Salman's Infobahn

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is highly susceptible to climate change, on account of its water scarcity, high dependence on climate-sensitive agriculture, concentration of population and economic activity in urban coastal zones, and the presence of conflict-affected areas. Moreover, the region is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions on account of its thriving oil and gas industry. The world’s dependence on Middle East energy resources has caused the region to have some of the largest carbon footprints per capita worldwide. Not surprisingly, the carbon emissions from UAE are approximately 55 tons per capita, which is more than double the US per capita footprint of 22 tons per year. The MENA region is now gearing up to meet the challenge of global warming, as with the rapid growth of the carbon market. During the last few years, many MENA countries, like UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have unveiled multi-billion dollar investment plans i...

Image via Wikipedia Renewable energy is growing rapidly in India. With an installed capacity of 13.2 GW, renewable energy sources (excluding large hydro) currently account for 9% of India’s overall power generation capacity. By 2012, the Indian government is planning to add an extra 14 GW of renewable sources. Grid Interactive Renewable Power in India Technology Potential (MW) Achievement (MW) Windpower 45,000 5,246 Small Hydro (<25MW) 15,000 537 Cogeneration/Bagasse 5,000 759 Biopower (Agro-residues and woody biomass from plantations 61,000 26 Waste-to-Energy 7,000 1 Solar PV Systems (4-7/kWh/km 2 /day) 20MW/km 2 2 Total 133,000 14,914 Source: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, 2009 In its 10th Five Year Plan, the Indian government had set itself a target of adding 3.5 GW of renewable energy sources to the generation mix. In reality, however, nearly double that figure was achieved. In this period, more than 5.4 GW of wind energy was added to the ...