The UAE Minister of Energy stressed that the sources of power generation will be clean and thus the cities of the UAE will become one of the cleanest cities in the world
UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei said that the financial savings resulting from the implementation of the Ministry of Energy strategies are expected to reach AED 1 trillion by 2050, stressing that the strategy of “Energy 2050” and “Water 2036” will be subject to scrutiny and review.
The energy minister pointed to the importance of rationalizing consumption and moving towards green building and co-transport as factors of no less importance than nuclear, solar and alternative energy. “Our vision for the transition to clean energy, which began in 2007 when we made the decision to build peaceful nuclear power plants, Launching renewable energy projects that are in line with the best practices developed by developed countries. ”
Al-Mazroui said in remarks published by the UAE daily Al-Khaleej that the proposed strategy is inexpensive and achieves savings and does not depend on oil prices, and that the decision to adopt clean and nuclear energy early was wise.
The energy strategy of 2050 is based on 50% fossil fuels while clean energy accounts for the remaining 50%. “With regard to fossil fuels, we will rely on natural gas, which is the cleanest source of fossil energy generation by 38 percent, while we will rely on clean green coal by 12 percent,” he said.
“We will rely on solar energy at 44 %, nuclear power at %, and 50 % of the generation will be clean, without any carbon emission. Our cities will be among the cleanest in the world,” he said.
Al Mazrouei stressed the importance of reducing the per capita consumption of water. “We have the criteria to reduce the total demand for water in the UAE by 21% and reduce the individual consumption of water by 50%, to meet the needs of other sectors such as agriculture and industry, which has significant consumption of water.
The “Water Security Strategy 2036” is based on the development of desalination efficiency using reverse osmosis technology to reduce cost and emissions and stop depletion of groundwater and wastewater treatment.
Al Mazrouei said the strategy is aimed at establishing a future stockpile for emergency periods and will reduce emissions from desalination operations used by 100 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.
“The water strategy needs to be financed by the private sector,” he said, adding that the initial cost would be 10 billion dirhams (USD 2,72 Billion) but the return would be at least 74 billion dirhams (USD 20,14 Billion) by 2036.
