Introduction
Inefficient sources of energy like coal, firewood and petroleum have been the principal causes of climate change and subsequently global warming. The probable effects of global warming are preposterous and it is, therefore, imperative that nations take quick and unequivocal measures to revolutionize their energy sources before it is too late.
The sole purpose of this paper is to promote awareness on the effects of the use of inefficient sources of energy and inappropriate consumption of energy on social development, the economy and the surrounding at large. It aims at fostering responsible activities geared towards improving the extent of energy effectiveness, both at the local and global levels.
In this assignment, we have come up with an energy efficient project that is aimed at improving Saudi Aramco including the communities of Saudi Arabia at large. The project is meant to discourage the use of inefficient sources of energy and educate the public on appropriate measures of utilizing the existing energy. The project report is subdivided in the introduction section, methodology, results, discussion and the conclusion part. It also includes the recommendation and reference sections at the end.
Problem description
Research conducted in the recent years puts Saudi Arabia at the helm of petroleum production. As a matter of fact, Saudi Arabia was a leading producer and exporter of petroleum and petroleum products. As if that is not enough, the country came second after Russia in the exportation of crude oil.
The country is home to one of the biggest world oil reserve; the Ghawar field. This is an implication that it was one of the largest platforms where inefficient source of energy were used. However, this paper is meant to provide proposals to join forces in the fight against the utilization of exhaustible and hazardous sources of energy.
The local people and manufacturing plants of Saudi Arabia need to be sensitized on the importance of embracing renewable sources of energy like solar and wind. They need to understand the cost-effectiveness, safety and reliability of using these forms of energy. In addition to that, these efficient sources of energy have to be brought to their markets for easy access (Richards, 2009).
Saudi Arabia has a vast desert land that is best placed to accommodate solar arrays. For this reason, our energy efficient project is based on the most efficient ways to harness solar energy and cut on the use of energy that can be depleted. We focus on solar cells for the production of cheap and dependable electricity both for domestic and industrial uses (Sukhatme, & Nayak, 2008). This paper also provides a comprehensive comparison between the nonrenewable and renewable sources of energy that are advocated for here.
Methodology
Before we embarked on the details of this project, we had to evaluate its validity and viability. This is an implication that we had to investigate how urgently the people of Saudi Arabia needed an alternative and cheap source of energy. That notwithstanding, we had to evaluate how acceptable the project would be if implemented in this region.
The self-sustainability of the project was also an important part for consideration. The data obtained for the initiation of this project were obtained from web sources, books and other exiting data collected during related studies.
The information on the capacity and capability of solar energy to help the people of Saudi Arabia was obtained from reports of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). This institution was founded by the Saudi Aramco (Ramawat, 2010). Its sole purpose was to nurture technology and science especially in the fields of environment and energy. It then filed a number of reports concerning the exploitation of solar energy in the nation and its outskirts of (Jeffreys, & Oxford Business Group, 2011).
Results
First of all, the information contained in most of the reports and researches indicated that over 90% of the Saudi Arabian population used nonrenewable sources of energy like petroleum and coal-generated electricity. Amazingly, less than half of this population got uninterrupted supply of energy.
They equally paid significantly high for the energy whereas they would have paid less than half the amount they spent on energy if this project was implemented. Petroleum, for instance, is faced with a lot of price fluctuations that greatly inconvenienced the people of Saudi Arabia.
67% of the population was willing to adopt new forms of energy with solar being their prime option. However, the rest of the people were not willing to change to new sources of energy such as solar and wind (Sukhatme, & Nayak, 2008).
Their main claim was that they had already suffered enough disappointments from the sources of energy they used and were not ready to suffer even worse scenarios from unverified energy sources like wind and solar. It is important to note that a majority of those who rejected a new energy dispensation were manufacturing plants. This is because they were not certain of how much energy would be produced by these alternative sources and whether their machines would be efficiently run by them.
