|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Seeking solution for pain at the pump
Syed Naushab Sarwar hopes his experience helping to make Pakistan a leader in the natural gas usage will mean he can help the United States lower rising pump prices.“Maybe we can start some policies with the Fairfax County area, and then all of Virginia, and then the country,” Sarwar, a 61-year-old resident of the Centreville area, said.
He has just finished a stint at British Petroleum's research center and moved back home to Pakistan in the late 1970s when the country went through an economic crisis.
Aided by incentives from the government, his company, the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan, led the conversion of about 100,000 vehicles to run on natural gas within two years, Sarwar said.
Now Pakistan, along with Argentina, Brazil and Italy, is a world leader in fueling vehicles with natural gas – a fossil fuel already used for a large amount of the United State's energy supply.
In America, the vehicular use for the fuel is normally promoted only because of its environmental benefits, Sarwar speculates.
“Now, because of the economy, plus the environment, maybe there will be more reason,” he said.
According to his calculations, motorists with converted vehicles could pay $2.50 a gallon to fill up their tanks with compressed natural gas. And converting the vehicle to run on the fuel – either before or after market – can be done for $1,500 per vehicle, Sarwar said.
“The savings to a country can be enormous,” he said. “The technology in America is so great that there is no reason why we can't use it for this.”
Sarwar was born in Karachi, Pakistan and earned masters degrees in the chemistry field from University of Karachi and the University of Manchester.
After working for BP he became employed by the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan. After about 30 years with that company, he retired as its general manager two years ago and moved his family to Fairfax County.
Sarwar and his wife Shaheena have three daughters and a son.
You must be logged in to post a comment.