Rural electrification has always been a central objective for
power sector reforms in Pakistan. But there is no firm government
policy for the development of decentralized power supply. With a
young and growing population, low per capita electricity consumption,
rapid urbanization and strong economic growth, Pakistan for
nearly two decades has been one of the fastest growing power markets
in the world. However since five years, the economic progress
has been greatly hampered by acute energy scarcity [8]. In order
to address issues pertaining to energy security, climate change and
sustainable development, Pakistan being falling in the same scenario
discussed earlier, needs to adopt clean and renewable energy
mix. Utilization of biomass is a very attractive energy resource since
biomass uses local feedstock and labour. Traditionally, biomass has
been utilized through direct combustion, and this process is still
widely used in many parts of the world [9]. Sahir and Qureshi
[10] after assessing new and renewable energy resources potentials
of Pakistan concluded that renewable resources may serve to
supplement the long-term energy needs of Pakistan to a significant
level. More than 62% of the population in Pakistan lives in
the rural areas, where access to commercial energy resources is
limited and traditional methods of using wood, animal waste and
crop waste for domestic fuel needs are the only choice. Efficiencies
of use are very low and most of the potential is wasted because
of non-scientific conventional technologies. Chaudhry et al. [11]
presented a review accentuating the importance and challenges of
new era technologies in Pakistan, concluding that the renewable
energy sources like wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy,
ocean energy, biomass energy and fuel cell technology can be
used to overcome energy shortage in Pakistan. Renewable energy