Recommended Research Priorities for the Qatar Foundation's
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This electronic representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for non-commercial use only. Unauthorized posting of RAND electronic documents to a non-RAND website is prohibited. RAND electronic documents are protected under copyright law. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of our research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please see RAND Permissions. This product is part of the RAND Corporation monograph series. RAND monographs present major research findings that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND mono- graphs undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity. Recommended Research Priorities for the Qatar Foundation’s Environment and Energy Research Institute Nidhi Kalra, Obaid Younossi, Kristy N. Kamarck, Sarah Al-Dorani, Gary Cecchine, Aimee E. Curtright, Chaoling Feng, Aviva Litovitz, David R. Johnson, Mohammed Makki, Shanthi Nataraj, David S. Ortiz, Parisa Roshan, Constantine Samaras Sponsored by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development RAND-QATAR POLICY INSTITUTE This research was sponsored by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development and was conducted in the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute and the Environment, Energy, and Economic Development Program within RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication ISBN: 978-0-8330-5820-1 The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. R® is a registered trademark. Cover image courtesy of iStockphoto/fleag. Used with permission. © Copyright 2011 RAND Corporation Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND documents to a non-RAND website is prohibited. RAND documents are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND permissions page (http://www.rand.org/publications/ permissions.html). Published 2011 by the RAND Corporation 1776 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138 1200 South Hayes Street, Arlington, VA 22202-5050 4570 Fifth Avenue, Suite 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2665 RAND URL: http://www.rand.org To order RAND documents or to obtain additional information, contact Distribution Services: Telephone: (310) 451-7002; Fax: (310) 451-6915; Email: [email protected] Principal Investigators Obaid Younossi and Nidhi Kalra Phase 1: Survey of Gulf Phase 2: Research Priorities Cooperation Council Kristy N. Kamarck (lead) Nidhi Kalra (lead) Sarah Al-Dorani Gary Cecchine Mohammed Makki Chaoling Feng Parisa Roshan Constantine Samaras Obaid Younossi Obaid Younossi Research Topic Authors Natural gas production and processing David S. Ortiz Petroleum production and processing David S. Ortiz Carbon capture and storage Aimee E. Curtright Solar energy development Aimee E. Curtright Fuel cells Aimee E. Curtright Green buildings Aviva Litovitz and Constantine Samaras Smart grids Aviva Litovitz and Aimee E. Curtright Strategic energy planning Shanthi Nataraj Desalination Shanthi Nataraj Groundwater sustainability Gary Cecchine and Shanthi Nataraj Water demand management Shanthi Nataraj Integrated water resource management Shanthi Nataraj Environmental characterization Shanthi Nataraj and David E. Johnson iii Preface Qatar is developing rapidly. As a consequence, its population is also growing rapidly. Industrial development and population growth have increased Qatar’s energy, water, and other resource needs substantially and threaten its environmental sustainability. In response, Qatar’s lead- ership has created a vision of sustainable development for the country, and the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development (QF) is establishing a national research institute that conducts and collaborates on applied research in energy, environment, and water issues to help achieve this vision. QF asked the RAND- Qatar Policy Institute (RQPI) to recommend research priorities based on Qatar’s needs and goals in these areas and based on collaboration opportunities in the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC) and beyond. This monograph responds to that request. The findings were originally briefed to QF in November 2010. The intended audience includes officials in QF and the Qatari government. This work might also be of interest to researchers and administrators at other research institutions in Qatar, the GCC region, and abroad. The project that produced this monograph was conducted under the auspices of RQPI and in the Environment, Energy, and Economic Development Program (EEED) within RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment (ISE). RQPI is a partnership of the RAND Corpora- tion and QF. The aim of RQPI is to offer the RAND style of rigorous and objective analysis to clients throughout the greater Middle East. In serving clients in the Middle East, RQPI draws on the full profes- v vi Recommended Research Priorities for the Qatar Foundation sional resources of the RAND Corporation. Related RAND research has yielded the following publications: • Victoria A. Greenfield, Debra Knopman, Eric Talley, Gabri- elle Bloom, Edward Balkovich, D. J. Peterson, James T. Bartis, Stephen Rattien, Richard A. Rettig, Mark Y. D. Wang, Michael Mattock, Jihane Najjar, and Martin C. Libicki, Design of the Qatar National Research Fund: An Overview of the Study Approach and Key Recommendations, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corpo- ration, TR-209-QF, 2008 • David S. Ortiz, Aimee E. Curtright, Constantine Samaras, Aviva Litovitz, and Nicholas Burger, Near-Term Opportunities for Integrating Biomass into the U.S. Electricity Supply: Technical Considerations, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, TR- 984-NETL, 2011 • Michael Toman, James Griffin, and Robert J. Lempert, Impacts on U.S. Energy Expenditures and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions of Increasing Renewable-Energy Use, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, TR-384-1-EFC, 2008 • Tom LaTourrette, Thomas Light, Debra Knopman, and James T. Bartis, Managing Spent Nuclear Fuel: Strategy Alternatives and Policy Implications, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, MG-970-RC, 2010. The RAND Environment, Energy, and Economic Development Program This research was conducted within EEED. The mission of RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment is to improve the develop- ment, operation, use, and protection of society’s essential physical assets and natural resources and to enhance the related social assets of safety and security of individuals in transit and in their workplaces and communities. The EEED research portfolio addresses environmental quality and regulation, energy resources and systems, water resources and systems, climate, natural hazards and disasters, and economic Preface vii development—both domestically and internationally. EEED research is conducted for government, foundations, and the private sector. Questions or comments about this monograph should be sent to the project leaders, Obaid Younossi ([email protected]) and Nidhi Kalra ([email protected]). Information about EEED is available online (http://www.rand.org/ise/environ). Inquiries about EEED projects should be sent to the following address: Keith Crane, Director Environment, Energy, and Economic Development Program, ISE RAND Corporation 1200 South Hayes Street Arlington, VA 22202-5050 Tel.: 703-413-1100, x5520 [email protected] The RAND-Qatar Policy Institute To study some of the most important issues facing the Middle East, RAND and the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Com- munity Development formed a partnership that in 2003 established RQPI in Doha, Qatar. RQPI is an integral part of Education City, which is being developed by QF under the leadership of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned. Education City is a commu- nity of institutions—both K–12 and universities—contributing to edu- cation and research in Qatar and the Gulf region. RQPI is a regional office that facilitates delivery of the full range of RAND’s capabilities to clients in North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia—roughly, from Mauritania to Bangladesh. Further Information For further information about this report, other RQPI work