Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 450461

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

Fuel cell technology for sustainable development

in Pakistan An over-view
Rizwan Raza a,b,n, Nadeem Akram a, Muhammad Sufyan Javed a,c, Asia Raque a,
Kaleem Ullah a, Amjad Ali a, M. Saleem a, Riaz Ahmed c
a

Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore 54000, Pakistan

Department of Energy Technology, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), 10044 Stockholm, Sweden
c
COMSATS Headquarter, Islamabad, Pakistan
b

art ic l e i nf o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 3 March 2015
Received in revised form
25 May 2015
Accepted 21 August 2015
Available online 22 September 2015

Fuel cell technology holds the combination of benets, which are barely offered by any other energy generating technology. Because the fuel used in this technology is found in abundance in nature and can also be
renewed/sustained. Pakistan is blessed with renewable energy resources which are suitable for fuel cell
technology. Therefore, fuel cell technology offers a great opportunity to meet the demand of energy and for
the sustainable development of Pakistan. The energy research group at COMSATS Institute of Information
Technology (CIIT), Lahore has made efforts to study the technical aspects of fuel cell technology and its
commercial benets. The research group is interested in nding ways and means of generating and storing
the energy produced by using fuel cells. In this paper, the research activities on fuel cell technology in
Pakistan have been reviewed and it is also discussed how this technology can resolve the current energy
crises in Pakistan and can be the source of sustainable energy. It has been also reviewed that the country
would greatly benet from fuel cells and fuel cell hybrid system (environmental friendly technology), which
could be the best solution for electricity production as well for automobile industry.
& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Renewable energy
Sustainable development
Hydrogen fuels
Fuel cells
Electrodes

Contents
1.
2.
3.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Vision of political entities for renewable energy technology in Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fuel cells and its basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1.
Types of fuel cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.
Applications and advantages of fuel cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4. Fuel cell technology in Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5. Challenges and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6. R&D culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Appendix A.
Supplementary material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. Introduction
The world is gradually moving towards serious power crises
due to increase in the demand of energy [1]. Currently, Pakistan is
facing worst energy crisis due to its growing population and poor

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: razahussaini786@gmail.com (R. Raza).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.08.049
1364-0321/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

450
451
452
452
453
454
458
458
459
459
460

future planning of energy based infrastructure [2,3]. Pakistan is

basically an agricultural country with ve major rivers owing all
the year across the country starting from the north with several
inter-river linked canals and many seasonal canals based on
monsoon rainfall [4]. These rivers and link canals offer several

R. Raza et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 450461

locations where run-of-water power plants and water-reservoirs

can be built. However, the power generation from hydel sources
and construction of new water reservoirs has been ignored during
last 35 years [5]. Mostly, the emphasis has been on short-term
solutions by installing thermal power plants [6].
Thermal power plants use fossil fuels for power generation for
which fuel is imported to Pakistan. The energy produced from the
imported fuel offers a very expensive solution which a developing
country like Pakistan cannot afford [7]. Power plants using nuclear
energy have also been constructed but with a little capacity [8].
These thermal power plants pose a potential environmental threat
which is also ignored. The principal sources of energy generation
in Pakistan are oil (35.20%), hydel (29.90%), natural gas (29.00%),
and nuclear and imported (5.80%) [9].
Currently, in Pakistan, the demand for energy is 17,000 MW on
the average while the shortfall is 40005000 MW [9]. It is
expected that energy demand could rise by 45% in the coming 10
years, which is about 1500 MW [9]. The predicted energy demand
and supply in Pakistan for the years 20022030 are shown in
Fig. 1. The reasons for this disastrous prediction are lopsided
energy mix, lack of vision for utilization of indigenous fuel
reserves and poor future energy planning infrastructure. Gas
reserves have been depleted almost and prices of imported oils are
rising expeditiously which cannot be afforded [10]. Recently, a
large number of coal reservoirs have been discovered in central
parts of Pakistan and continuous efforts have been made to get
energy using coal [11]. The usage of fossil fuels especially the
carbon in power generation is not environment friendly. On the
other hand, renewable energy sources offer cheaper solution and
are also environmental friendly [12,13].
Pakistan has to face challenges with proper energy planning
with the use of renewable energy resources [14]. Therefore, beside
focusing on such conventional energy sources, there is a need to
explore non-conventional energy sources e.g., solar power, hydel
power, geothermal, wind power, tidal, and biomass using fuel cell
(FC) technology [15,16]. FC technology offers certain benets
which no other energy generating technology can offer [17].
In Pakistan, there are about 90 R&D organizations and 130
higher education institutes offering higher education and research
[14]. However, due to certain economical factors exploration of
alternative energy resources has been overlooked. The current
government of Pakistan is focusing on the economic revival by
promoting the R&D culture with a special priority to the energy
production. To give direction to R&D in Pakistan, a National
Research Agenda has been proposed. This agenda has targeted the
certain key research areas including renewable energy technology
120

Supply
Demand

100

80

80

60

60

40

40

20

20

2004

2008

2012

2016

2020

2024

2. Vision of political entities for renewable energy technology

in Pakistan

2028

Years
Fig. 1. Pakistan power sector need for reforms [77].

