Reuters reported that Qatar aims to raise the share of solar power in electricity generation to 16% by 2018.
An official said that Qatar the world's top exporter of liquefied natural gas has the world's highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions. Like other OPEC nations it has been wary of a global shift to renewable energy, fearing it will hit demand for oil and gas.
Mr Fahad Bin Mohammad Al Attiya chairman of the organizers of talks in Doha from November 26th to December 7th among almost 200 nations on slowing global warming said that "We are working on a project to develop 1,800 MW of solar power. That will be 16% of our total electrical output. The project was due to be operating by 2018. He said the tiny Gulf state now has negligible use of solar power despite strong sunshine year round. It makes sense for us. We will also have a feed-in tariff system so that people can put solar systems on their roof and contribute to the grid.
Mr Al Attiya said that "All these measures have been applied now because solar prices are becoming reasonable and competitive. With the amount of solar hours we have it is economically feasible. Qatar has so far disappointed environmentalists by failing to set clear targets for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions at the UN talks. It has argued that its liquefied natural gas exports help other nations turn from more polluting coal.
The government said that Qatar is pursuing voluntarily a national initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as long as they are in line with sustainable development. To Qatar, climate change represents a double jeopardy. On the one hand, global warming threatened its fragile desert ecosystems. On the other, effective action to solve the problem would undermine demand for fossil fuels.
