The UAE announced plans to invest $163 billion in projects to generate half of the nation’s power needs from renewables.
The oil producing state is hoping to get close to this by 2050 and says it wants to balance economic needs against environmental goals, BBC reported.
The UAE has considerable solar power potential and is eager to reduce its use of fossil fuels. The country ranks high in per capita greenhouse gas emissions.
The country is eighth on the World Bank’s worldwide list of carbon dioxide emissions per capita, below Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.
UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said it is hoped that by 2050, 44% of the country’s energy needs will be provided by renewables, with 38% from gas, 12% from cleaner fossil fuel and 6% from nuclear energy.
Writing on Twitter, the UAE premier said, “The plan aims to increase usage efficiency by 40% and boost clean-energy contributions to 50%. He who does not think of energy is not thinking about the future.”
Dubai and Abu Dhabi in particular have been at the forefront of the country’s push to plough resources into renewables.
In June, Dubai announced plans to build a huge solar power plant scheduled to be completed by 2030. In 2014, Abu Dhabi opened what was hailed as the world’s largest solar power operating station.
Add new comment
Read our comment policy before posting your viewpoints