Sunshine Instead of Crude Oil

​​Right in the middle of the desert, a carbon-neutral city by the name of Masdar City is being built. The intention is that up to 50,000 people will soon be living there. Gas-guzzling cars will be forbidden and all electricity will come from solar panels and wind farms. At least that is the plan. The emirate of Abu Dhabi is investing approximately US$22 billion in this showcase environmentally friendly project in the desert.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Masdar City project leader, is convinced that going green is the way forward for his native country. "We are of the opinion that the future belongs to renewable sources of energy. This is why we have to invest in the development of large-scale projects for renewable energy sources."

Going green

The affluence of most countries in the Middle East is built on their global exportation of crude oil. However, oil reserves are not inexhaustible and resources are getting more and more scarce.

According to Johannes Kemanizis, area sales manager at Solarworld AG in Bonn, the countries of the region are slowly starting to change their attitudes, not least for this reason. Kemanizis says that the Middle East has started to take the issue of renewable energy sources seriously.

​​The Gulf states in particular play an important role on the global energy market; over 60 per cent of global oil reserves are situated in this region. In economic terms, however, the extensive reserves of oil in the Middle East are a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, Europe, the USA, and parts of Asia depend on oil imports from the Middle East, a fact that guarantees oil-exporting countries high income from exports. On the other, the region is heavily dependent on these exports, which accounts for the lion's share of the GDP in most of the countries in the Middle East.

An alternative to black gold

In order to make themselves less economically dependent on the trade in oil, an increasing number of Middle Eastern states are searching for alternative sources of energy. However, Johannes Kemanizis is quick to point out that this is not the only reason for the growing interest in renewable sources of energy such as solar power.

Says Kemanizis: "Not all countries in the region are rich in oil reserves. And their electricity needs will continue to grow. A very large number of people do not have direct access to the power they need for their daily needs, and that is where solar power will really become attractive."

The Arab states are among the countries with the most hours of sunshine per year. While the sun shines in Germany for an average of just under three hours a day, it shines for approximately nine hours a day in the Middle East. This means that the region is ideal for the use of solar panels.

But the states in the region are more than just interested in solar power, they have in fact been pumping large sums of money into solar power research for several years, explains Fadel Lari of the Kuwaiti Ministry for Oil: "As far back as the 1970s, we led the field in the Middle East in terms of research into solar power. Now the United Arab Emirates have launched this project. But Saudi Arabia is also investing large amounts of money into solar energy research in particular."

Solar-powered parking ticket machines

In other parts of the Gulf, the use of solar power is restricted to the operation of smaller facilities such as parking ticket machines, the reason being that not all countries or municipalities have the money to spend on larger projects. According to Fadel Lari, the difficulty is that solar power plants are very expensive and the many sandstorms in Kuwait often destroy the solar cells.

Despite the oftentimes inclement weather conditions and the high costs, the poorer countries of the Middle East are trying to make the transition to cleaner sources of energy. After all, it is not only remote villages that can benefit from the use of small solar power facilities in terms of electricity supplies. The switch to green energy can also create new jobs and stimulate the economy, says Johannes Kemanizis of Solarworld AG.

The promotion of renewable energy sources is not only advantageous for Arab states. Experts predict that the use of solar power plants in the countries of the Near and Middle East could meet not only the electricity needs of the Arab states, but also provide up to 20 per cent of the electricity needed in Europe in less than 10 years.

Michaela Paul

© Deutsche Welle / Qantara.de 2009

Qantara.de

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