0
2032

Demand (x1000 MW)

Supply (x1000 MW)

(RET) and FC technology. The major ruling party PML(N) is

emphasizing on holistic science and technology strategy. In addition to the exploration of conventional power resources and
nuclear energy resources, the government has shown interest in
development and usage of non-conventional energy resources
including wind, solar, biomass and renewable energy from FC
technology. Several R&D organizations and higher education
institutes have responded to the exploration of the cheap and
alternative resources of energy. CIIT Lahore campus has proposed a
center for FC technology and submitted a comprehensive proposal
which is under approval. Beside this, many under-graduate, postgraduate and Ph.D. students have also been involved in FC related
research areas e.g., materials for low temperature FC, high temperature FC, fuel exible FC, direct carbon FC, bio FC and FC hybrid
system.
The FC technology has a variety of application ranging from
stationary power plants to portable energy consumption [18,19].
Internationally, different countries are focusing on FC based
energy sources and FC technology is successfully launched in different countries like Sweden, UK, Japan and USA. Also, India has
spent billions of dollars on fuel cell and hydrogen energy research
and educational programs. In USA, FC system/stack has been
developed which can be integrated with hydrocarbon fuels like
gasoline and diesel etc., due its operational temperature range
500800 C. In FC technology different type of fuels are used e.g.,
air, hydrogen gas, biogas, natural gas etc. [20,21]. The abundantly
found fuel in nature and variety of applications of FC technology
makes it a prime candidate to provide a great revolution for the
sustainable development of Pakistan. The use of FC technology
must be extensively explored as it offers cheaper alternatives to
conventional and expensive power sources.
In this contribution, a comprehensive overview of FC technology and its applications is proposed to advance this technology
through research and development, particularly in Pakistan. This
work is highly desired because of its value and utility for the
general public. By starting from the basics of different types of fuel
cells, the advantages and usefulness of diverse applications of FC
technology has been briey discussed. FC integrated hybrid system, FC based polygeneration systems and the potentials of different renewable energy resources in Pakistan are also presented.
The status and involvement of different research institutes and
higher education universities in developing FC technology in
Pakistan is also discussed. At the end, certain challenges which are
being faced to implement FC technology for sustainable development of Pakistan is described and several recommendations have
been suggested which can help in solving these challenges.

120

100

0
2000

451

Pakistan is blessed with several renewable energy resources in

abundance like wind, solar, hydel, biomass, tidal, geothermal, biofuels, etc [2225]. These can be a prolic choice to not only combat
the current crisis but also for fullling our energy needs for the
-growth of industries, socio-economic and development in modern technologies [26]. In general, energy sources can be grouped as
renewable sources and non-renewable sources, as shown in Fig. 2.
The shortfall of the energy has the potential to hinder the
economic growth of Pakistan and, therefore, different political
parties have proposed policies to solve the energy crisis. In the
general election of 2013, major political parties put the solution of
energy shortage as the top priority in their manifestos [27]. Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) which currently holds the
central/federal government is interested to create Ministry of
Energy by merging the Ministries of Water & Power and Petroleum

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R. Raza et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 450461

Fig. 2. The classication of available energy resources in Pakistan [78].

& Natural Resources. It proposes the reformation of National

Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), abolishment of circular debt, rationalization of energy tariffs, consensus to construct
projects of hydel power and development of renewable/sustainable energy resources [27]. Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) propose to encourage the foreign investment in the
energy sector, development of hydro-power generating plants by
persuading private and public sector sectors and exploration of
new areas for natural gas supply [27]. The energy policies of
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are to focus on the indigenous
energy sources like coal, hydel, wind and solar power as an
alternative to the expensive thermal power generation at affordable rates to an average citizen; and also to improve the energy
generation efciency, its transmission and distribution by reconstructing Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA)
[28]. Another political party Awami National Party (ANP) is also
interested to implement the use of non-conventional energy
resources for power generation on wider scale [27]. In short, all
political parties have shown interest to explore and encourage the
alternate energy sources. All these policies for the utilization of
sustainable energy resources exist only in proposals and so far
nothing is implemented practically. However, there is a high need
to harness these renewable energy resources in actual practice,
especially through FC technology for the sustainable development
of Pakistan.

