by Edward Milford
12. February 2010 06:55
Our stand at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi last month had four, 100 W incandescent spotlights; they were switched on before we got there and were always still on when we left. The temperature outside during the day was typically a comfortable 20 oC, yet I was sometimes grateful for the heat from the spotlights so fierce was the air-conditioning.
In the conference sessions in the same building, delegates were earnestly debating how to cut carbon emissions – yet obvious and easy lessons were not being applied in the very building where the summit was taking place. On a larger scale, Abu Dhabi is investing heavily in Masdar, a zero-energy city, yet it is also planning to triple its overall power generating energy capacity from 5.8 GW in 2008 to 17.4 GW by 2020.
Their target is for 7% of this (1.2 GW) to be from renewable sources; in other words, they plan to add over 10 GW of non-renewables generation capacity in the next decade. The Emirates are already at the top of the table for emissions per capita – just imagine what their emissions will be by 2020.
Yes, of course we need the bigger picture, and the fine speeches about global emissions targets. We also need to look at why energy demand is rising so relentlessly – and to replace the incandescent bulbs in the exhibition centre.
