Gulf Arabs look to governments for energy fix

A consensus is developing that using less energy by using it more efficiently may be the least painful way to reduce carbon emissions - everywhere, that is, except the Gulf.

A new survey released this week by Accenture, the global management consulting firm, has found that two-thirds of Arabic-speaking consumers in Gulf states have little interest in using less energy. That is despite the desire expressed by 90 per cent of the survey participants for their respective countries to reduce reliance on oil and gas-fired power generation.

Instead, nine out of ten consumers want more government intervention to combat energy challenges, according to the survey, which was conducted in Arabic and covered Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Oman and Kuwait.

"We cannot address climate change unless we both create new sources of clean energy and reduce consumer demand," said Omar Boulos, the managing director of Accenture, Middle East. "But our survey shows that consumers do not think lower energy use is a priority."

"It will take many years before renewable alternatives come fully on stream. Until they do, governments and energy companies will have to find creative ways to transform consumer habits and improve energy efficiency," he said.

The survey of GCC consumers, which was part of Accenture's broader New Energy World survey, also identified "reducing carbon emissions" as the primary reason respondents picked for reducing fossil fuel reliance. However, twice as many respondents picked "developing low carbon sources of energy" over "using less energy" as the priority solution.

They also overwhelmingly rejected the suggestion that consumers should be required to pay more for energy in order to curb consumption.

Consumers in the GCC were more likely than in other parts of the world to trust energy companies to address energy challenges, but 60 per cent of respondents said they would only do so if there was direction from government.

Two thirds of survey participants from Gulf states said more government intervention was "certainly" required in the energy market, compared with 45 per cent globally, while 90 per cent of GCC respondents thought there should "probably" or "certainly" be more government intervention.

Two thirds of the Gulf respondents also thought that nuclear power would be needed to reduce the region's carbon emissions, indicating significantly higher support for nuclear development than in the West.

On average, GCC respondents estimated that renewable power already accounted for 11 per cent of power generation in the Gulf region, and thought this should be increased to 28 per cent.

In fact, renewable power accounts for a negligible proportion of the region's electricity supply.

The Abu Dhabi Government has contemplated setting a target of 7 per cent for power generation from renewable energy sources, but has yet to announce this as part of a promised energy master plan for the emirate.

Pic courtesy of Pöllö