Role of PEM fuel cells in diversifying electricity production in the United Arab Emirates

In this paper we propose a clean energy system that could diversify the electricity production in the United Arab Emirates as our case study. In our work, PEM fuel cells are introduced in the year 2010 to generate electricity and to co-exist with the conventional power generating sources that are using fossil fuels namely oil and natural gas. Fuel cells will be introduced at a rate of 1% of the total electricity produced by 2010 and gradually increased to account 90% of the total power produced by the turn of the century. The total environmental and economical savings associated with utilizing fuel cells as an alternative power production source in the 100 years span are approximately 386×1012 kW h and $24×1012 of fossil fuels, respectively. The later value is estimated to be approximately 500 times greater than the current gross national product of the country.