3. Fuel cells and its basics

A standard fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical
energy very efciently without combustion. In this respect, it is
like a lead accumulator, a commonly used battery. However, there
are basic differences in the working of the two devices. In FC, fuel

is fed continuously from the outside whereas in the lead accumulator, chemicals are stored in the chamber which can be
recharged through external sources of electricity [29]. In FCs, some
renewable fuels, e.g., hydrogen gas, natural gas, biogas etc., are
being used. It is renewable, because it is abundantly available in
the universe and thus can be renewed and replenished without
any end. The hydrogen can be obtained from water and many
other sources. Hydrogen is also available in sufcient quantities in
the earth's atmosphere which also contains oxygen [30]. These
two elements are used in the working of a fuel cell, where they
combine to produce heat, electricity, and water in the form of
vapors [31].
A fuel cell usually contains two porous electrodes that are
separated by a dense electrolyte/membrane. A catalyst, usually
platinum is employed to accelerate the process. Hydrogen and
oxygen are fed at anode and cathode respectively and oxidation
process takes place at the anode in the presence of a catalyst in
such a way that hydrogen splits into electron and proton. Both
charge carriers are now pushed, off course through separate
routes, towards the cathode and electrons travel along an external
path through a load whereas the protons through the electrolyte
where they recombine with oxygen to produce water and heat
[3132]. The basic fuel cell working principle is illustrated in Fig. 3.
In 1839, Sir William R. Grove proposed that if electricity can be
used to split water then it can also be possible to produce electricity by using hydrogen and oxygen in a reverse process. In 1889,
Carl Langer and Ludwig Mond proposed the term 'fuel cell'. In
1932, a fuel cell was made that employed nickel electrodes and
alloys as electrolytic material using used oxygen and hydrogen as
fuel. In 1959, a complete system capable of producing 5 kW electricity was launched [3135].
We may need to consider reactions taking place at each electrode separately for understanding, how the reactions between
hydrogen and oxygen generate an electric current and where the
electrons come from. The basic function of fuel cell is based on the
chemical reactions [36] as follows:
At the anode, hydrogen splits into proton and electron in the
presence of catalyst,

2H2 4H+ + 4e
At the cathode, the proton and electron recombine with oxygen
to produce water,

O2 + 4H+ + 4e 2H2 O
Thus, the overall reaction is:

2H2 + O2 2H2 O

3.1. Types of fuel cells

The fuel cells are generally categorized by the type of electrolyte material. There are many types of electrolytes that can be used
in developing a fuel cell. A number of fuel cells have been developed and can be listed as Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell
(PEMFC), Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC), Molten Carbonate Fuel
Cell (MCFC), Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC), Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC),
Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC), ZincAir Fuel Cell (ZAFC) and
Regenerative Fuel Cell (RFC) [3139]. The solid electrolyte has
many advantages because it does not allow the corrosion and its
handling is also easier in comparison to liquid electrolytes [3139].
Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells use Naon/Teon
as membranes, which allow protons to pass through them. Both
sides of the membrane are coated with platinum or its alloy that
acts as a catalyst. The electrolyte consists of poly-perourosulfonic

R. Raza et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 450461

453

Fig. 3. General concept of fuel cell working (PEMFC).

acid also named as polytetraouro ethylene which is a solid

polymeric material. The working temperature of these cells ranges
from 60 to 80 C. The power density of such cells is quite high [33]
and electrodes are made from platinum coated on carbon. Platinum is an expensive material and increases the cost of the cell.
In phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC), concentrated phosphoric
acid is used as an electrolyte. Electrodes are made from platinum
or its alloys that also serves as a catalyst. The cell can work
satisfactorily over a temperature range extending from 150 C to
220 C [3135].
Molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) uses a liquid solution of
lithium, sodium or potassium carbonates as an electrolyte. The
operating temperature of this cell is about 650 C as the carbonate
electrolyte provides good conductivity at high temperature
[3135].
In solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), solid material is used as an
electrolyte. Typical materials for electrolyte in SOFC include solid
zirconia along with small amount of ytrria, samarium doped ceria,
and gadolinium doped ceria etc. This type of fuel cell is suitable for
generating electric power with capacity of hundreds of megawatts
at large scale. Such systems are modular, reliable, and fuel adaptable with low emission of harmful gases (NOx and SOx). SOFC
stack systems are also considered suitable as local power generation systems for rural areas without access of public grids. Furthermore, they have high efciency, low noise, long-term stability
and low costs of maintenance [37]. The operating temperature is in
range 6001000 C and this is why, SOFC is very suitable for
polygeneration [38]. On the other side, different chemical and
mechanical compatibility problems limit the use of SOFCs due to
long start-up and cooling-down. There are number of researchers
who have worked to minimize the operating temperature to nd
possible solutions and claimed SOFC may bring energy production
to a new generation, if successful and sustainable counter-measures are built up [4052].
For alkaline fuel cell (AFC), the electrolyte consists of an aqueous solution of alkaline potassium hydroxide. The performance of
these cells is very high because cathode reacts very fast in the
alkaline electrolytes. This type of cell has been used very successfully for producing electricity and water in space missions.
These cells provide good results over a temperature range of
150200 C [3135].

