Essay --

Role of renewable energy sources in environmental protection. Munthir ALMoslem Student # 1001020682 Course: EES1100 Date: 9th December 2013 Area of interests The Saudi Arabia economy is highly dependent on oil exports; the country has approximately â€Å"one-fifth of the world's proven oil reserves, and it is the largest producer and exporter of oil†, producing 12 million barrels per day (Saudi Arabia Country Profile, 2013). Saudi Arabia is the biggest consumer of oil in the Middle East; in 2009, the country was ranked as the world’s 13th highest consumer of energy, of which about 60 percent was petroleum-based and the other 40 percent was natural gas (Saudi Arabia Country Profile, 2013). From all the accessible sources, the current capacity of producing energy in Saudi Arabia is about 55 gigawatts and grows by 3 gigawatts annually (Alaindroos & He, 2012). The Saudi Arabian government invests about 1,125 billion dollars to cater to its energy needs between now and 2018 (Alaindroos & He, 2012). In the year 2009 alone, the country used about 100 million barrels of oil to produce energy and this implies that they consume one q uarter of all their oil in domestic uses. The demand for electricity in Saudi Arabia is estimated to increase by 70 GW in the next twenty years (Saudi Arabia Country Profile, 2013). The current dependence on unsustainable energy sources has a different effect on the environment due to gases they emit into the atmosphere. If the country fully implements the use of sustainable sources of energy, it will help to expand the use of energy for security purposes. The use of sustainable sources of energy would lead to reduced emissions of greenhouse gases, effluents and other wastes that have a negative im... ...s. Environment, 37(9): 6-15. Maithani, P. (2008). Renewable Energy in the Global Context. New York: Concept Publishing Company. Mani. (2013). Saudi Arabia Invests $109B To Meet 1/3 Energy Needs From Renewables. ValueWalk. Retrieved from http://www.valuewalk.com/2013/07/saudi-arabia-invests-109b/ Nogee , A . , Clemmer, S. , Donovan, D. ,& Deyette, J. (2002). Clean Energy Blueprint: Increasing Energy Security, Saving Money, and Protecting the Environment with Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 22(2): 100-109. Olivier, J. , Janssens-Maenhout , G. , Muntean, M. ,& Peters, J. (2013) . Trends in global CO2 emissions: 2013 Report. Retrieved from http://www.pbl.nl/sites/default/files/cms/publicaties/pbl-2013-trends-in-global-co2-emissions-2013-report-1148.pdf Saudi Arabia Country Profile. (2013). Environmental Analysis. MEED