Solar the most obvious target for national renewable energy solution

There is enormous potential for Oman to remain a leading energy exporter beyond oil and gas, said Prof David Rooney, Director of Sustainable Energy Research at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast, UK.

Prof Rooney, a leading expert in sustainable and renewable energies, was giving a talk on this topic at the closing ceremony of the renewable energy and biofuel organised by the Independent Learning Centre at SQU.

“The development of a robust sustainable energy infrastructure is important to all people. Together with food and water it forms the nexus for growth and prosperity. Of the three energy is arguably the most important. With it one can turn the sea into clean drinking water, and combine that water with air and land into the materials needed to support our daily life”, Prof Rooney said

According to Prof Rooney, any solution, or more likely suite of solutions, needs to meet the needs of a much larger population. It must be able to increase the number of services we can offer, particularly to the poorest people on the planet, and one which works with, and no longer compromises, our fragile planet at local or global scales.

Rooney further said that by simply looking around one can see the enormous potential for Oman to remain a leading energy exporter beyond oil and gas. “Simple calculations show that Oman would have sufficient solar energy to not only power its own needs but all of the UK as well. While solar would be the most obvious target for a national renewable energy solution, research carried out within Sultan Qaboos University has shown that there is a role for all other forms of renewable energies in Oman including wind, marine and biomass,” he said.

According to the scientist, there will always remain a need for biofuels, be it from marine or land sources. “Biofuels are nature’s way of storing energy and are highly effective. The energy density of a biofuel is easily more than 50 times that of a lithiumion battery and every time you fill your car you are adding power at the equivalent of over 30 MW”.

Prof Rooney added that within Oman similar integration of renewable energy technologies could and should be used to develop something unique. “Effective partnerships between industry, academia and .government are crucial in achieving such a vision for the country. Oman has tremendous opportunity to maximise its natural renewable resources for the benefit of the world and importantly has the human capital to drive this forward,” he concluded.