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Renewable Energies Management Strategy Challenges in the Arabian Gulf Countries

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Renewable Energies Management Strategy Challenges in the Arabian Gulf Countries Renewable Energies Management Strategy Challenges in the Arabian Gulf Countries A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Muhammad Aloughani Brunel University London, United Kingdom June 2015 II ABSTRACT The main source of energy in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) remains fossil fuels (oil and gas). The massive and accelerated used of such sources of energy not only depletes the traditional energy sources in those states and thus undermines exports and long-term prosperity; it also causes devastating damages to the environment and to human health. The nature of the Arabian Peninsula is very suitable for renewable energy sources (RES), thus many GCC states have started to consider those resources for their future energy plans. Like any technology, renewable energy technologies (RET) face many challenges such as economic, technical, social and environmental. This research analyses renewable energy (RE) possibilities and barriers in the GCC states in depth, using Kuwait as a case study. Questionnaires were distributed to three different groups to measure their attitudes and knowledge with regard to RE. Moreover, this research investigates the economic and environmental implications of RES adoption for Kuwait. A cost analysis between the traditional energy generated by the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) using oil and gas, and RE energy generated by Al- Shagaya project has been carried out. It was found that most participants were environmentally aware of fuel issues and supported RE; they were prepared to forego subsidies on traditional energy to promote RE, but they doubted the government’s ability to implement RE successfully. Although Al-Shagaya Project was targeted to contribute up to 15% of Kuwait’s total power production by 2030, the cost analysis presented in this thesis revealed that the energy generated from the Al-Shagaya Project accounts for only 2% the energy needs projected at 2030, therefore current plans would only reduce CO2 emissions by 2% by 2030, but a program was proposed whereby larger investment would cause a 92% reduction in costs and reduce CO2 emissions to zero within the same timeframe. Key words: Kuwait, GCC, renewable energy, solar, wind, Al-Shagaya, fossil fuel dependence. III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank God. You have given me the power to believe in myself and pursue my dreams. I could never have done this without the faith I have in You. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Prof. Wamadeva Balachandran for his continuous support of my doctoral study and research, for his patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. His guidance helped me throughout the research and writing of this thesis. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my studies. I also like to extent my deepest thanks to Dr Nadarajah Manivannan for his advice, guidance and help in some of the area of this research. There are a number of people without whom this thesis might not have been written, and to whom I greatly indebted. My full thanks and appreciation also go to Dr Ziad Huneity for his support and help though these four academic years. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, Abeer, Fawwaz, Eisa, Yousef and Farrah. Special thanks to my wife, Abeer AlHooli, for her understanding and love during the past five years. Her support and encouragement was in the end what made this dissertation possible; I could not have done it without her. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... III LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................... IX LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................. XII ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................ XIV DECLARATION .................................................................................................... XVI CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 17 1.1 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................... 17 1.2 TYPES OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES ........................................................ 19 1.3 RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ITS BARRIERS .......................................................... 19 1.4 THE RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES .............................................................. 20 1.5 THE METHODOLOGY MODEL ............................................................................ 21 1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS ......................................................................... 23 1.7 CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE ....................................................................... 23 1.8 LIST OF PUBLICATIONS ...................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER 2: RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE DEVELOPING AND DEVELOPED WORLD............................................................................................. 25 2.1 RENEWABLE ENERGY IN DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ............... 25 2.2 THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF FOSSIL FUELS ON THE ENVIRONMENT .................... 26 2.3 THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF FOSSIL FUELS ON HUMAN HEALTH ........................ 27 2.4 THE EMERGENCE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY INTERNATIONALLY ........................ 30 2.5 WIND AND SOLAR ENERGY GENERATION IN DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ............................................................................................................. 34 2.6 BARRIERS TO RE DEVELOPMENT ...................................................................... 38 2.7 THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ON SOLAR PANELS ........................................... 39 2.8 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER 3: RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE ARABIAN GULF COUNTRIES .................................................................................................................................... 42 3.1 RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE GCC .................................................................... 42 3.2 GCC COUNTRIES’ ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND THE KYOTO PROTOCOL .... 42 3.3 GCC COUNTRIES’ APPROACH TO ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY .............. 44 V 3.4 RE ESTABLISHMENTS AND PROJECTS IN THE GCC ............................................ 47 3.5 WIND AND SOLAR SOURCES FOR RE IN THE GCC ............................................. 53 3.6 ADMINISTRATIVE AND TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO RE IN THE GCC ................... 55 3.7 ENVIRONMENTAL BARRIERS TO RE IN THE GCC COUNTRIES ............................ 58 3.8 INVESTIGATING TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS FOR DUST ACCUMULATION ON SOLAR PANELS IN THE GCC .................................................................................... 61 3.9 ENERGY GENERATION IN KUWAIT AND RENEWABLE ENERGY .......................... 66 3.10 ELECTRICITY GENERATION AND CONSUMPTION IN KUWAIT ........................... 68 3.11 CURRENT POWER GENERATING UNITS ............................................................ 70 3.11.1 Steam Turbine Units ................................................................................ 70 3.11.2 Turbine Units .......................................................................................... 70 3.10 ENERGY SUBSIDIES: DEFINITION AND RATIONALE .......................................... 71 3.12 KUWAITI GOVERNMENT ELECTRICITY SUBSIDES ............................................ 72 3.13 COST COMPONENTS ........................................................................................ 73 3.14 SUBSIDY COMPARISON OF OTHER GULF COUNTRIES AND KUWAIT ................. 74 3.15 KUWAIT RENEWABLE ENERGY (AL-SHAGAYA PROJECT) ............................... 74 3.16 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF AL-SHAGAYA PROJECT ........................................... 75 3.17 THE VARIABLES OF ATTITUDE AND KNOWLEDGE IN RELATION TO RE ........... 75 3.17.1 Attitudes and RE ...................................................................................... 75 3.17.2 Knowledge and RE .................................................................................. 76 3.18 ATTITUDES AND KNOWLEDGE IN RELATION TO RE ........................................ 76 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................. 80 4.1 THEORETICAL RATIONALE ................................................................................ 80 4.2 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY .................................................................................... 80 4.3 QUESTIONNAIRE PARTICIPANTS AND DATA COLLECTION ................................. 81 4.3.1 Participants ............................................................................................... 81 4.3.2 Data Collection ......................................................................................... 82 4.4 QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................................ 82 4.5 COST ANALYSIS ................................................................................................ 84 4.6 TRANSLATION PROCEDURES AND ADMINISTERING THE QUESTIONNAIRES ........ 85 CHAPTER 5:
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