Law in the offing to monitor energy use

A senior official at the Energy Ministry said the UAE has set a target to generate 24 per cent of its energy from renewable and nuclear power by 2021.

Renault Twizy, a plug-in, battery-powered two-passenger electric vehicle, on display at the World Future Energy Summit.

Abu Dhabi — A draft law has been prepared to regulate matters relating to energy efficiency and conservation, said Mattar Al Nayadi, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Energy.

“The draft law will be tabled before the Cabinet in the coming months for approval,” the undersecretary told reporters at the Ministry of Energy pavilion at the World Future Energy Summit on Wednesday.

The official said the ministry was currently expecting feedback on the draft law from stakeholders and water and electricity utilities in the UAE.

He said the Emirate Standardisation and Metrology Authority has done remarkable work to grade air conditioners based on their emissions.

In 2013, the Authority had introduced a rating system to measure the energy efficiency of air conditioners. However, it charged an extra fee on manufacturers to market such products in the UAE.

A senior official at the Energy Ministry said the UAE has set a target to generate 24 per cent of its energy from renewable and nuclear power by 2021.

Asked about targets to cut emissions, the official said: “We are in the process of developing the UAE energy strategy in co-ordination with federal agencies and departments. We are also talking to the emirates, which will help achieve energy diversification and energy effiicency.”

This excercise, which will be carried out in 2015, will help devise a policy on how much carbon emissions the UAE needs to cut, the official added.

According to the State of Energy Report 2015 issued by the Ministry of Energy, the goverment plans to reduce carbon dioxide levels by 15 per cent by 2021 to address one of the goals of the UAE Vision 2021.

“The indicator serves to highlight progress at international and national levels and can be used to measure environmental peformance and green economy development,” said the report. It further added that indicators can be used at the national level to plan and follow the progress of sustainable development to achieve the government vision.

“Energy-related activities account for the dominant portion of greenhouse gases or GHG emissions in the UAE as the country relies heavily on combustion of fossil fuels as the source of energy for water desalination, power generation, manufacturing and energy industries,” as per the State of Energy Report.

Electricity generation from fossil fuels alone is responsibile for almost half of the country’s emissions, followed by industrial processes, steel and aluminium industries, said the report.

The UAE has laid out a number of actions to slash its carbon emissions in line with its obligations to the United Nations Framework on Convention on Climate Change by monitoring GHG emissions. The actions contribute to the UAE’s drive to attain sustainable development by expanding the role of low carbon technologies in the economy and investing in renewable energy, the report said.

— haseeb@khaleejtimes.com