Dear MEL Topic Readers,
This oil-rich country has stood in the way of climate action. It’s quietly building a clean energy
The climate of Saudi Arabia is predominantly arid to semi-arid, and its land is mostly desert. It was a land of nomads until the discovery of large oil reserves in 1938. By the 1970s, the kingdom had become the world’s largest oil exporter, and its population began to become settled and increased tenfold by 2025. Since Saudi Arabia is a hot desert country with little surface or underground water, demand for electricity is increasing to run air conditioning and provide desalinated water. The energy mix of the oil-and-gas-rich country was almost entirely fossil fuels in 2020. However, the kingdom is trying to source half of its electricity from renewable energy and the rest from gas by the end of this decade, while keeping wealth-generating oil for export. The main source of clean energy now is massive solar farms and battery storage facilities around large cities, the futuristic city of NEOM, and the luxury Red Sea tourism destination. Helped by the rapidly declining prices of solar panels and batteries, renewable energy is going to produce a substantial share of Saudi Arabia’s energy mix in a few years.
Read the article and learn why the oil-rich kingdom is pushing solar farms.
This oil-rich country has stood in the way of climate action. It’s quietly building a clean energy
The climate of Saudi Arabia is predominantly arid to semi-arid, and its land is mostly desert. It was a land of nomads until the discovery of large oil reserves in 1938. By the 1970s, the kingdom had become the world’s largest oil exporter, and its population began to become settled and increased tenfold by 2025. Since Saudi Arabia is a hot desert country with little surface or underground water, demand for electricity is increasing to run air conditioning and provide desalinated water. The energy mix of the oil-and-gas-rich country was almost entirely fossil fuels in 2020. However, the kingdom is trying to source half of its electricity from renewable energy and the rest from gas by the end of this decade, while keeping wealth-generating oil for export. The main source of clean energy now is massive solar farms and battery storage facilities around large cities, the futuristic city of NEOM, and the luxury Red Sea tourism destination. Helped by the rapidly declining prices of solar panels and batteries, renewable energy is going to produce a substantial share of Saudi Arabia’s energy mix in a few years.
Read the article and learn why the oil-rich kingdom is pushing solar farms.
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