UAE Economy to go Green with Solar Powered Houses and Jobs

It is said that Dubai is about to fit out 5,000 occupied villas with solar rooftops.

As per *Dubai Carbon's Centre of Excellence's chief executive, Ivano Iannelli, the UAE's initiatives to develop a green economy will create 277,000 jobs in the country in fields related to solar, water, energy and waste reduction activities by 2030.

He said that for every dollar spent on renewable energy, the GDP grows by 7x. Dubai is set to exceed its target of generating seven per cent of its energy needs from renewable energy by 2020 and will hit eight per cent next year through the implementation of green initiatives such as solar-powered villas, according to Dewa chief executive Saeed Al Tayer.

Dubai is fitting 5,000 villas out of the 44,000 built-up villas in the emirate with solar panels as it pursues a target for 10 per cent penetration of solar rooftops in occupied villas by 2020, Mr Iannelli said.

Those who have invested in solar appliances need not fret when they need to move to a different property in Dubai. They are conveniently built to move from one residence to another.

Last year, Dubai installed solar kits on 1,200 villas in Hatta that were commissioned in November with the aim of reducing 80 per cent of electricity consumption.

The initiatives are in line with the Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid's 50-Year Charter for the development of the emirate, which outlines plans for the improvement of citizens and residents' lives.

One of the nine articles of the charter states that at least a tenth of Dubai homes will be self-sufficient in terms of water, food and energy through the creation of a new economic sector and in the hopes of helping to preserve the environment.

The villas are part of a project by Dewa and Etihad Esco, the Dubai-based energy efficiency regulator, in consultation with the Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence.

Etihad Esco is seeking to execute multibillion dollar worth of projects that will generate Dh500 million worth of energy savings from retrofitting and solar rooftop deployment by 2030, it said last year.

This kind of focus on renewable energy in the middle of oil rich nations is a positive move. Like they say, “Make hay while the sun shines”. Only, its energy instead.

* Dubai Carbon, which offers advisory services as well as monitors the levels of carbon emissions in the emirate, is owned by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Emirates National Oil Company, Dubal Holding and Empower.

(Source: The National)