The electrolyte used in direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is

similar to that used in PEM fuel cell. However, its working is different from PEM in the sense that the catalyst at anode draws the
hydrogen directly from the liquid methanol and hence it does not
require a fuel reformer to obtain hydrogen form methanol. Its
operating temperature is also low in comparison to some other
cells. It works quite efciently over a temperature range of
50100 C [3135].
The regenerative fuel cells are a sort of closed-loop system for
producing electricity from water. In fact, it would be a great
achievement if human being could utilize water as a future fuel for
meeting its fuel requirements. In this cell, a solar electrolyzer
separates the water into hydrogen and oxygen which are supplied
to the fuel cell, which produces electricity along with water. The
same process is repeated again and again by sending water back to
solar electrolyzer through a closed loop arrangement [3135].
In zincair fuel cell (ZAFC), a gas diffusion electrode system is
used. The gas diffusion electrodes are porous membrane through
which atmospheric oxygen is allowed to pass. This oxygen is
transformed into hydroxyl ions and water. This hydroxyl ion passes through the electrolyte to reach at the zinc anode to convert it
to zinc oxide. As a result of this reaction, a potential difference is
created and a large number of such cells can be arranged in either
series or parallel set up, to provide required value of voltage and
current for any application [3135]. A Comparison of Fuel Cell
Technologies is summarized in Table 1 [46, 5355].
3.2. Applications and advantages of fuel cells
The fuel cells are useful for many systems. However, there are
mainly three areas which are being more focused presently for
fuel cell applications [3133]. These uses are transportation (cars,
buses, trucks, submarines, ships, spacecrafts etc.), stationary
power (power for remote locations, back-up power, stand alone
power plants for towns and cities, distributed generation for
buildings and co-generation) and portable power (cell phones,
radios and laptops etc.).
Fuel cells have high potential for above mentioned applications
due to considerable advantages and benets [3133] over currently available sources of energy. The list of benets could be very

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R. Raza et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 450461

Table 1
Comparison of fuel cell technologies.
Fuel
cell
type

Common electrolyte

Operating
temp. (C)

System
output

Electrical efciency

PEMFC

Polymer poly-peruorosulfonic acid

5080

1250 KW

5360%(Transportation)2535%
(Stationary)

AFC

Aqueous solutionof
potassium hydroxide
socked in a matrix

Applications

Advantages

Disadvantages

-Backup power
-Portable power
-Transportation

-Solid electrolyte reduces corrosion

-Low temperature
-Quick start up

-Requires expensive catalyst

-High sensitivity to fuel impurities -Waste heat temperature
not suitable for combined heat
and power (CHP)

90100

10
100 KW

60%

-Military
-Space

PAFC

Liquid phosphoric acid

socked in a matrix

150200

50 KW
1 MW

4 40%

-Distributed
generation

MCFC

Liquid solution of
Lithium, sodium or
potassium carbonates
socked in a matrix

600700

1 KW
1 MW

4547%

-Electric utility
-Large distributed
generation

SOFC

Yttria stabilized Zirconia

6001000

o1 KW

3543%

-Auxiliary power

Sammarium doped Ceria

3 MW

long; however important ones are given below to show the signicance of fuel cell.
i. Effectiveness: temperature is an important parameter which
limits the efciency of a heat engine. Fuel cells do not involve
any combustion process and thus are free from such type of
limitation. For this reason, these are highly efcient with
respect to combustion engines [3335].
ii. Pollutions free: fuel cells do not pollute our environment
because they do not generate any contaminants. They produce
water and heat as a byproduct which can be used for other
purposes [3335].
iii) Simplicity: fuel cells are very simple, reliable, and noiseless
because their functioning is independent of any moving parts.
They have pretty long life which can be as large as 40,000 h.
Furthermore, these can be stacked in modular form to match any
power requirement [3335].

4. Fuel cell technology in Pakistan

As discussed earlier, Pakistan is an energy decient country
facing extreme energy problems. A large chunk of government
exchequer is exhausted for this purpose. Government is spending
13 Billion US dollars every year to import crude oil and eatable oil
to minimize this difculty with nearly 1% annual growth-rate [56].
People of the urban and rural areas of the country are facing
shortage of electricity. On the other hand people living in remote
rural areas of the country do not have an easy access to commercial-energy sources like natural gas, petrol, diesel and electricity. If these people are to be brought at par with other parts of
the country, then cheap energy has to be delivered at their door
steps. This would require a huge infrastructure, which at present
seems to be impossible due to its tremendous cost. If something
has to be done positively, then this is possible only through the use

-Electric utility
-Large distributed
generation

-Cathode reaction isfaster in alkaline electrolyte, leads to higher

performance
-Higher overallefciency
with CHP
-Increased tolerance to
impurities in hydrogen
-High efciency
-Fuel exibility
-Can use a variety of
catalysts
-Suitable for CHP
-High efciency

-Fuel exibility
-Can use a variety of
catalysts
-Suitable for CHP
-Variety of fuels

