scarcity and growth

8/8/2019 scarcity and growth

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which have alternative uses."While growth in economics refers to the improvement or expansion

of various factors.

The past two centuries have seen unprecedented growth in human population and economic

wellbeing. This growth has been fed by equally unprecedented natural resource consumption and

environmental impacts, including conversion of large portions of the natural world to human use,

which have sprouted concerns about whether the worlds natural resource base is capable of

sustaining such growth. Many believed that such growth will result into large scale resource

scarcity, but this hasnt been the case. Humans have been quite adept at finding solutions to the

problem of scarce natural resources: finding more abundant substitutes for various natural

resources, exploration for and discovery of new reserves, and the development of new

technologies that economize on scarce natural resources or that allow the use of resources that

were previously uneconomical.

Although scarcity and growth are two factors that have an impact on resources of every country

in this world, this paper will be limited to the problem of Pakistan and its current state of natural

resources. It will discuss the resources currently present in the country and will also highlight the

true potential that is achievable if the proper steps are taken. The paper will also suggest some

possible solutions to the ever decreasing level of resources in Pakistan and will define measures

to counter the current state of the country.

Data and Discussion:

Natural Resource and Pakistan:


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Natural capital is one of the important pillars of good economic performance and development. It

has been strongly believed from the time of Adam Smith and David Ricardo that the countries

endowed with natural resources have an edge over countries that are not. Natural resource

endowments can help countries to grow and diversify and thus improve the living standard of its

people. Pakistan is a country blessed with a lot natural resources but the majority of them have

been untapped and thus cannot be used in any form of production. The country is currently

facing a lot of problems and many experts believe that a dive into the huge treasure of resources

in the country can solve a lot if not all the problems. Currently there are five main types of

natural resources in the country:

1. Natural Gas2. Crude Oil3. Coal4. Hydroelectric Energy5. Nuclear Plants6. Mineral Resources

Crude Oil

The oldest and largest Exploration and Production Company is the Pakistan Petroleum Ltd,

(PPL) incorporated in June 1950. First oil discovery was in 1952 Baluchistan near a giant Sui gasfield and search intensified in 1980s for oil and natural gases. Oil & Gas are two of the major

components of Pakistans Energy mix contributing more than 80% to the 60.4 million of energy

requirement in Pakistan. A number of new fields are in Potwar Plateau Punjab and in Sind. But

as demand for oil out numbers the amounts produced Pakistan imports crude oil.


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Natural Gas

The largest natural gas deposit is at Sui (on the border between Baluchistan and Punjab) initially

discovered in 1953. A smaller field was discovered in 1957 in Sind Mari. Natural gas

production is at a relatively high level. PPL contributes 25% of Pakistans gas production. The

Companys holds operators on major oil and gas fields including Sui, Kandhkot, Adhi and

Mazarani, while its non-operated portfolio includes interests in the Qadirpur, Miano, Sawan and

Tal fields. The Companys exploration portfolio includes operated and non-operated joint

ventures in 10 onshore blocks and 2 offshore blocks. As it can be seen the production of Gas andOil is on the increase, and resources will eventually run out hence the reason to search for new

energy sources such as

Coal

Coal mining is one of the countrys oldest industries. Geological investigation has shown that

Pakistan has 185 billion tones of coal mainly in Sindh- Lakhra, Sonda-Thatta, Jherruck, Thar,

and others. There are smaller deposits in the Punjab Eastern Salt Range, Central Salt Range

and Makerwal. Smallest deposits are present in Baluchistan. Lakhra Coal Development

Company Limited (LCDC) is the major company involved in the production of coal. Usually


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quality of coal is of grade2 or 3. Again like crude oil the consumption is much higher than the

production.

Although energy production has grown faster than the economy as a whole, it is not kept pace

with demand, and as a result there are shortages of fuel and electric power. The bulk of power

requirements are provided by thermal plants (crude oil, coal and natural gas), with most of the

remainder provided by hydroelectric installations.

Hydroelectric Energy

Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by hydropower, i.e., the production of power through use

of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is on of the most widely used form of

renewable energy. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project produces no direct

waste, and has a considerably lower output level of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2)

than fossil fuel (crude oil, Coal, and natural gases) powered energy plants. The Pakistani Water

and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) are responsible for the generation, transmission

and distribution of power.

The first ever constructed dam was Mangla Dam in the Mirpur District in 1961, this project was

undertaken to strengthen the irrigation system but was damaged due to an Indian Air Force raid

during the Indo-Pakistan War in 1971. The hydro project was later on developed. The power

station consists of 10 turbine units each with the capacity of producing 100 Mega Watts.

After the success of the Mangla Dam demand for more electricity increased exponentially and

projects for further such hydroelectricity power stations commenced. Such as the Tarbela Dam

located northwest of Islamabad, the largest earth filled dam in the world was completed in 1974


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its own Uranium in it own nuclear power plants and weapons programs. Uranium deposits are

found in TummanLeghari mine in South Punjab, Baghalchur mine, Dera Ghazi Khan Mine and

IssaKhel / KubulKel mines in, Mianwali District.

Mineral

The Mineral investigation is far from complete, indicating Pakistan has a rich resource of many

different minerals enough to sustain itself and export on the international market. A list of theseminerals with small amounts of details


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What can do done?

Write here sawaid

Conclusion:

Write here

References:

Write here

Literature Review:

During the research the following are the main research sources that we used:

IndexMundi (2010) Minerals produced in Pakistan, Available:

Last

accessed: 2nd January, 2011

The above site is a statistics base for mineral resources in Pakistan. It contains stats about

availability and usage of all the major mineral resources of Pakistan. The website was used

to find information regarding the current levels of different resources in various parts of

the country. The below table was created with the information and stats contained in the


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above url. Apart from that various graphs were located in that domain and they were used

to analyze the current situation of resources in the country.

Pakistan News (2010) PMfor judicious utilization of natural resources, Available:

http://pak-news.net/pm-for-judicious-utilization-of-natural-resources/ Last

accessed: 3rd January, 2011

The above url links to an article that discusses a comment by the Prime Minister of

Pakistan about the natural resources of the country. The prime minister said that Pakistan

currently has a huge source of natural resources and most of them are untapped. He then

urges the international firms to come to the country and work with the Pakistani

government in order to exploit these resources for the betterment of the nation. The PM

further added that the full support of the Pakistani Government will be provided to all

foreign and local companies interested in working with complete credit facilities. Prime

Minister Syed Yusuf RazaGilanialso said that the government would continue its policy of

reconciliation and consensus to take all its coalition partners as well as other political

forces of the country on board on various national issues

Pakalert (2009)RekoDiq Mystery: Why Neocons and Zionists are after Balochistan?,

Available: http://pakalert.wordpress.com/2009/06/06/reko-diq-mystery-why-neocons-and-

zionists-are-after-balochistan/ Last accessed: 3rd January, 2011

The above article was posted in 2009 and talks about the RekoDiq Mining area in Balochistan. It

covers a news story published in daily dawn about this mining area and talks about the amount of

unused resources present there. According to the article RekoDiq is a giant copper and gold

project in Chaghi, containing 12.3 million tons of copper and 20.9 million ounces of gold in


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inferred and indicated resources. The copper-gold deposits at RekoDiq are believed to be even

bigger than Sarcheshmeh in Iran and Escondida in Chile.

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scarcity and growth