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27 August 2016
Jeddah - Economic experts agree that the rationing of the use of electricity consumption and the gradual transformation to alternative energy every year would save the country around $20 billion.
Esam Khalifa, a member of an economic association, said that rationing of electricity was one of the basic requirements for ideal use of fossil fuel resources to safeguard the requirements of the coming generations.
He said that the consumption of petroleum products by the Kingdom was one-third of the total daily production. The average current consumption of oil for the production of electricity and water desalination is around 4.2 million barrels per day. It is expected to reach 9.5 million barrels by 2035, which would be a great loss of the Kingdom's exports of around SR795 million per day.
Khalifa said that the country annually subsidizes fuels with around SR90 billion and consumer goods by SR300 billion. This includes SR170 billion for support of energy. It means around 35 percent of the total budget is for subsidies. He said that rationing the use of energy would save around $20 billion annually.
He said that there were various means to ration consumption of energy including through awareness campaigns in the media, reduction of the use of air conditioners and ideal use of electrical appliances.
Dr. Farooq Al-Khateeb, a professor of economics at the King Abdul Aziz University, said that the waste of energy was due to the lack of rationing and not using resources which are less costly. He said that the waste of energy was at the cost of coming generations.
Dr. Salim Bajajah, an economics expert, said that the ratio of the consumption of oil in the Kingdom was disturbing. The daily consumption of oil reached over three million barrels per day in 2013. He said that renewable energy would contribute 9.5GW of the local production from nuclear reactors and solar energy production stations, to control one-third of the local production, which is 2.5 million barrels per day, by 2030.
Jeddah - Economic experts agree that the rationing of the use of electricity consumption and the gradual transformation to alternative energy every year would save the country around $20 billion.
Esam Khalifa, a member of an economic association, said that rationing of electricity was one of the basic requirements for ideal use of fossil fuel resources to safeguard the requirements of the coming generations.
He said that the consumption of petroleum products by the Kingdom was one-third of the total daily production. The average current consumption of oil for the production of electricity and water desalination is around 4.2 million barrels per day. It is expected to reach 9.5 million barrels by 2035, which would be a great loss of the Kingdom's exports of around SR795 million per day.
Khalifa said that the country annually subsidizes fuels with around SR90 billion and consumer goods by SR300 billion. This includes SR170 billion for support of energy. It means around 35 percent of the total budget is for subsidies. He said that rationing the use of energy would save around $20 billion annually.
He said that there were various means to ration consumption of energy including through awareness campaigns in the media, reduction of the use of air conditioners and ideal use of electrical appliances.
Dr. Farooq Al-Khateeb, a professor of economics at the King Abdul Aziz University, said that the waste of energy was due to the lack of rationing and not using resources which are less costly. He said that the waste of energy was at the cost of coming generations.
Dr. Salim Bajajah, an economics expert, said that the ratio of the consumption of oil in the Kingdom was disturbing. The daily consumption of oil reached over three million barrels per day in 2013. He said that renewable energy would contribute 9.5GW of the local production from nuclear reactors and solar energy production stations, to control one-third of the local production, which is 2.5 million barrels per day, by 2030.
© Arab News 2016
