Pakistan is an emerging country facing energy crises due to its swiftly growing population. The energy sector is dominated by costly fossil fuels, which are quickly depleting, and threatening the environment. This study accentuates Pakistan’s current energy situation and future assessment of bioenergy potential through a comprehensive stoichiometry analysis. The paper access the tremendous potential to efficiently convert waste biomass into bioenergy as the most sustainable alternative to meet its energy demand. The results reveal that the total bioenergy potential of waste biomass has been determined as 44, 530 megawatt/1000 tonnes yearly contributed by municipal solid waste (17.21%), tree waste (22.95%), agriculture residues (18.85%), animal manure (19.67%) and other biomasses (21.32%). The conclusion shows bioenergy by 2030 prospects of 1.1–9% every year in the energy mix of Pakistan. Waste biomass will replace imported energy by reducing the burden in the range of 12–19%, 19–31%, 10–17%, and 1–2% on coal, oil, natural gas, electricity, and low-pressure gas (L.P.G.) in future by drafting the bioenergy policy framework for effective employment of renewable energy (biomass-based) production in Pakistan.
Municipal solid waste (MSW) contains plastic waste that can be used as a sustainable green substitute to reduce oil footprints, CO2 emissions, and environmental pollution. This study aims to recycle plastic waste by manufacturing wood-plastic composites and to improve its mechanical properties by using additives, coupling agents, and lubricants. These composites are prepared by mixing 40-70% of wood flour with 20-25% of a polymer matrix. Wood was degraded at 220 °C, and then the composites were processed at 50 °C. The manufacturing process carried out in the study involved wood waste meshing, drying, shredding, drying, trimming, filling, blending, compounding, and extrusion moulding. The compounding of composites was accomplished in twin-screw extruders. Once the mixture was uniformly mixed, its final shape was given by a two-step extrusion moulding. Previously, researchers aimed at enhancing the mechanical properties of the composites, but our research focus was to improve their durability for different industrial applications. The results suggest that the impact strength is 17 MPa with 50% of wood powder ratio while the maximum value for the tensile strength is 32.5 MPa. About 50% of an increase in wood powder resulted in 8.1% bending strength increase from 26.1 to 32.8 MPa. Reducing the plastic matrix and the wood-particles water swelling ratio resulted in better mechanical properties. The wood species also affected the mechanical properties with their excellent dimensional stability and less variability. A high proportion of wood fibre tends to increase its steady-state torque and viscosity. The mechanical properties against different wood-flour proportions indicate that composite materials exhibit superior water swelling behaviour and extrusion quality.