The UAE stands out as one of the world’s highest per capita emitters of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Producing the food and fiber it consumes, absorbing the waste from the energy it uses, and providing space for its growing infrastructure all impose high demands on nature. Energy demands remain especially high to satisfy a luxurious life of air-conditioning, chilled swimming pools, and Dubai’s famous indoor ski slope.
In contrast, the country’s biological capacity, the amount of biologically productive space that is available for human use, is low. The UAE lacks the facility to support the domestic consumption with its own supply of nature.
Alternative energy has attracted increasing interest over the past few years as major industrial leaders have called for more aggressive action to be taken against the phenomenon of global warming. Governments are beginning to focus greater attention on renewable energy.
The UAE is the most serious among Gulf oil-producing countries whose hunger for electrical power has spawned efforts to find other sources of energy. Based on future development plans, the UAE’s electricity demand is projected to require $10 billion for the next ten years; the current installed capacity of energy will need to double by 2015, and triple by 2020, an indicator of how energy-intensive the UAE lifestyle is, and how necessary it is for the country to take action.
GCC countries are currently developing more than 114 energy-generating projects, collectively worth between $160-220 million. The UAE, in particular, is an oil-producing state that is taking the energy and climate issue seriously, pioneering the development and implementation of clean-energy technology.
It is predicted that in a decade, the UAE is likely to have expertise in solar energy, photovoltaics, energy storage, carbon sequestration, and hydrogen fuel. Most importantly, the UAE hopes to prepare itself for a world that is not as reliant on fossil fuels as it is today. The nation’s expertise, they say, is not in oil, but in energy.