-Expensive removal of CO2

from fuel
-Require expensive platinum
catalyst
-Low current and power
-Large size/weight
-High temperature speed corrosion and breakdown of cell
component
-Slow start up
-High temperature enhances
corrosion and breakdown of
cell components -Slow start up
-Brittleness of ceramic electrolyte with thermal cycling

of alternative energy sources. Fortunately, Pakistan is lucky enough

to have many of the energy sources that can be renewed repeatedly. Solar energy is one of such sources that are most copious and
widely spread in the country [57]. Wind, micro-hydro, biomass,
and biogas are other important sources of energy that can be
effectively utilized to meet the challenges of energy shortfall [58].
The northern areas of Pakistan are highly suitable for developing
micro-hydro systems and it is anticipated that these systems can
generate about 300 MW of electricity [59].
a. Study consequences
We need to develop fuel cells because they will provide electric
power for many applications in Pakistan. In stationary power
applications fuel cells can be used at a xed location like at homes,
grocery stores and industrial buildings and as well as for backup
power units where a diesel generator or leadacid batteries could
not be used because of the pollution they generate. Fuel cells can
also be used for transportation application i.e. to power cars,
buses, passenger vehicles and auxiliary power units for highway,
off-road vehicles and in communication equipment that can be
moved from one place to another [60,61]. Fuel cells are also used
in portable device for power applications. Thus the functioning of
the mobile and stationary power stations based on FC technology
will help to decrease the dependence of power production
through conventional ways.
a. Potential of fuel cell based hybrid systems in Pakistan
The FC-energy market in the world is well surveyed with billion dollars investment which increased three times more since
2012 [62] based on its wide applications in various power and
energy sectors. The annual demands of portable generators and
emergency power supplies are in millions. Similary in Pakistan,
the energy market is increasing annually which can be focussed.

R. Raza et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 450461

FC technology can also be integrated with several renewable

energy resources to work in hybrid for multiple applications. As
discussed earlier, Pakistan is very rich in having several renewable
energy resources.
In fuel cell, the SOFC has gained attention because of their high
energy conversion efciency and fuel exibility. The basic operation and working principle of SOFC are depicted in Fig. 4. Different
kinds of fuels such as gases (e.g., hydrogen, syngas, and bio-gas),
liquids (e.g. methanol, ethanol and glycerol) and solids (carbon
and lignin) can be used in SOFCs. The SOFCs are one of such systems, which generate power and heat in the same time during its
operation. Therefore multi-fueled SOFCs can be used as hybrid and
polygeneration system and will be the best option for Pakistan
current energy scenario. In the following we discuss the several FC
systems hybrid with different renewable energy resources available in Pakistan.
i. SOFCBiomass hybrid system
Promising renewable energy technologies (RET) based on
hydrogen and hydrocarbon fuel are considered as an alternative
energy resources for fossil fuels and environmental polluted
fuels. Biomass is a promising renewable energy source among

Fig. 4. Basic operation of SOFC.

455

all other sources. Biomass can be generated from multiple

wastes such as kitchen waste, animal's waste, forestry waste,
municipal solid waste, agricultural waste, poultry waste and
sewage waste etc. All of these wastes can be turned into useful
biogas by gasication using a bio-gasier. The biogas has
methane as major content and minute amounts of some other
gases also present. This biogas can be directly used as fuel to
solid oxide fuel cell as SOFC can operate for multiple fuels. The
internal reforming for biogas inside SOFC offers an advantage
where the need of purication of biogas to hydrogen gas is
avoided. SOFCBiomass hybrid system can be used for several
applications such as electricity production for portable devices,
stationary units and combined heat and power system (CHP)
etc. Fig. 5 shows the block diagram for a SOFCBiomass hybrid
system.
ii. SOFCWind hybrid system
Wind is a suitable renewable energy source to produce electric
power for 24 h as solar energy is only available during the day
time. To utilize the wind from environment a wind turbine/mill
is used to convert wind energy into electricity. A wind turbine
rst converts the kinetic energy of wind into mechanical
energy, which rotates the shaft of electric generator to produce
the electricity. This electric power can be used to produce
hydrogen and oxygen from electrolysis of water. The produced
hydrogen and oxygen can be used as a fuel to solid oxide fuel
cell. The water is produced during the operation of fuel cell
which can again be used to produce hydrogen and oxygen in
the electrolyzer. Fuel Cell can be further used in variety of
applications ranging from portable devices to heavy duty
devices. Hydrogen can also be used directly in hydrogen based
FC transportation systems. Fig. 6 shows the possible utilization
of wind energy as a hybrid SOFC system.
iii. SOFCCoal hybrid system
Hydrogen has great ability to meet the future energy and fuel
needs. One of the greatest advantages of hydrogen is its ability
to be produced from an extensive variety of sources. One of

Fig. 5. Solid oxide fuel cell-Biomass hybrid system.

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R. Raza et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 450461

Fig. 6. Solid oxide fuel cellWind hybrid system.

