Energy crisis is a worldwide problem; Pakistan is facing severe shortage of this, especially in summer. To overcome these crises, huge amount of fossil fuels is being utilized which ultimately resulting in their exhaustion. In order to cope up the increasing energy requirements, alternative energy sources are required that should be cost-effective, environment friendly and technically feasible. In this scenario biodiesel production from algae has attracted scientist's attention worldwide. At present, the major constraint in biodiesel production from algae is nutritional cost for algal growth. Present research work was planned to minimize nutritional requirements of algae by using food industry waste water as a medium for algal growth towards economical biodiesel production. For this purpose four algal strains (A1, A2, A3 and A4) collected from different fresh water sources were evaluated for their potential use in biodiesel production. The waste water was pre-analyzed to determine the concentrations of different nutrients. All algal strains were grown in Bristol media and different dilutions (10, 20, 40, 80 and 100%) of food industry waste water. Growth data was recorded for one week. The results showed that algal biomass gradually decreased with increasing dilution of food industry waste water and was found higher in 100% waste water concentration than other dilutions. Cultivated algae were harvested for biodiesel production with n-Hexane as oil extractant and NaOH as a catalyst in different combinations through a chemical process ca\led transesterification. The FFA (free fatty acid) profile of algae 1 (A1) by using 75% hexane and 0.5% NaOH combination was found to be higher than other combinations. Higher concentration of NaOH (1%) resulted in soap formation. The aforesaid situations, plus owing to the best biomass production using 100% waste water concentration, deemed algae 1 (A1) as the best candidate among all four strains evaluated for biodiesel production.

The study was undertaken to determine the microbiological quality of various food items available in different schools and colleges of Islamabad. For sampling of water and food items, ten different schools and colleges were selected. These samples were analyzed for Total plate count (TPC), Total coliform, Fecal coliform, E. coli. Yeasts and Moulds. The data revealed that out of 30 water and 10 food samples, 12 samples of water and only 3 samples of food were found within range of permissible limits while the remaining were highly contaminated and unfit for human consumption. This study has socio-economic benefit monitoring the health standards of population especially the young generation.

To evaluate the base line levels of potentially toxic and essential trace metals namely, Cd, Ph, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu and Zn in water, locally grown vegetables, cereals and vegetable ghee-oil samples of a highly industrial city Gujranwala have been measured after wet digestion by employing AAS technique. Sampling was made from selected sites in and around the city over a period of three months. The concentration of Mn, Ni, Zn, Cu and Pb was found significantly higher in vegetables ranging from 3-63, 2-81, 5-92, 7- 70 and 6-60 ppm respectively. Nickel and Cu concentration was found higher in cereals whereas, Cd was found at ppb level in all variety of samples studied. Tap water, vegetable ghee-oil have recorded lower concentration of these metals. Vegetables collected from urban area have shown elevated level of contamination than those of taken from canal irrigated farms. The overall level of trace metals with few exceptions of vegetable samples was found within the permissible limits fixed by WHO. The analytical method was checked by applying on SRM of wheat and spinach. The results were found in agreement with the certified values within experimental error. The major polluting sources of the city such as automobile, man made activities, soil and road dust, metallic corrosion and industrial activities have been indicated. The environmental impacts of pollutants on water and food quality of an industrial and non-industrial city are briefly discussed in the light of their adverse effects on human health.

A study was carried out to assess the culture performance of monosex and mixed-sex tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in underground brackish water by using semi-intensive integrated pond system. The experiment was conducted in three earthen ponds for a period of 11 months. In pond-1 (P1), 200 females and in pond-2 (P2), 200 males, while in pond-3 (P3), 100 male and 100 female tilapias were stocked. Salt-tolerant fresh biomass, i.e. Leptochloa fusca (Kallar grass), Brachiaria mutica (Para grass) and Kochia indica (Kochia) was used as supplemental feed. Fertilization of all ponds was done with goat droppings @ 6000 kg per ha and nitrophos @ 7.5 kg per ha. Results indicated that tilapia was found well adapted to the saline environment. The net fish production was calculated as 1295, 1752 and 914 kg per ha per year in female, male and mixed tilapia ponds, respectively. Male tilapia culture resulted in a significant (P less than 0.05) increase in fish production.