Opening up the grid
Michael Krãmer discusses how feed-in tariffs attract home or business owners to invest in renewable energy.
It is understood that the Government of Abu Dhabi aims to generate 7% of its overall electricity from renewable sources by 2020. This is a fairly ambitious goal, given the high rate of current consumption and forecasted energy usage from the Emirate by that time. Dubai, on the other hand, announced its vision for a "Green Dubai" in 2008, however no particular project plan has been announced yet.
Electricity generation and consumption, are the key contributors to overall annual carbon-dioxide emissions. This is why any goal of a sustainable lifestyle cannot ignore energy generation via renewable sources. Taking recourse to nuclear power generation is not the ideal solution either. Nuclear power generation may not produce any carbon-dioxide emissions, but still has associated risks that are no less significant. Chernobyl and Fukushima bear witness to this fact.
There are many ways to generate energy from renewable sources, including offshore or onshore wind, solar, biogas or geothermal energy alternatives. They all come with a certain price tag, however, which in most cases is a higher per KW/h cost than that of conventional power generation using oil, gas or coal.
Lawyers Dr Michael Krämer
This article was first published in the June 2011 edition of BuildGreen magazine and is reproduced with the kind permission of the editors.