Fig. 7. Solid oxide fuel cellCoal hybrid system.

these sources is coal. Hydrogen is produced from coal by coal

gasication process. Coal gasication produces wide variety of
products such as diesel, natural gas, hydrogen gas, ethanol,
methanol, industrial gas and jet fuels. Hydrogen, natural gas
and ethanol can be used directly as a fuel to SOFC. The efciency of SOFC with combined heat and power (CHP) systems
reaches to 85% which is about double to conventional engines.
This offers a huge advantage of usage of SOFCcoal hybrid.
Fig. 7 shows the scenario of coal usage to the end user through
fuel cell technology.

iv. Polygeneration system based on MGT/SOFC

Polygeneration is a process which produces more than one
product simultaneously from a single fuel source. Therefore, the
total efciency is higher and the emissions to environment are less
in such systems. Hence, polygeneration can be a promising technology to meet the user demands regarding energy security and
controlling global warming. Three different polygeneration systems for space heating, cooling and providing hot domestic water
are visualized in this section which are polygeneration system for

R. Raza et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 450461

457

Fig. 8. Polygeneration based MGT/SOFC.

fuel cell, polygeneration system based on atmospheric SOFC/MGT

and polygeneration system based on pressurized SOFC/MGT as
shown in Fig. 8.
c) Involvement of different research groups
i. In COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore, our
research group has made different studies on FC technology to
identify similar technology in Pakistan. In future, these cells
could prove as alternative energy sources for various applications [35].
The main objectives of the research group are to meet the
current energy crisis as well as to address the shortage of fuel
especially the natural gas using the indigenous resources. The
lack of vision of usage of natural gas has resulted in massive
strategic failure causing the shortage of gas supply during the
winter times. The activities in research group aim towards
particular applications of FC-technology in this scenario. Low
temperature PEM-FC-technology is being focused to meet the
demands of mobile and auto industry applications. While
SOFC-hybrid technology is being studied to provide solution
for the stationary applications.
The group is actively involved in studying the different aspects
of FC-technology to provide solutions to these crises. Some
members of the group are focusing on the aspect of experimental science of the FC-technology and some are working on
the engineering application of the technology. Different prototypes are being developed especially for SOFC-hybrid with
biomass for stationary applications. Beside this, a sub-group is
working on theoretical understanding of the technology. The
simulations are being performed using DFT and COMSOL.

Group has submitted several projects to Higher Education

Commission of Pakistan (HEC) and Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) to develop FC technology in Pakistan. Based on the
few of the approved small projects, a fuel cell laboratory has
been established in which fuel cell activities are going on. But
still more projects and more human power is needed to make
it successful. CIIT group wants to establish an advance FC
research center at COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Lahore and submitted the concept paper (PC-1) of 800
million Pak Rupees (PKR). It is an important step in contributing towards achieving the cited objectives of the Government
of Pakistan. The research and development activities as well as
the development of products from the proposed center will
play a vital role in meeting the future energy scenario of
Pakistan. The main aim of the center is to develop costeffective reliable fuel cells for commercialization. In addition
to these projects three PhD projects on SOFC (especially
Biogas, Natural gas, Bioethanol, and Direct Carbon fueled
based SOFCs) are also initiated and several graduate/undergraduate research projects have been completed in our group.
Our initial target will be the smart homes/houses which need
the power, heating and cooling system. The rst aim is to get
0.51 kW systems. This is currently carried out through a
small HEC project with some additional internal funding of
CIIT in collaboration with FC research group at KTH, Stockholm
Sweden.
The milestone reached to date is described as below;
Materials scaled-up to pilot production.
New materials and functionality developments.
Individual cell, component development and tests.

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R. Raza et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 450461

Cell test facilities in operation.

Prototype designed.
If all the components are prepared/fabricated using indigenous resources considering all the challenges of FC-technology,
the cost can be reduced effectively. The other way to address
the cost is to minimize the FC components (single component
FC) because the simpler technology and fabrication process
will greatly reduce the fabrication costs. Beside this, simple
technology will have high production reproducibility unlike
conventional way with MEA (anode, electrolyte and cathode)
with complex technologies and low product yield.
Current FC prices are extremely high i.e. 20005000 USD/kW.
Based on our research and expertize, the estimated cost has
been calculated to be about 300500 USD/kW for indigenous
system see supplementary information material).
We have reported earlier, using different approaches to reduce
the present cost of electrode and electrolyte materials for solid
oxide fuel cell. For example,

