His Excellency KACARE’s Vice-President, Dr. Waleed Abulfaraj stressed that the 5th World Conference “EnviroTowns” , the banner of which is Waste-to-Energy aims to discuss ideas and solutions required to convert waste to an essential factor for sustainability of future towns.
This was spelled out in the speech delivered last night by His Excellency in the Inaugural Session of the 5th International Conference held at Teebah University in Almadinah Almunawwarah under the aegis of His Royal Highness Prince Faisal Ibn Salman Ibn Abdulaziz, Emir of Almadinah Almunawwarah Area. The Conference was jointly organized by the Mayoralty of Almadinah and KACARE.
His Excellency pointed out that waste issue and the best way to handle it poses a major challenge facing heavily-populated towns. His Excellency stated that the number of people visiting these towns is greatly in excess of their residents. He cited the numbers witnessed particularly during the Holy month of Ramadhan and months of Pilgrimage (Hajj). His Excellency stated that under the circumstances, the situation dictates that this issue should be given much consideration from all aspects, be it organizational, financial or environmental in nature. Such a perspective should ultimately convert such a heavy burden into a sustainable energy.
His Excellency Dr. Abulfaraj added that the waste-to-energy technology is performed through several technologies, such as direct incineration. He pointed out that this process is presently being followed in over 35 countries utilizing more than 700 gigantic plants throughout the world. His Excellency named Denmark as the leading country in waste-to-energy business. He stated that 54% of all wastes is being converted into energy. Other countries as Germany, Holland, Sweden and Belgium convert over one third of wastes altogether into energy. The same also applies to Japan, Spain, and France. As for the USA, he added, it converts 14% of its solid waste into energy, while Japan converts 40 million ton of domestic waste to energy using direct incineration.
His Excellency the Vice-President, Dr. Abulfaraj stated that Arab states have recently embarked on the introduction of certain waste-to-energy technologies. In this regard he specifically mentioned the Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Jordan. His Excellency added that the Waste-to-Energy sector will grow from about 7 billion US dollars in 2012 to at least 29,2 billion US dollars in 2022. He pinpointed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has not been an exception in this area. To explain, His Excellency added that it has given this topic a paramount importance. The waste-to-energy issue has received full attention in the studies run by KACARE. KACARE in the studies it has conducted proposed that the atomic and renewable energy should contribute to the mix of the national energy mix. To this end, it proposed that solar energy, be it photovoltaic or thermal, should be maximally utilized to the utmost. This also applies to wind and geothermal energies.
His Excellency the Vice-President, Dr. Abulfaraj explained all the above-referenced studies concluded that certain plants and stations can be installed throughout the Kingdom with a view to convert municipal wastes into energy capacity of which altogether can reach up to 3000 megawatt. He revealed that KACARE has, jointly with Al-Amal Company laid down a detailed working plan to introduce such resources into the national energy mix, in addition to the development and localization of industry and services sectors, the creation of job opportunities which should be so devised as to attract Saudi youth to fill the newly created vacancies. The overall objective is to build a long-term sustainable energy sector in the Kingdom, with the ultimate end result being the motivation of economic growth, and the contribution to the national sustainable development as well.
In the conclusion, His Excellency the Vice-President thanked the Mayoralty of Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Dubai Municipality and the Environment Center for Arab Towns for organizing the Conference in question.