Meeting Report

Date: 08/10/2012

Time: 3pm-4pm

Venue: F11-ADMC

Group members:

Chairman: Ammar Saeed

Secretary: Khalid Ali

Participant: Hedley Butterfield

Members: Othman Ismail & Omair Ali

Agenda: alternative energy use in the UAE

-What is the problem with the fossil flues generated energy?

-Is it expensive to use alternative energy?

-What are the benefits of using alternative energy?

-What are the solutions and suggestions?

The chairman Ammar Saeed opened the meeting at 3 pm after welcoming the members and Mr. Hedley.

The first point of discussion was about the problems of fossil flues energy:

-Khalid said that the pollution was the main problem and the toxins that come out from processing the oil and gas to generate energy.

-Ammar said that it costs a lot in the long term for maintenance and operation.

-Othman said that scientists say that the oil will come to an end in the future so we should look for new energy sources.

-Omair said that the pollution that comes from the regular energy plants harms the environment and the humans health.

  the second point was about the cost of using alternative energy: 

-Othman said that it will cost a lot in the beginning to build.

_Omair said that in the long term using the alternative energy likes solar will not have additional expenses and it’s only a one time thing that the government will pay a huge amount of money.

-Khalid said the best kind of alternative energy to use in the UAE is solar energy and it usually does not cost a lot.

-Hedley discussed the other types of alternative energy like the using of wind energy in England and the turbines were expensive and noisy and only generated about 4% of the UK needs of energy; also the government paid for the setup of the wind farms and raised the taxes to get the money back.

-Ammar said that the wind power is not useful to use in the UAE and the solar will be the best solution as the emirates have a sunny climate for most of the year.

 the Third point was about the benefits of using alternative energy:

-Omair said that it will help to reducing pollution and protect the environment.

-Othman said that building new solar energy factories will help provide new jobs

- Khalid said that solar energy usage will help in reducing the cost also on the public as it's cheaper to generate.

-Ammar said there is an example here in Abu Dhabi to use solar energy in aloft hotel.

Solutions and suggestions to solve the issue:

-Khalid suggested having a campaign to raise the awareness.

-Othman suggested teaching the younger generations about the benefits of using alternative energy and said there are some schools here in the UAE that gave away bags that have alternative energy solutions that the students can use in their daily life.

-Omair said that the government should subsidise the solar power installations so the people can use them.

-Ammar said that the government should start using the solar energy on the governmental buildings.

At the end of the meeting all the members in the group agreed on the benefits of using the alternative energy in the near future in the UAE and the use will have a huge impact on the local environment and residents as well.