Introduction
In the modern society, a deteriorating climate is a prime concern for everyone around the world. The deterioration of climate and health is mainly caused by air pollution and by the consumption of fossil fuels. Although, we have entered the global world of innovative technology, yet it has immensely impacted the quality of our health and natural environment. The consumption of fossil fuels and the negative effects arising from such consumption has forced organizations to devise environmental-friendly substitutes. Countries from all around the world are implicating green energy to facilitate in creating an eco-friendly future. The awareness programs have enlightened people to device policies that require industries to use environmental-friendly resources in energy consumption. This essay tends to unveil the significance of green energy solutions and their practical implications in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Green Energy: Brief Overview
Green energy can be defined as a type of energy that is produced from natural resources. These natural resources can be sunlight, water, tides, plant, algae, and geothermal heat. Green energy comes from renewable energy sources. In many paradigms, green energy and renewable energy overlap.
The most prominent factor of green energy is that it does not harm the natural environment by spreading pollution. It does not spread pollution or harmful gases in the atmosphere like fossil fuel consumption does. Green energy is produced in such a way that it has the minimum negative impact on the natural environment. To be known as a green energy project, the resource must not take part in causing pollution in the environment. Non-renewable energy projects involve the burning of organic material which produces a massive amount of carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide goes into the atmosphere and causes air pollution. The sources used for green energy projects are naturally refiled and do not cause any harm to the climate. Green energy sources are a thousand times better than fossil fuels (gas, oil, or coal). Sometimes, the green energy projects also avoid drilling and mining operations to avoid any negative impact on the ecosystem. Green energy resources are renewable, implicating that they are naturally restocked.
Types of Green Energies
Different types of green energies can be harvested from natural resources. These types of green energies are following:
- Solar Energy
- Hydro-Energy
- Geo-Thermal Energy
- Wind Energy
Practical Implications
Green energy can be produce from many different processes because it is a permanent resource that can be harvested from many different locations around the globe. Green energy solutions provide eco-friendly and economical solutions which can provide immense benefits. The green energy projects can use green energy from a variety of stable resources. Green energy can be garnered from different natural resources present all around the world. The concept of green energy was first introduced in 2006. The governments across the globe are working on devising new policies and legislatures to enhance green energy production and renewable energy projects. According to recent surveys, Germany is ranked at the top in using green energy/ renewable energy resources in the world (Nhede, 2020).
Benefits of Green Energy
Environment-Friendly Alternative
There are many benefits of green energy projects. Green energy provides a neat and environment friendly solution for industries. The green energy project does not produce any greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are harmful gases that contaminate the air and damage the ozone layer. Greenhouse gases are the major cause of global warming. Furthermore, green energy provides energy production alternatives that eradicate the requirement of fossil fuel energy.
Economical Prospect
The projects implicating green energy are economical and save a hefty amount of money on your bills. The only upfront expense, the green energy projects cause is on their installation. Other than that, they are very economical in saving money spent on the bills. For instance, the solar paneling program helps in generating electricity from sunlight and minimizes the usage of commercial electricity. The solar paneling system also helps in saving money in electricity bills.
Green Energy Sector in Saudi Arabia: Brief Overview
The kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is known to be the biggest producer of oil in the world. This is the reason that most of their power plants are based on oil. This has caused massive carbon dioxide emission in the atmosphere which is causing climatic issues such as global warming. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is taking radical steps to shift from fossil fuel to green energy. The latest vision of Saudi Arabia’s energy consumption plan is to neutralize the abundant emission of carbon dioxide. The “General Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency” (IRENA) has brought various projects of green energy and renewable energy initiatives into the limelight. In amidst of global pandemic of coronavirus, the country is taking prosperous initiatives in the field of green energy. The climate of the country is very dry and hot. Therefore, solar energy (green energy) can play a significant role in replacing oil and fuel consumption with more eco-friendly alternatives. The companies in Saudi Arabia are working on establishing green energy solutions such as solar paneling to produce electricity from the dry and hot climate of the country. Solar energy is the most stable and constant green energy which is available in abundance and can never cause a shortage to the solar paneling system.
The vision of Green Energy Consumption Solutions in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is known to be one of the emitter of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases affecting the atmosphere tremendously because of oil burning in its power plants. The latest energy policies of Saudi Arabia are immensely inspired by green energy solutions and renewable energy strategies. The KSA has initiated several projects implicating green energy and renewable energy resources. This step will create many prospective aspects in the market of Saudi Arabia.
The President of “The King Abdullah City of Atomic and Renewable Energy” gave prospective views on implicating green energy solutions in their projects during the General Assembly of the IRENA. According to a recent news article of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom will be effortlessly working on using fifty percent of its power from green energy and renewable energy resources by the year 2030. The legislative agencies and organizations are tremendously working to accomplish their goal of encouraging the use of green energy at national and international level. The KSA is working on strategic renewable energy policies to support the 2030 vision of the country’s jurisdiction. The strategic framework of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision is to decrease oil consumption and diversification of the economy. The country is tremendously working on using renewable energy resources as they have only been using oil resources for powering their power plants.
The initiative of Green Energy Projects in Saudi Arabia
In the contemporary world, green energy solutions should be the priority for every energy consumption plan in the world. Correspondingly, there are several prominent initiatives taken by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to introduce green energy solutions in the country. The country has launched several projects implicating green energy solutions. The kingdom is in alliance with other countries to work on green energy solutions for their power plants. The prominent financial source of funding the green energy and renewable energy projects are commercial banks and the Saudi Investment Development Fund.
Participants of Green Energy Projects in Saudi Arabia
The prominent participants of green energy and sustainable energy projects in the KSA are:
- The Renewable Energy Project Development Office
- National Renewable Energy Program
- King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy
- The Saudi Electricity Company
- Saudi Power Procurement Company
Blue and Green Hydrogen Project
The country is progressively working on green and blue hydrogen projects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Saudi Arabia is initiating the world’s largest “Green Hydrogen Project”. This project will produce 4 gigawatts of renewable electricity. The country is also working on hydrogen-producing plant. This project will provide green hydrogen to hydrogen power busses and reduce carbon emission.
Solar Panelling System
The climate of Saudi Arabia is very dry and hot. Therefore, the geothermal, wind and solar energy can be used in implementing green energy solutions in their projects. Solar energy is the most common and significant source of energy used by the country to power its plants. Saudi Arabia is progressively working on installing more and more solar paneling plants for producing electrical energy in the country. The basic aim of the Saudi Arabia is to reduce fifty percent consumption of oil and shift it into renewable energy.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, green energy solutions are a significant priority for every country’s government to change their consumption resources. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is working on reducing its oil consumption and reducing its carbon dioxide emission in the coming years. The resources of oil are non-renewable and produce an excessive amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Saudi Arabia has a role in causing global warming (due to the emission of carbon dioxide), poisoning the atmosphere, climatic issues, and general health of the people. Therefore, green energy solutions will help the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to mitigate such issues.
References
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Nhede, N. (2020) ‘Top ten countries with the highest proportion of renewable energy’, Smart Energy International, 24 January. Available at: https://www.smart-energy.com/renewable-energy/top-ten-countries-with-the-highest-proportion-of-renewable-energy/ (Accessed: 22 April 2021).
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Saudi Arabia aims to generate 50% of power from renewables by 2030 (2021) Arab News. Available at: https://arab.news/8yk8z (Accessed: 22 April 2021).
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