Review of sustainable and renewable energy activities in the state of Qatar

Abstract

Although seemingly paradoxical, the hydrocarbon-rich countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia) are all engaged in sustainable energy research and initiatives. The reasons are varied and complex, but ultimately the natural resources of oil and gas from which the GCC nations derive most of their wealth are finite. Pollution is a growing concern in the Gulf, and the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar have some of the highest per capita carbon emission rates in the world, primarily from gas flaring and refining, and the proliferation of vehicles without emission controls. Qatar has only recently entered the field of sustainable energy research, and no projects have been fully deployed yet, but the planned R & D agenda is ambitious: aviation biofuels, solar photovoltaics (PV), Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), polycrystalline silicon production, and solar desalination.