Abu Dhabi officially committed to generating seven per cent of its power from renewable sources by 2020 at the opening session of WFES. Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO, Masdar, told a packed audience that the drive towards renewable energy had reached a “tipping point”, and the momentum could not and should not be stopped, despite the grim economy. He added, ‘Renewables continue to make absolute sense, even in times like this.” Reiterating Abu Dhabi’s commitment, Al Jaber said matter-of-a-factly, “Firstly, because we can, and secondly, because we should.”
Dismay at Copenhagen
Undoubtedly, the other word on everyone’s lips at the WFES was Copenhagen. Like the WFES, Copenhagen had big, green shoes to fill; unlike the WFES, Copenhagen crashed landed back down to earth. Nowhere was this more evident than from the speeches by the various keynote speakers.
The President of the Republic of Maldives, H.E. Mohammed Nasheed, lamented on the “limitations” of Copenhagen. H.E. Karolos Papoulias, President of the Hellenic Republic, took it a step further by describing the failure of Copenhagen as “dramatic”. As pointed out rather candidly by H.E. Dr Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water for the UAE at the third plenary forum, Copenhagen “failed to achieve the desired international conformity with respect to facing climate change”. More importantly, Fahad reminded all present that the Copenhagen Accord was not only drafted by a limited number of countries, it was not accredited by the conference, and only given to inform the conference.
Still there has to be a silver lining, no matter how dark the cloud. Even though Copenhagen did not live up to its expectations, the dignitaries were also mindful of whatever little achievement it did manage.
In his speech titled “What now, after Copenhagen?” Fahad noted that the most important item in the Accord was a pledge by industrial countries to dedicate US$30 billion, from 2010 through to 2012, to assist developing countries in establishing and implementing the measure of mitigation and adaptation. The Accord had also pledged to mobilise joint international support to raise US$100 billion annually, beginning in 2020. Unfortunately, the source of the funding was not specified. Most importantly, everyone agreed that Copenhagen did at least focus the world leaders’ attention on the issue of climate change. And for once, all participating countries expressed their willingness to reduce their emissions. Though again, commitment to actual rates or timeline was not forthcoming.
Yet, the general consensus towards Copenhagen, one month down the road, was that “the glass is (not quite) half full”. HRH Crown Prince Frederik noted that the Accord provided “a foundation that we can build on” and urged all present to utilise the WFES as “valuable platform” so as to “invest and research in the development of solutions to climate change” and “demonstrate to the world that there are technological solutions already at hand and many more under development.”
Potential in sun and wind
And indeed that was what the participants at WFES intended to do. The WFES not only played host to a plethora of dignitaries but also showcased a number of new and innovative clean technologies as well as largescale green projects in the country and the region.
Take, for example, the solar-powered worker accommodation on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. Now, up to 20,000 construction workers would be able to enjoy a hot shower, thanks to the solar technology provided by Australian manufacturer Solahart. International Manager for Solarhart Industries, Mark Perger, estimated that the installation would save more than 12,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere annually. Perger added, “This is equivalent of taking about 4,000 cars off the road.”
The sun was not the only renewable resource being exploited in the relentless drive towards a greener energy industry. Wind energy was also a focus during the WFES. Ditlev Engel, global president and CEO of Vestas Wind Systems A/S, pointed out that wind remained the only source of energy that does not consume any water at all. Therefore, it made perfect sense for a waterstressed region like the Middle East to invest in wind farms to relieve the demand on water. It was a rude shock to most people when they learnt that to produce 5MWh of electricity from oil, would require 20,000 litres of water. “We don’t need a crystal ball to understand how critical water is going to be,” said Engel. He added that Vestas produced a wind turbine system that would be efficient even at wind speeds as low as under 11km/ hr. This meant that most locations could benefit from wind-generated electricity. Judging from the increasing uptake and expansion of wind farms in Middle Eastern countries like Morocco and Iran, wind energy seems to be carving its own piece of the energy industry pie in the Middle East.
