Sustainable development climbs up the priority ladder (By IFN)

Sustainable development climbs up the priority ladder

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UAE: As energy consumption reaches critical levels around the globe, energy producers are seeking alternative sources to traditional fossil fuel production; sometimes even to detrimental extents such as in the case of hydraulic fracturing, or better known as fracking. At the other end of the spectrum, research and development in the renewable resources sector is taking off at unprecedented speeds, as energy producers and consumers seek more sustainable forms of energy as oil prices hit an all-time record high in 2011 and the fear of depleting resources become more tangible by the day. According to Bob Dudley, group chief executive of BP energy, global energy consumption grew by 2.5% in 2011, in line with the historical average, but well below the 5.1% in 2010. Emerging economies accounted for all of the net growth in energy consumption with demand from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries falling for a third time since 2009. According to data from Dealogic, oil and gas was also the hottest sector for mergers and acquisitions in 2011. On the production side, the industry has seen a large increase amongst OPEC countries, leading to record oil production in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. And although fossil fuels still dominate energy consumption at a 87% market share, renewable energy is set to get a new boost this year as governments look to collaborate to create energy links in both the sustainable and non-sustainable sectors. At the World Future Energy Summit this week, Greg Barker, the UK’s minister of state for energy and climate change said that Britain is looking to the UAE to help boost its GBP200 billion (US$321 billion) push into renewable energy. The requisite green energy capacity will be built by the private sector, and parliament will this week pass an energy bill aimed at encouraging investment. The UAE's investments in the UK's energy sector are not just restricted to renewables, with the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company recently striking a US$1 billion deal with BP to add to its oil production base in the British North Sea. And the UK is expecting more investors from Abu Dhabi particularly to follow suit. Barker said: “Abu Dhabi has recognized that they are an energy economy, that they are not just a fossil fuel producer. They have a much more 21st-century take on the global energy economy, and are determined to be a participant in every sector of that.”