Discussion
It is important to accept the fact that ‘dirty’ energy is a menace in Saudi Arabia. The fact that this country is at the helm of crude oil exportation worldwide puts it in a tricky situation of adopting solar energy as an alternative and perhaps the most preferable source of energy.
However, we should not look at the whole issue from that point of view. There should be a totally different perspective when it comes to the adoption and embracing of this source of energy. First, it is imperative that we assess the viability of the project in this country (Lippman, & Council on Foreign Relations, 2012).
Saudi Arabia is a desert land and this makes it suitable for solar energy production. The country benefits from over 4,000 hours of sunshine every year and this makes it most suited for the production of solar energy (Kurokawa, 2007). Aside from the hours of sunshine, the large deposits of desert sand can be of utmost importance in the production of silicon photovoltaic cells for the production of electricity.
When this is implemented, it is approximated that the cost of power production would reduce tremendously to about $0.10 per kWh as compared to the current $0.25 per kWh (Ramady, 2010). This implies that customers would be able to access cheaper electricity as compared to their current expenditure. This then solves one major problem that customers are facing and that is unaffordable power.
Customers face the problems of climate change in one way or another though indirectly. This is normally brought about by excessive use of petroleum as a source of energy (Negewo, 2012). The clean and green solar energy releases no toxins that would further damage the already deteriorated ozone layer into the atmosphere. Additionally, it causes no environmental pollutions, most of which are characterized by poor health. Through the complete adoption of solar as a source of energy, people of Saudi Arabia are able to evade the effects of polluted environments and depleted natural resources like coal. They are then able to join forces in the fight against global warming.
Of course, there is the issue of reliability of solar energy as a primary source of energy in the country. This is an important section because most people would not mind the cost of their power but would mind its reliability. The fact that most parts of the country are desert land and that they receive over 4,000 hours of sunshine every year makes them comparably favorable for solar energy. Therefore, the country can produce sustainable energy from solar (Zuhur, 2011).
Conclusion
Solar energy is the only viable and most dependable source of energy in Saudi Arabia especially during these times of global pressure for oil producing nations to cut their environmental degradation significantly. Saudi Arabia is suitable for the production of solar energy because it is a desert.
This is because of its long hours of stable sunshine (Mahaney, 2007). The fact that existing energy sources have proven too expensive to be afforded by most customers puts solar energy at a favorable position to be embraced by the locals. The government should, therefore, invest in solar energy as a way of improving the living standards of its people and join in the struggle against global warming.
Recommendation
It is upon the government of Saudi Arabia to take the initiative of revolutionizing the energy sector from the nonrenewable energy to renewable energy. In this case, solar energy will be better placed to thrive in the country as compared to nuclear and wind energy. This assumption was driven at after assessing the cost-effectiveness of the initiation of related projects and their sustainability and safety.
References
Jeffreys, A., & Oxford Business Group. (2011). The report: Saudi Arabia. 2010. London: Oxford Business Group.
Kurokawa, K. (2007). Energy from the desert: Practical proposals for very large scale photovoltaic systems. London: Earthscan.
Lippman, T. W., & Council on Foreign Relations. (2012). Saudi Arabia on the edge: The uncertain future of an American ally. Washington, D.C: Potomac Books.
Mahaney, I. F. (2007). Solar energy. New York: PowerKids Press.
Negewo, B. D. (2012). Closing the water gap in the Middle East and North Africa: Challenges and options. Washington, D.C: World Bank.
Ramady, M. A. (2010). The Saudi Arabian economy: Policies, achievements, and challenges. New York: Springer.
Ramawat, K. G. (2010). Desert plants: Biology and biotechnology. Heidelberg: Springer.
Richards, J. (2009). Solar energy. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark.
Sukhatme, S. P., & Nayak, J. K. (2008). Solar energy: Principles of thermal collection and storage. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill.
Zuhur, S. (2011). Saudi Arabia. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.