TY - JOUR

T1 - A multi-criteria design framework for sustainable electric vehicles stations

AU - Khan, Tahir

AU - Tahir, Mustafa

AU - Agyekum, Ephraim

AU - Yu, Miao

N1 - This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 52077194 . The first author would like to thank his mother for her moral support and kind prayers for this work.

PY - 2024/2/1

Y1 - 2024/2/1

N2 - The world is facing severe climate threats due to continuous increases in greenhouse gas emissions. Around one-fifth of global emissions are produced by the transport sector alone. Electric vehicles, as a potential replacement for conventional vehicles, can reduce global emissions. Pakistan is among the few countries severely affected by climate change impact. Therefore, Pakistan announced a national policy to increase the electric vehicles market share, calling for the development of electric vehicles charging stations nationwide. This work addresses this urgency by investigating renewable-based electric vehicles charging and hydrogen fueling stations (ECHFS). Seven possible ECHFS configurations are introduced. Then, a four-level sustainable design framework is developed, with the help of pre-feasibility analysis, HOMER optimization tool, and a multi-criteria decision-making method, to identify the most optimal ECHFS configuration. Solar PV with biogas generator configuration emerged as an optimal ECHFS, which is cost-effective (0.475 $/kWh cost of energy and 3.62 $/kg cost of hydrogen), reliable (unmet electric and hydrogen loads are 0.14 % and 0 %), eco-friendly (reduced 942 tons CO2 annually), and socio-politically acceptable. Sensitivity analysis showed that the optimal system is economically sensitive to simultaneously increasing charging and hydrogen fueling demands. The breakeven distance is estimated to be 59.6 km compared to the grid. The outcome of this work contributes to United Nations sustainability goals 7a, 8, 11, 13, and 13.2 and holds the potential to aid the sustainable development of ECHFS infrastructure.

AB - The world is facing severe climate threats due to continuous increases in greenhouse gas emissions. Around one-fifth of global emissions are produced by the transport sector alone. Electric vehicles, as a potential replacement for conventional vehicles, can reduce global emissions. Pakistan is among the few countries severely affected by climate change impact. Therefore, Pakistan announced a national policy to increase the electric vehicles market share, calling for the development of electric vehicles charging stations nationwide. This work addresses this urgency by investigating renewable-based electric vehicles charging and hydrogen fueling stations (ECHFS). Seven possible ECHFS configurations are introduced. Then, a four-level sustainable design framework is developed, with the help of pre-feasibility analysis, HOMER optimization tool, and a multi-criteria decision-making method, to identify the most optimal ECHFS configuration. Solar PV with biogas generator configuration emerged as an optimal ECHFS, which is cost-effective (0.475 $/kWh cost of energy and 3.62 $/kg cost of hydrogen), reliable (unmet electric and hydrogen loads are 0.14 % and 0 %), eco-friendly (reduced 942 tons CO2 annually), and socio-politically acceptable. Sensitivity analysis showed that the optimal system is economically sensitive to simultaneously increasing charging and hydrogen fueling demands. The breakeven distance is estimated to be 59.6 km compared to the grid. The outcome of this work contributes to United Nations sustainability goals 7a, 8, 11, 13, and 13.2 and holds the potential to aid the sustainable development of ECHFS infrastructure.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?partnerID=8YFLogxK&scp=85178346631

UR - https://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=tsmetrics&SrcApp=tsm_test&DestApp=WOS_CPL&DestLinkType=FullRecord&KeyUT=001127652300001

U2 - 10.1016/j.scs.2023.105076

DO - 10.1016/j.scs.2023.105076

M3 - Article

VL - 101

JO - Sustainable Cities and Society

JF - Sustainable Cities and Society

SN - 2210-6707

M1 - 105076

ER -