Both petrol and diesel generators can be used to provide electricity for driving pumps. Petrol gensets are portable. They are very suitable for small-scale irrigation as they are inexpensive and can be carried to site and back, and can be used to generate electricity for other applications. However, the amount of water they can deliver is relatively limited, and the cost of fuel and spares is relatively high. Moreover, petrol gensets have a relatively short life span, particularly if they are used as base load.
Diesel gensets can deliver high flow rates even at high heads.
Their costs and benefits, as with a petrol genset used for pumping, need to be weighed considering their other uses, and not just their use as pumps.