Diversify: Solar power for the Gulf (page 2 of 2)

In fact, the sun supplies 15,000 times more energy than is currently used worldwide. Thus, rather than seeing a problem, one should focus on the challenge of concentrating, collecting, and storing this energy. Unfortunately, the GCC countries' interest has been limited so far. In the UAE, the Lootah Group has made a start last year by organizing a conference on alternative energies and the Emirates Hydrogen Society is establishing itself as an important network of clean energy players in the UAE. Some insular examples for the usage of renewable energy are already discernible: Solar powered parking meters were the only electrical devices that kept working during Dubai's power blackout last year and Dubai has also witnessed the building of the first apartment complex in the Middle East to use solar power for air conditioning during the daytime, something which cuts utility bills by at least a third. The Bustan Rotana Hotel also made positive experiences by installing solar thermal devices for hot water generation on its roof, while German consultancy company GTZ implemented a wind power plant on Bani Yas island. Finally, probably the most important initiative for renewable energies in the Gulf comes from Abu Dhabi: The Masdar project of Mubadala wants to establish a center of excellence in the field of alternative energies. It will comprise a research institute, a special economic zone, an innovation center and a clean development company to pursue commercial opportunities in carbon monetization. It aims to attract technology leaders in the field, provide venture capital for projects and thus wants to transform Abu Dhabi from a mere technology importer to a technology exporter. Ultimately it is hoped that the project will prepare Abu Dhabi for the post-fossil fuel era and will help to maintain its share in the world energy market over the coming decades.

Hopefully projects like Masdar will lead to large-scale efforts to develop solar power as an important component of the GCC energy mix. Concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, which harvest solar energy with huge mirrors, can heat a liquid and thus fire an otherwise conventional power plant providing electricity to whole towns. They also could power the very energy-intensive desalination plants and produce hydrogen for cars and fuel cells. In California, CSP plants already provide electricity for over 350,000 peoples. Photovoltaic devices on buildings produce electricity directly from the sunlight. Combined with storage facilities (like new generation batteries and pressurized air) for times when there is no sunlight, they could decentralize energy supplies and reduce dependency on grids. This would need to be spurred by government incentives along the line of Germany's 100,000 Roofs Program.

Most importantly however, solar power technologies are young - much younger than the Internet or computers, which also needed initial government support to become viable large scale applications. Solar power still offers low barriers of entry, ample space for technological improvements and enhanced economies of scale. They are relatively labor-intensive as well, in terms of the installation and maintenance of devices. Thus, they would be an ideal means to spur economic development in the GCC countries; their comparative advantage due to climatic conditions is obvious, their considerable unemployment problem could be ameliorated, and they would start to venture into the field of technology, a field in which they have no presence whatsoever so far, something demonstrated by the fact that the technology sector accounts for 16 percent of emerging stock markets' capitalization, but 0 percent of those of the GCC. Rather than announcing identical new real estate projects every month, the GCC countries would therefore gain an advantage in a technology that will almost certainly play a decisive role in this century as the only viable long-term alternative energy source for today's hydrocarbon-based economies.