A CLEAN AND PERMANENT ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PAKISTAN : SOLAR-HYDROGEN ENERGY SYSTEM

Abstract A solar-hydrogen energy system has been proposed for Pakistan as the best replacement for the present fossil fuel based energy system. Hydrogen is to be produced via a photovoltaic-electrolysis system, utilizing the available non-agricultural sunny terrain in Baluchistan region. There will be a desalination plant for sea water desalination. The area under the photovoltaic panels with the availability of water would provide suitable environment for growing some cash crops. This would change the vast useless desert land into green productive farms. In order to show the quantitative benefits of the proposed system, future trends of important energy and economical parameters have been studied with and without hydrogen introduction. These included population, energy demand (fossil + hydrogen), energy production (fossil + hydrogen), gross national product, fossil energy imports, world energy prices, environmental savings due to hydrogen introduction, savings due to the higher utilization efficiency of hydrogen, by-product credit, agricultural income, income from hydrogen sale, photovoltaic cell area, total land area, water desalination plant capacity, capital investment, operating and maintenance cost, total income from the system environmental impact and quality of life. The results indicate that adopting the solar-hydrogen energy system would eliminate the import dependency on fossil fuels, increase gross product per capita, reduce pollution, improve quality of life, and establish a permanent and clean energy system. The total annual expenditure for the proposed system is quite small compared to the total income expected. The availability of water, the cast crop production, electricity and hydrogen would result in rapid development of Baluchistan, the largest province of Pakistan.

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