Cambridge O Level Pakistan Studies: Power — Revision Notes

These notes compress Section 3 Power of Cambridge O Level Pakistan Studies 2059 Paper 2 into tables and checklists for the last weeks before the exam. You must be able to draw the extraction methods, name where each fuel comes from and how it is moved, and judge which power sources can best close Pakistan’s energy gap. For full explanations, use the Power study guide.

Syllabus checklist (2059, 2026)

• ☐ 3(a) Diagrams of open cast, adit and shaft mining, and of drilling for oil and gas
• ☐ 3(a) Renewable versus non-renewable; how hydel, wind, solar, wave, tidal, biofuel and geothermal power work
• ☐ 3(a) Why power matters for development
• ☐ 3(b) Coal quality, amount, reserve life, imported coal types, transport to users
• ☐ 3(b) Gas output, reserve life, pipeline extent, supply beyond the pipelines and its limits
• ☐ 3(b) Oil output, reserve life, imports and why, pipelines and other carriers
• ☐ 3(b) Ways electricity is generated; non-renewables running out and rising in price
• ☐ 3(c) Pros and cons of water, wind, wave and solar electricity
• ☐ 3(c) Conditions for multi-purpose hydel; factors helping or hindering supply; small-scale schemes
• ☐ 3(c) Why supply is insufficient and unreliable in many areas

Key terms

Term	Definition
Overburden	Soil and rock lying above a coal seam, removed in open cast mining
Adit	A horizontal or gently sloping tunnel into a hillside to reach a seam
Anticline	An upfold of rock layers that can trap oil and gas beneath cap rock
Lignite	Low-grade “brown” coal with high moisture and ash; most Thar coal
LPG	Liquefied petroleum gas, sold in cylinders where there is no pipeline
LNG	Liquefied natural gas, imported by ship and regasified at Port Qasim
Thermal power	Electricity from burning fuel (coal, oil, gas, waste) to make steam
Run-of-river	Hydel scheme using river flow without a large storage reservoir
Load-shedding	Planned power cuts when demand exceeds supply
Circular debt	Unpaid bills passed along the power chain, so fuel cannot be bought

Fuel facts to quote (approximate, early-to-mid 2020s)

Fuel	Where	Moved by	Headline fact
Coal	Thar, Lakhra, Sonda; Duki, Sor Range, Chamalang; Makarwal, Salt Range	Mostly burned at mine; trucks; rail from ports for imports	Thar about 175 billion tonnes of lignite
Gas	Sui, Mari, Qadirpur, Uch, Kandhkot, Sawan	Trunk pipelines (two gas companies); LPG cylinders by road	Output near 3.2 billion cubic feet a day and falling
Oil	Potwar fields (Khaur, Dhulian, Toot, Meyal); Badin area	Tankers to Karachi; White Oil Pipeline to Mahmood Kot; rail and road tankers	Home output a fifth or less of demand

Always add “approximately” and a year. A figure without a date reads as a guess.

Generation mix in one line each

• Thermal: imported oil, gas and LNG, imported coal (Sahiwal, Port Qasim) and Thar coal
• Nuclear: Chashma units (Punjab) and K-2, K-3 (Karachi)
• Hydel: Tarbela, Mangla, Warsak; run-of-river Ghazi–Barotha, Neelum–Jhelum
• Wind: Jhimpir–Gharo corridor, Thatta district, Sindh
• Solar: solar parks and, since about 2022, a boom in rooftop panels

Renewables: one advantage, one drawback, one Pakistani fact

Source	Advantage	Drawback	Pakistan link
Hydel	No fuel bill; stores irrigation water	Silting; low winter flow; people resettled	Upper Indus schemes under construction
Wind	No emissions; steady sea breezes	Variable; needs new grid lines	Jhimpir–Gharo corridor
Solar	Sunshine most of the year	No output at night; dust on panels	Rooftop growth in cities and farms
Wave/tidal	Long coastline	Untested, costly technology	Not yet developed

Worked example: a part (d) style judgement

“Pakistan should spend on solar power rather than on new large dams.” Do you agree? Give reasons.

Solar can be installed quickly in small units, needs no fuel and suits scattered villages in Balochistan and Thar far from the grid. However, it produces nothing at night, and batteries are costly. Large dams such as Tarbela give cheap power for decades and also store irrigation water and reduce floods, but they take many years to build, silt up and displace people. Judgement: solar is the better short-term choice for remote areas, but dams remain necessary for irrigation, so Pakistan needs both rather than one instead of the other.

The shape: argument for, argument against, Pakistani example on each side, a clear judgement.

Exam traps

• Drawing an adit as a vertical hole. An adit goes in sideways from a hillside; a shaft goes down.
• Saying Pakistan “has no coal”. It has huge reserves; the problem is quality and location.
• Forgetting the limits of LPG. Higher cost, winter shortages and safety risk must be stated when asked how gas reaches areas off the network.
• Treating hydel as reliable all year. River flow and output drop sharply in winter.
• Quoting undated statistics. Reserve and output figures change each year.
• Listing renewables without judging them. “Evaluate” needs a conclusion.

Self-test

1. Which mining method suits a thick seam near the surface?
2. Name two Balochistan coal areas.
3. Why is most Thar coal burned close to the mine?
4. Give two limits of supplying LPG instead of piped gas.
5. Name the pipeline carrying refined fuel inland from Port Qasim.
6. Give two physical conditions for a multi-purpose hydel scheme.
7. Why does hydel output fall in winter?

Answers: 1. Open cast. 2. Any two of Duki, Sor Range, Chamalang. 3. It is low-grade lignite with high moisture, so it is uneconomic to transport. 4. Any two of higher cost, irregular supply in winter, safety risk. 5. The White Oil Pipeline (to Mahmood Kot). 6. Any two of narrow gorge, strong impermeable rock, reliable river flow, large storage valley. 7. Snowmelt stops and rainfall is low, so river flow is reduced.

Frequently asked questions

What is the quickest way to revise the three coal-mining methods? Draw each from memory in under a minute, with four labels, then check the labels against the study guide.

Is nuclear power renewable? No. Nuclear stations use uranium, which is a finite resource, even though they emit little carbon dioxide while running.

Why is power linked to development? Industry, irrigation tubewells, hospitals, schools and telecommunications all need reliable, affordable energy, so shortages slow growth and cost jobs.

Related resources

• Power study guide
• Power practice questions
• Natural Resources revision notes

Source: Cambridge International, Cambridge O Level Pakistan Studies 2059 syllabus for examination in 2026, Paper 2 Section 3 Power. Figures are approximate and dated.