Abstract:

Climate threats are escalating due to rising greenhouse gas emissions, with transport contributing to one-fifth of global emissions. Pakistan, one of the few countries severely affected by climate change, has announced a national policy to increase electric vehicle market share. This work investigates renewable-based electric vehicle charging and hydrogen fueling stations (ECHFS) and presents seven possible configurations. A four-level sustainable design framework is developed using pre-feasibility analysis, HOMER optimization tool, and multi-criteria decision-making method to identify the most optimal configuration. Solar PV with biogas generator configuration is identified as the optimal ECHFS, cost-effective, reliable, eco-friendly, and socio-politically acceptable. Sensitivity analysis reveals the optimal system is economically sensitive to increasing charging and hydrogen fueling demands. The breakeven distance is estimated to be 59.6 km compared to the grid. This work contributes to United Nations sustainability goals and has potential to aid the sustainable development of ECHFS infrastructure.