São Paulo – In a world that tries to find ways to replace oil as its main source of energy on a daily basis, even some of the leading suppliers of said raw material have started worrying over clean energies, renewable sources and the carbon credit market. The Arab countries remain among the top carbon dioxide emitters in relation to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but they have plans to change the statistics around.
Qatar, which boasts the world’s highest per capita income, earns nearly all its revenues from gas exports, as does Saudi Arabia with oil. Gas is the main source of energy in the United Arab Emirates. Still, the region invests in green projects.
In turn, countries devoid of large oil and gas reserves regard renewable energies as the solution to some of their problems. Such is the case of Morocco, for instance.
In 2011, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority created an agency, the Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence (DCCE), to invest in developing solar energy, more efficient lamps, and other energy-efficient projects. Recently, Dubai inaugurated the first phase of a solar park.
For the time being, the solar panels will produce 10 megawatts of power, but once the project is fully completed, by 2013, it should generate 1,000 megawatts. The solar park will help the emirate achieve its target of harnessing 1% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 and 5% by 2030.
The Emirates are also investing in one of the most ambitious sustainable development projects, Masdar City, in Abu Dhabi. Upon completion, in 2016, the six-square kilometre city will accommodate up to 40,000 people and more than 1,000 businesses. Located 17 kilometres away from the country’s capital, Masdar City will be 100% “sustainable,” meaning it will generate all the power it needs from clean sources, be car-free, with zero carbon emission, and will reuse its water.
Masdar City (Masdar means source in Arabic) should spend four times less energy than a “conventional” city the same size. The energy will be obtained from sunrays and wind turbines out in the ocean. The project is already operating partially.
In spite of their efforts to replace oil as their main source of power, the Arabs could be further ahead in developing clean energies.
Sun
The director of Greenpeace International, Sven Teske claims that renewable energy initiatives in Arab countries, especially Middle Eastern ones, are still timid. One of the reasons, to him, is the low cost of oil. Because the raw material for fuels such as diesel and gasoline abounds and its cost for local manufacturers and consumers alike is low, it does not seem attractive to pour billions of dollars into renewable energy. However, aside from oil, the region can generate vast amounts of renewable energy at a low cost.
“Because fossil fuels abound in the Middle East and are therefore very cheap for domestic use, it is very difficult to compete using renewable energy technologies, except in countries which do not possess these vast resources. However, in a one-square-metre desert area, the sun delivers the same amount of energy as one litre of petroleum. Therefore, the resource is as vastly present as oil,” says Teske.
Sun is aplenty in the Arab countries. According to Teske, Germany is the most developed nation when it comes to obtaining renewable energy. There, the sun shines during 850 to 1,000 hours per year. According to the specialist, Germany produces 82 terawatts/hour of energy per year, an amount equivalent to the Emirates’ consumption. Still, whereas in a sunny year Germany gets no more than 1,000 hours of sun, the Emirates may harness up to 2,500 hours during the same period by using solar panels.
Thus, says Teske, the Dubai government’s plan to meet 5% of its demand through renewable sources by 2030. “It is feasible for the Emirates to have 100% renewable energy by 2030, 5% is too modest. Sun and wind sources are already competitive in many other countries, when compared with new projects for gas or coal refineries,” he says.
To Teske, it is neither shortage of funds nor of conditions which prevent a country from investing in developing renewable energy sources. “The barrier to the energy revolution around the world is neither lack of technology nor funds. It is the want of a good renewable energy policy.”
Africa
Whereas Middle Eastern countries can afford the luxury of choosing their main source of power, the same does not hold true of Arab countries in North Africa. Morocco, for instance, needs to import the oil and natural gas it consumes. For that reason, the country is investing in building wind, solar and hydroelectric energy. Five wind farm construction projects are being tendered. They should produce a combined 850 megawatts of energy. A city with a population of 1.3 million demands an average of 230 MW. By 2020, the country intends to generate 2,000 MW of energy from the wind.
Aside from the wind, the sun can also be an ally. The country has desert areas, and therefore many hours of sun, and there are projects to put solar energy to use. In July 2011, the French Development Agency (AFD) granted 100 million euros in financing for the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy to start implementing its plan of generating another 2,000 MW of energy from the sun by 2020.
The country has also built a thermo-solar plant, which generates power from natural gas and solar panels, in Aïn Béni Mathar. Out of the 420 MW generated by the plant, approximately 20% originate from the sun. Even Europe has plans to obtain electric power from the sun that shines on the Sahara Desert. The main challenge for this year, however, is to transport the power produced in one continent to another.
Senior energy expert, one of the leading authors of the special report on renewable energies and climate change of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and industry consultant Smail Khennas claims that by 2020 the Moroccans should obtain 42% of their power from renewable sources. Out of that total, 14% will come from the sun, 14% from the wind and 14% from water. In all, renewable sources should generate 6,000 MW of energy in Morocco by 2020. Khennas says the trend is not restricted to the country.
“All of the Arab countries are planning to use renewable energy. This holds true of those which produce oil and gas and those which do not, as is the case with Morocco, with the intention of lowering their dependence and also because of long-term economic issues,” he says.
According to Khennas, even countries where oil prices are very low, such as Saudi, are investing in renewable power. These projects are at a much more advanced stage, however, in oil-importing countries.
According to figures supplied by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), out of approximately 220,000 gigawatts/hour produced by Saudi Arabia in 2009, half originated from oil. The other half came from natural gas. In Morocco, out of roughly 22,000 GW/h of energy produced in 2009, approximately 10,000 were extracted from coal, 5,000 from oil, 2,000 from natural gas, 2,000 from hydroelectric plans, and under 100 GW/h were harnessed from renewable sources.
According to Khennas, Algeria is also investing in renewable energies and expects to get 40% of its energy from them by 2030. This year, the National Electricity and Gas Enterprise (Sonelgaz) should launch a project to implement a 150 MW solar park in the South of the country. Wind projects are also underway in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. In Egypt, however, political disturbances may delay similar plans.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
