An analytical study to predict the future of Pakistan’s energy sustainability versus rest of South Asia

[Display omitted] •Energy scenario of Pakistan with increasing demand and supply gap is discussed.•Renewable energy potential of Pakistan and other South Asian countries is compared.•Pakistan exploits only 29.9% of the total renewable energy potential of 167.7 TW.•Sustainable solutions towards energy challenges in Pakistan are prescribed. Relative sustainability of large-scale renewable energy technologies in South Asia has been assessed with special emphasis to Pakistan owing to the prevalent energy crises. South Asian countries are blessed with renewable energy resources that can effectively substitute the conventional resources. Pakistan is greatly dependent on fossils-based energy systems, spending 14.5 billion USD on fossil fuels’ import that is about 34% of its gross domestic product. It has been analysed that Pakistan is naturally blessed with annual hydropower potential of 0.06 TW, highest after India i.e. 0.15 TW and Nepal i.e. 0.083 TW in South Asia. Pakistan has the highest average solar insolation potential of 2.5 kWh/m2/dayin the South Asia and can generate about 2.9 TW solar energy annually. Moreover, average wind speed of 7–9 ms−1 can yield 0.35 TW/year of wind energy. About 0.30 tons of biomass waste is being generated in the country annually, having a bioenergy potential of 166.72 TWh/year. India has the highest annual bioenergy potential of 2434.4 TWh followed by Bangladesh i.e. 373.6 TWh in South Asia. The conferred cross-country comparison will provide a factual roadmap to the decision-makers so to devise more focused approaches for addressing challenges associated with energy crisis in developing countries.