Arab Energy Conference.. The future of nuclear energy between motives and challenges | Economy

DohaNuclear energy is clean and cheap energy that carries many benefits and opportunities, but it also comes with motives, challenges and hindering factors, which is what the 12th Arab Energy Conference in Doha highlighted.
During one of its sessions, “Energy Sources in the Arab Countries and the World,” the conference discussed many of the main issues related to energy sources, introducing the current and future opportunities available to Arab countries, and reviewing the challenges and hindering factors.

Nuclear energy has recently emerged as one of the most prominent clean energy options for Arab countries, especially in light of many of them including the nuclear option in their strategies for generating electricity. However, the challenges and obstacles in this path require great work and effort.

The Director General of the Arab Atomic Energy Authority, Dr. Salem Hamdi, reviewed the Arab strategy for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and highlighted the motivations for the use of nuclear energy in Arab countries, as well as the challenges and impeding factors.

Salem explained during his research paper in the session that the motives for the Arab strategy for the peaceful use of nuclear energy are that competition for energy, water, and food resources has become a societal challenge in light of global motives; Such as: population growth, climate change, changing consumption patterns and urban expansion.

He added that nuclear energy is clean energy and contributes to preserving the environment, and nuclear techniques in diagnosing diseases play a prominent role, in addition to the fact that Arab countries lose the most in their gross domestic product due to climate change.

Motives

The Director General of the Arab Energy Authority touched on the motives for using nuclear energy in Arab countries, which are:

• Increased demand for energy, water scarcity, and economical cost.
• The increasing shortage of oil and gas reserves and fluctuating prices.
• Increasing improvement in the level of nuclear safety and security.
• Energy security, self-sufficiency, diversification of energy sources, and the possibility of using it to remove salinity from seawater.
• Greenhouse gas emissions are lower, as is air pollution.
• Reducing reliance on sources Fossil fuels Threatened with depletion.
• Economic feasibility considering environmental impacts.
• The entry of the nuclear option represents a promising opportunity to develop industrial and scientific infrastructure.

Challenges

Salem believes that the most prominent challenges of using nuclear energy in Arab countries are:

• The decision to establish a nuclear plant requires careful planning, preparation, and human and financial investment.
• The difference between nuclear plants and other power plants is their relationship to possessing and handling nuclear materials.
• The decision of any country to embark on a nuclear program must be based on a commitment to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and to use it with high safety and security. These commitments require building sustainable infrastructure.

Disability factors

According to the research paper, the Arab environment contains many hindering factors that hinder the establishment of the nuclear program, including:

• Government commitment and political and social conditions.
• The nuclear fuel cycle and ensuring long-term fuel supply.
• The dangers and circumstances of non-proliferation.
• Disposal of radioactive waste.
• Nuclear security and safety.
• Popular acceptance. The Director General of the Arab Energy Authority explained that the Arab countries are in dire need to use nuclear energy to generate electricity, especially in light of the rapid growth in Arab demand for electricity, which is the highest in the world, reaching a rate between 5 to 8% annually and sometimes 10%, which is the largest. 3 times the global average, which ranges from 2.3 to 2.4%. He pointed out that some Arab countries have expressed their desire to include the nuclear option in their strategies for generating electricity. Such as: the Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, pointing to the global trend in generating nuclear electricity in light of the presence of 436 powerful reactors operating in 31 countries, with a total electrical capacity of 392 thousand megawatts of electricity, amounting to about 10% of the world’s electricity, in addition to the fact that there are 61 reactors. Powerful under construction, 112 reactors planned for construction and 318 proposed reactors.

Hydrogen market

On another level, the session “Subsequent Petroleum Industries: Arab and Global” discussed the future role of hydrogen in the energy mix, where the expert at OAPEC, Engineer Wael Abdel Moati, considered that the hydrogen market is huge and growing, and has large investments, as it is not a nascent industry, but rather extends for more than 6 years. Contracts.

He explained that international trade in hydrogen is non-existent, as global production reaches 95 million tons, but it is consumed as a raw material in the place where it is produced, noting that the market demand for hydrogen as an energy source will reach 150 million tons by 2030 and 650 to 700 million tons by 2050.

Hydrogen supports the energy transition process through integration with renewable energy sources to increase its share in energy production and decarbonize the main sectors causing carbon emissions. Such as: the industrial and transportation sectors, as well as enhancing energy security and diversifying the mix to secure a sustainable energy future, according to Wael Abdel Moati.

He believed that the Arab region has the potential to produce and export hydrogen, as it is characterized by natural gas as a resource that can be used in the production process, in addition to the infrastructure that can be exploited in the transportation process, in addition to its possession of renewable energy represented by strong wind speeds and a long period of sunshine, in addition to its geographical location. The one in the middle of the world.

He considered that the most prominent challenges to building a hydrogen economy are its need for a high capital cost, in addition to the difficulty of finding sources of financing, in addition to providing the appropriate infrastructure, in addition to creating the appropriate political and legislative environment that deals with the hydrogen industry.

Balanced development policies

On the closing day of the 12th Arab Energy Conference, several sessions were held that addressed the most prominent challenges and issues facing energy sources and their transformations in the Arab region and the world, including the “Energy Sources in the Arab Countries and the World” session, the “Energy Demand Management in the Arab Countries” session, and the “Technological Developments” session. And its repercussions on the energy sector.

The final statement of the conference recommended the need for all Arab countries to adopt balanced development policies, including integrating the environmental dimension into development plans, balanced use of resources, diversification of the economy, and setting appropriate environmental standards to fully achieve sustainable development. In addition to working to consolidate the basic concepts of sustainable development in the petroleum industry, through the acquisition of modern technologies, energy conservation and rationalization of consumption, production of cleaner fuels, reduction of emissions, and improvement of performance in all stages of this industry.

He believed that exploiting hydrocarbon sources while controlling their emissions through clean technologies will enhance the possibility of the world reaching the desired zero neutrality in 2050, stressing that hydrocarbon sources are part of the solution towards a balanced, gradual and responsible transformation towards more permanent energy sources, in a way that takes into account national circumstances and priorities. For every country.