Use of cheap raw materials

Lowering of sintering temperature
Reduction of sintering time
Lowering of operating/working temperature
It has been noted that the substitution of zinc compound
(Zn(NO3)2.6H2O) in place of nickel oxide (NiO) has reduced
the cost by a factor of E25 in addition to the lowering of
manufacturing and operating temperature, which also
reduces the cost indirectly by saving energy and time.
Moreover, the cost has been further reduced by a factor of 35
and 18 when samarium nitrate (Sm(NO3)3.6H2O) and gadolinium nitrate (Gd(NO3)3.6H2O) are respectively replaced by
calcium nitrate (Ca(NO3)2.4H2O).
The lowering of working temperature from 1000 to 550 C is
a major achievement that would not only reduce the running
cost but it may help in commercialization of solid oxide fuel
cell [6364].

involved in synthesis and characterization of different catalytic

materials for polymer electrolyte fuel cells [72]. Different types
of catalysts were developed for PEMFCs [73].
vii. A research group at Department of Electric Power and Energy at
University of Management and Technology (UMT), Lahore has
also commenced research on proton exchange membrane fuel
cells. However their focus is on theoretical aspects of working
of PEMFC. Thermodynamic and electrochemical characteristics
of PEMFC under steady state and transient conditions are being
analyzed and studied using different dynamic models [74].
viii. Department of electrical and industrial engineering at Pakistan
naval engineering college (PNEC), Karachi is also working on
design and fabrication of low cost high efciency sustainable
and renewable energy system that is based upon solar and
wind power generation.
ix. Department of Electrical Engineering and Chemical Engineering of UET Peshawar have also started work on FC-technology,
but due to lack of experimental facilities, they have so far
focused on theoretical and modeling aspects of the FCs.
Despite being efcient, environmental friendly and highly suitable for several applications, FC technology still faces several
hurdles towards effective utilization and commercialization. These
problems include high costs of fuel cell components, concerns
about the use of hydrogen as fuel and exibility of fuel storage
place. Our group at CIIT, Lahore is working to overcome these
barriers and is focusing on following objectives:-

! To design high efcient and more stable materials through the

density functional theory (DFT) approach.

! To develop functional nanocomposite materials for fuel cells

and lithium-ion batteries.

! Investigation and feasibility of quantum-dot-based materials in

new-generation fuel cells.

! To develop fuel cell based hybrid & polygeneration system.

! Development of cost effective energy storage devices like; batteries, super-capacitor etc.

i. Different research organizations including Pakistan Institute of

Science and Technology (PINSTECH) and National Development
Complex (NDC) have initiated R&D program to develop fuel
cells indigenously. PINSTECH has fabricated and tested low
power fuel cell stacks successfully. This fuel cell stack system
can be extended to produce power according to requirement,
particularly for automobiles and off grid utilizations, etc. [65].
Membrane electrode assembly (MEA) for PEM fuel cell has also
been fabricated using route-catalyst-membrane (CCM) and
composite bipolar plates for PEMFC [6668].
ii. Ministry of Environment, Pakistan, has constituted a Technical
Review Group (TRG) which comprises eminent professionals
from government and private sectors, educational institutions,
NGOs and citizen forums. The group has been assigned to prepare a feasibility report for introducing fuel cell technology in
the country [69].
iii. In NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, one
research group is working on fuel cell technology. They are
working with the collaboration of German University in the
area of fuel cells [70].
iv. University of Engineering and Technology Lahore (UET) is also
working on fuel cell technology with special focus on SOFC
with the collaboration of CIIT [71]. Center for Energy Research
and Development at UET is focusing on renewable sources.
v. Physics Department of Bahaud-din-Zakariya University, Multan
is also involved in the same research area ofknowledge and
produced two PhDs in the eld of SOFCs.
vi. National Center for Physics (NCP) and department of chemistry
at Qauid-e-Azam University (QAU), Islamabad are actively

! To develop prototypes of energy conversion devices.

! To nd investments from industries for commercialization of
the technology.

5. Challenges and recommendations

In order to attain sustainable development in energy infrastructure especially in FC technology in Pakistan, certain factors
must be considered. Few of such factors are challenging and one
must have a concrete planning to tackle them. Intensive efforts are
also needed to solve the problems and to meet the high international standards. In the following, outline of main challenges
which need urgent consideration and give recommendations
which can be adopted. The energy crisis can be overcome if we
increase the use of renewable energy sources instead of nonrenewable energy sources. Moreover, government should encourage private sector investment in RETs through incentives and by
developing renewable energy markets as well as facilitate the
development of a domestic RET manufacturing industry.

