UAE’s conservation efforts go beyond Earth Hour

dubai — The UAE’s environmental contributions go beyond witnessing Earth Hour, to implementing long-term projects and initiatives that would help the nation derive its power from clean energy. Through its Clean Energy Strategy, Dubai is looking to have seven per cent of its total power output from clean energy sources by 2020, followed by 25 per cent by 2030 and 75 per cent by 2050. In 2012, the government launched Dh50 billion Mohammed Bin Rashid Solar Park, which will reduce over 6.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually and power 800,000 homes by 2030. Further, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) encourages residents and business owners to instal solar panels on the rooftop of their homes through the initiative Shams Dubai. In September last year, authorities announced incentives for electric car users. This included free parking spots, free Salik tag and exemption from vehicle registration and renewal fees. Through its projects, Dewa reduced losses in power transmission and distribution networks to 3.3 per cent, and water network losses were decreased to 7.1 per cent. The authority also succeeded in enhancing the efficiency of fuel use to approximately 90 per cent, while improving production efficiency by 28.87 per cent between 2006 and 2017. Its awareness programmes and innovative initiatives to encourage members of society to adopt rational use of electricity and water managed to save billions over the years. The Best Consumer Award, for example, encourages and urges customers to use energy sensibly, and raises awareness about adopting environment-friendly practices. Between 2009 and 2016, the Best Consumer Award resulted in saving of 58GW/h of electricity and over 365 million gallons of water, offsetting 33,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. The savings amount to over Dh34 million. Through the Neighborhood Campaign, Dewa officers visited nearly 7,000 houses in Dubai to educate families on environmental awareness. From 2010 to 2016, efforts resulted in saving over 6GW/h of electricity and about 75 million gallons of water, a reduction of 2,885 tonnes of carbon dioxide.