Review of geothermal energy resources in Pakistan

Pakistan, despite the enormous potential of its energy resources, remains energy deficient and has to rely heavily on imports of hydrocarbon products to satisfy hardly its needs. Moreover, a very large part of the rural areas does not have the electrification facilities because they are either too remote and/or too expensive to connect to the national grid. Pakistan has wide spectrum of high potential renewable energy sources, conventional and as well non-conventional. Many of them have not been adequately explored, exploited and developed. Geothermal energy is one of them. Pakistan can be benefited by harnessing the geothermal option of energy generation as substitute energy in areas where sources exist. Most of the high enthalpy geothermal resources of the world are within the seismic belts associated with zones of crustal weakness like the seismo-tectonic belt that passes through Pakistan having inherited a long geological history of geotectonic events. The present study of the geotectonic framework suggests that Pakistan should not be lacking in commercially exploitable sources of geothermal energy. This view is further strengthened by (a) the fairly extensive development of alteration zones and fumeroles in many regions of Pakistan, (b) the presence of a fairly large number of hot springs in different parts of the country, and (c) the indications of Quaternary volcanism associated with the Chagai arc extending into Iran and Afghanistan border areas. These manifestations of geothermal energy are found within three geotectonic or geothermal environments, i.e., (i) geo-pressurized systems related to basin subsidence, (ii) seismo-tectonic or suture-related systems, and (iii) systems related to Neogene–Quaternary volcanism. A few localities, scattered sporadically all over the country, have been studied to evaluate only some of the basic characteristic parameters of the geothermal prospects. The present review study the geothermal activities of varying intensity and nature, associated with different geotectonic domains, and reveals the viable potential of the geothermal environments, which could be exploited for the generation of sustainable indigenous energy in Pakistan.