-industrial cooking and heating could help alleviate these problems. We evaluate the potential financial success of an unsubsidized, private sector, coal-briquetting venture in Pakistan and find that coal briquettes could compete successfully with firewood in some markets, particularly in urban areas of the Punjab and the North West Frontier Province, as well as with charcoal and kerosene in most areas of Pakistan. Our consumer testing indicates that residential consumers are relatively positive on briquette use for cooking and space heating, while most commercial users probably would adopt briquettes more slowly. The most promising briquette is a coal-biomass mixture not requiring carbonization. Briquette marketing and distribution, the impact of government tax and competing fuels policies, and the health effects of coal-briquette emissions are also examined.