Dubai: Dubai is on track to reduce its carbon footprint by producing seven per cent of its total electricity supply by 2020 using clean technology, said Saeed Al Tayer, managing director and chief executive officer of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority on Monday.
Speaking in a panel discussion on clean technology at the fourth edition of the World Government Summit, Al Tayer said big gains are being made to reduce the emirate’s dependence on fossil fuels by switching to renewable clean energy technologies that are more environmentally friendly.
The electricity authority is now engaged in nine separate programmes such as green buldings and district cooling aimed at reducing reliance on traditional means of generation.
The massive Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park as well as the new Shams Initative, which is encouraging people to put solar panels on their homes, will help reduce the reliance on traditional fuels for electricity generation, he said.
Diversifying dependency across several sources to nuclear and solar from traditional fuels also protects the power supply, Al Tayer said.
“It’s a matter of security and supply,” Al Tayer said.
Al Tayer also noted that Dewa is working to encourage its customers to reduce the electricity draw on power stations by using less electricity in their homes through energy-efficient appliances and by using less air conditioning.
Fellow panellist Joe Kaeser, president and CEO of Siemens AG, told delegates that he isn’t surprised at the forward thinking of Dubai and its leaders.
“Long before Paris, the UAE was looking to the future and what needs to be done,” Kaeser said.
He dismissed the idea that investment in green, clean technologies might suffer in the interim as the price of oil remains near historical lows around the globe due to high supply yields.
“I don’t think there is a danger that renewable energy will go down as oil goes down,” Kaeser said.
