Daily Times. All public transport vehicles in the administrative district of Punjab, Pakistan, will run on compressed natural gas (CNG) to combat pollution, according to Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.

Elahi said that, in the first phase, only CNG fitted buses would be allotted route permits in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Faisalabad.

Elahi said that route permits would not be issued to two-stroke rickshaws, adding that their owners would be provided interest free loans to convert their engines into four-stroke engines. He said that owners of diesel engine buses would also be provided loans to convert to CNG fitted engines.

According to the US EIA, Pakistan has 26.8 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven gas reserves, and currently produces around 0.8 Tcf of natural gas per year, all of which is consumed domestically.

Increased usage in the transportation and power generation sectors will necessitiate a sharp rise in dometic production as well as importing foreign gas by pipeline from Iran or, perhaps, from Qatar.