Three sustainability trends helping to clean up Middle Eastern air quality

Across the Middle East, governments continue to pursue a policy of dedicated economic diversification away from a traditional dependence on hydrocarbon-based wealth and towards a more sustainable future – environmentally as well as economically. One of the chief environmental issues to be addressed is the region’s routinely poor air quality, a concern that is driving investment in, and support for, cleantech and renewables in their various forms.

Air pollution is widely recognised as a problem in the Middle East, all that varies is opinion on the extent and severity of the issue. Data from the World Health Organisation’s 2016 report placed Saudi Arabia as the country with the world’s most polluted air in terms of PM 2.5; the microscopic particulate known as the “silent killer” responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths per year worldwide.[1] Qatar was in second place, closely followed closely by Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.[2]

Monitoring the pollutant problem

Admittedly, much of the region’s air pollution issues stem from sand and dust storms originating from desert areas, yet human activity – powered by population growth, urbanisation and rampant infrastructure development – undoubtedly play a part. The uncertainty lies in how much of the problem can be attributed to manmade issues and how much is due to natural phenomena.

This uncertainty is partially what’s driving greater investment across the Middle East to develop greater air quality monitoring capabilities, which have been lacking traditionally. In the UAE, as part of its $500 million Air Quality Strategy 2017 initiative, Dubai Municipality will be developing an environmental monitoring system according to the best international standards over the next five years. This will include the delivery of a mobile smart station for air quality monitoring, a regional first-of-its-kind development equipped with 20 interconnected devices capable of monitoring approximately 100 air pollution components and composites.[3] Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture also launched a new initiative late last year to monitor air quality and emissions of pollutants. The plan aims to install advanced monitoring units in 7,000 industrial facilities spread throughout Saudi Arabia, all feeding data back to a central smart station that will produce a real-time electronic map of countrywide pollution levels.[4]

Tackling the issue head on

However, while more accurate monitoring of the issue of air pollution is a necessary and welcome development, it’s only part of the solution. Recent sustainability trend investments demonstrate ME governments’ increasing will to create and sustain cleaner air by tackling the chief causes of manmade air pollutants; namely unclean energy provision sources and construction methods.

Expanding renewable energy provision capacity

We are currently experiencing a surge in renewable energy and cleantech investment levels in the Middle East, as respective counties pivot towards a more sustainable energy mix. Since 2013, more than $1 trillion have been invested in renewable energy around the world and the sector has outpaced investment in fossil fuel generation for the past five years.

Despite the Middle East’s oil production capabilities, the future of renewables is largely being viewed as an opportunity rather than a threat. This attitude is critical to the improvement of the region’s air quality, as the shift to renewable energy provision will displace carbon-intense fossil fuels, lowing CO2 emissions and associated air pollutants being pumped into the atmosphere.

This brief overview of recent major renewable energy developments is emblematic of a wider trend of Middle Eastern renewable energy adoption:

Dubai’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Solar Park is currently adding 800MW of PV solar energy capacity. It will be able to generate 5GW of power by 2030.[5]
Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power secured a world record low price for renewable energy at $0.023417 per kilowatt hour (kWh). The government is expected to issue tenders for a further 4GW of renewable energy in 2018.[6]
Egypt aims to achieve 20% renewables in its energy mix by 2022.[7]
The Middle East is now expected to more than triple its share of renewable energy, from 5.6% in 2016 to reach 20.6% in 2035.[8]

Digitalisation

Cleaner air in the Middle East won’t solely come from new renewable energy sources; existing power provision facilities are also cleaning up their act too. Advanced data analytics and an Internet of Things approach will continue to cut the costs of power generation, making individual devices, power plants and the entire delivery system that much more efficient and sustainable, reducing waste and emissions along the way:

“Digitalisation is an essential part of the future energy landscape, and turning big data into smart data will enable us to be more reliable, energy efficient and cost effective,” said Dietmar Siersdorfer, CEO, Siemens Middle East and UAE.

Greener construction and urban maintenance techniques

With so many of the cities in the Middle East hitting the top spots in terms of poor air quality, there’s a much louder and stronger voice being heard across the region to employ more eco-friendly “green thinking” in the construction and real estate industries, in order to build cities that can offset their own ecological impact.

Dubai’s recently opened Sustainable City housing development – which recycles its water and waste and produces more energy than it consumes – is emblematic of this shift away from conspicuous consumption and towards cleaner construction and urban maintenance.[9] Its 2,000 residents live in 500 villas with rooftop solar panels and are encouraged to walk, cycle or take electric buggies through the car-free zones. The city’s planned second phase features an eco-friendly school and a hotel powered entirely by solar energy.[10] Ultimately, Sustainability City is being designed as the ecologically responsible model for the region’s construction and real estate industries to adopt, in-line with their governments’ ambitious plans to aggressively tackle air pollution and associated environmental problems.

Cleantech investment is driving ME air quality improvements

As the Middle East continues to experience rapid growth, ensuring that its expanding populace can count on clean, safe and breathable air will be one of the most important measurements of its ability to make such growth entirely sustainable. Given that the goals of achieving economic and environmental sustainability are so closely intertwined in this case, we can expect the further ME exploration and development of these sustainability trends to continue at pace.

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Sources:

[1] Middle East Eye, Polluters in chief: Gulf states ahead in poisoned air stakes, 19/09/2017

[2] Ibid

[3] Khaleej Times, Dubai to spend Dh500m for cleaner air, 02/06/2017

[4] Arab News, Saudi Environment Ministry launches new initiative to measure air pollution, 10/08/2017

[5] Forbes, Can The Middle East Make A Success Of Renewable Energy? It May Not Have A Choice, 14/02/2018

[6] Ibid

[7] Ibid

[8] Arabian Business, Middle East renewable energy output to triple by 2035, 14/01/2018

[9] National Geographic, The World's Most Improbable Green City, 04/04/2017

[10] JLL, Building greener thinking into the Middle East’s real estate, 29/03/2018