UAE’s energy strategy is to rely on both renewables and traditional sources
The demand for energy is constantly on the rise and no one energy source will be sufficient to meet the rising energy needs. Both renewables along with traditional sources such as oil and gas will be needed, said Dr Matar Al Neyadi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Energy.
That doesn’t mean that the transition to renewable sources of energy will take a back seat. The focus will be more on renewables alongside the traditional sources of energy as no one recipe could fit all the countries regardless of their circumstances.
Speaking at the International Association for Energy Economics Middle East Symposium at Khalifa University, he mentioned about one new source of energy - Hydrogen.
He explained that, currently, hydrogen is categorized into grey, blue and green. He emphasized more into it when he said that grey hydrogen refers to hydrogen from natural gas, blue hydrogen is derived from other non-renewable sources but meets the low carbon threshold, and the green hydrogen is produced by renewable sources of energy which meets the low carbon threshold.
With the UAE being rich in hydrocarbon, it means that it is easy to produce hydrogen from gas which is the cheapest type of hydrogen.
However, it is equally important to consider the economic impact and study it to ensure both the economic viability and sustainability before going ahead with any alternative sources of energy.
So, along with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, the UAE is also exploring opportunities to use hydrogen as well in its energy mix.