As Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week begins in the capital, the eyes of the world will be on the UAE to come up with breakthrough ideas for renewable energy. Major energy and sustainability challenges will be discussed, including the impact of population growth and ever-expanding cities on the environment and natural resources around the world.
As The National reported yesterday, the first two days will mark the fourth assembly meeting of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), which aspires to double renewable energy's share of the world energy market by 2030. While this is a great goal to set our sights on, it requires tremendous effort from decision-makers, academics and industry. Scientists say that the "intermittent renewables storage" issue is the major obstacle to getting most of our power from the sun or wind. There is still a huge gap between the availability of renewable energy sources and the changing and increasing demands for grid electricity around the world.
One important step is to develop more efficient batteries to store renewable energy to replace the expensive generation of batteries that contain metal-based chemicals. The good news is that scientists and engineers say having such an alternative is feasible. Earlier this month, researchers at Harvard University announced that they are working on developing a rechargeable organic battery that stores energy in a relatively low cost way.
The UAE, as an emerging clean-energy hub, can support research in this field. A safe and economical form of battery would certainly play a significant role in our transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, for the benefit of the entire world.
This country still has one of the highest per-capita ecological footprints globally, despite the rapid positive sustainability change strongly supported by the government. Masdar, a leading regional institution when it comes to research on sustainability and alternative energy, could certainly push for that.
Reaching a knowledge-based economy requires focusing on these important issues and details. Indeed, increasing levels of research is taking the UAE’s vision for sustainability forward.