6. R&D culture
For sustainable progress in FC technology, signicant research
is needed. For this, R&D projects play a pivotal role. A competitive
research culture will also help in low cost products and their
evaluation. All the R&D organization and universities need to be

R. Raza et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 450461

engaged and funded in energy related research and education. A

centralized R&D organization focusing on FC technology must be
established so that the state of the art manufacturing, characterization, and production tools can be brought under the same roof.
For this reason, physics department at CIIT Lahore has proposed an
FC technology based energy center.
ii) Proper resources assessment
A comprehensive assessment of FC-hybrid technologies, integrated energy resources, R&D resources and human resources etc.
are needed. This is most important, as it helps to plan, formulate,
asses and analyze.
iii) Training human power
Trained and qualied human resources are a basic need for
sustainable research and development in any eld. To make FC
technology as knowledge intensive and to deploy this to cover
a wide range of scientic disciplines, one should have sufcient
man-power. This can be partially achieved by introducing new
programs covering these technologies at university level. The
training of the skilled and semi-skilled manpower is required
to install, operate and trouble-shoot the developed systems.
This will help in setting up new niche/consumer market
eventually leading to economic activities and establishing local
industries.
iv) Step forward-energy center
One of the progresses is to initiate the energy centers focusing
on FC technology. These energy centers can be setup in regions/
provinces as well as on central/federal level. This will setup certain
laboratory facilities needed for research and implementation of
energy producing technology. At CIIT Lahore, an energy center has
already been announced and some basic FC laboratories are being
developed.
v) Public awareness
The public must be made aware of the benets and advantages
of these emerging technologies. This can be achieved through
seminars and public talks by providing necessary information.
Print and electronic media can be the most effective tool. Different
demo units can also be placed at public places.
vi) Public sector involvement
Public sector involvement is one of the fundamentals to start
and sustain development in any eld. There are several incentives
for the government to launch FC technology in Pakistan. The basic
one is help which FC technology offers to reduce the current
energy crisis. The others include clean environment, new job
markets, raising the living standards of public in remote areas,
stopping the urbanization and reduction in imports of fossils fuel
based energy [7579]. All these factors will help in boasting the
economy of Pakistan.
The government must also reduce taxation on R&D equipment
and on ultimate commercialization of the technology. Government
funded R&D projects and facilitation in setting up the markets will
help and boast the FC-technology in Pakistan.
vii) Private sector participation
Energy crises in Pakistan can be diminished to some extent
with the active participation of publicprivate partnership. Private
sector must participate to develop the infrastructure in FC technology and they must charge the actual cost of services from
customers so that the government burden of subsidies can be
minimize. Private sector in Pakistan produced power generation of
capacity of 7100 MW to meet the need of power sector, out of
which 800 MW is obtained by wind [75]. But still, there is a short
fall of energy in Pakistan so we have to move towards the
renewable energy technologies.
viii) Regulation of risk analysis and ethics of technology

459

Risk is an important issue to consider in the early stages of any

new technology. The risk analysis comprises of foretelling and
decreasing undesired events that could occur when a fuel cell is
fueling for some applications. The main risk is handling the fuel
that cannot be limited by precautionary measures. As we know
that all suitable fuels used in fuel cells readily catch re, which is
very dangerous. Precautionary measures must be taken to
diminish those risks to an acceptable level.
ix) Effective cost of FC technology
The current cost of 13 kW stationary SOFC systems is between
$5000 and $6000 per kW. If this technology is used on large-scale,
then it is expected to reduce costs by a factor of ten in a decade
[62]. The advancement in fuel cell technology has reduced the size,
weight and cost of electrical vehicles and the estimated cost of
automobile fuel cells had fallen by 80% in 2010 [76]. The fuel
economy of fuel cell buses is 40% higher than diesel buses [75].
Lux's described that fuel cell market including vehicle and fuel cell
forklifts, will reach a total of $2 billion up to 2030 [77].
These recent developments in FC technology and policies can
be adapted in Pakistan as it will not only offer a solution to the
prevailing energy crisis but can also prove as alternative to other
conventional resources. The commercialization of FC technology in
Pakistan will also improve the economy as new job opportunities
will also be created.

7. Summary
Pakistan is trying to resolve its energy crisis through conventional energy resources but so far little success has been obtained.
To resolve this issue, an effective long term solution must be
adopted in terms of renewable energy technology in addition to
the conventional ways. Pakistan is blessed with several renewable
energy resources which can fulll its energy needs. But due to
certain social, economic, technical, institutional and bureaucratic
barriers, these resources have not been harvested. To strengthen
the renewable energy technologies in Pakistan, a holistic approach
must be employed. The public and private sector should invest in
renewable energy technologies for sustainable energy future. The
major necessities which are operated on non-renewable energy
resources must be converted to renewable ways. Fuel cell technology is one of most promising renewable energy technologies
due its compatibility/usefulness with several renewable energy
resources and being combustion free. In addition, the diverse
applications of FC technology make it the most suitable candidate
to justify our future energy demands and sustainable development
of Pakistan. The fuel used in FC Technology is cheap and has high
efciency as compared to the conventional fuels. However, presently the energy produced from FC is not cheap. The cost will be
dramatically reduced in future by the development of improved
fuel storage techniques and cheap electrolytes. It is not easy and
short term way to adopt fuel cell technology, if considered all
hurdles and issues. But it can be possible/successful, and sustained,
by long-term commitment from fundamental research to commercial development and effective policies. Therefore, FCs hybrid
systems are most suitable for Pakistan.

Appendix A. Supplementary material

Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in
the online version at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.08.049.

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