Eng. Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, expressed pride for being awarded an honorary PhD by the University of Garniczo-Hutnicza for Sciences and Technology of Poland. Addressing the gathering, he highlighted the partnership between the Polish university and Thol-based King Abdullah University for Science and Technology. He quoted the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the founder of the university, as saying that the mission of the university is to take the Kingdom to the world and to bring the world to the Kingdom. He expected a prosperous cooperation between the two research centers in the near future. He said the two universities will play a pivotal role in the field of sustainability of basic energy. In view of the current changes in the medium emerging classes in Asia, the great population increasing rates in developing countries and the efforts exerted by less developed countries to get out of poverty levels, the provision of enough energy supplies and the sustainability of those supplies remain to be two important matters, he said. He confirmed that fossil fuel, led by petroleum and gas, will remain meeting most of the world's needs of energy over at least the few coming decades. However, the contribution of all energy sources to maintain the strength of world economy will be needed at the end of the line, he added. This future depends on two vastly-associated requirements: First the provision of petroleum as a source of most of the world's needs of energy, necessitating being transferred to a more neat and friend-of-environment source. The Second is to allow equal chances for all energy sources to come into being. He disclosed that Saudi Arabia and Poland are working independently to this end. In this regard, he highlighted the role the university of Garniczo-Hutnicza was playing in the field of research for making oil a more secure source of energy. He gave an account on the non-traditional breakthroughs achieved by Poland in the oil-related research, forecasting that he would see more discoveries by Poland the field of conversion technologies and non-classical gas reserves lying in the rocks of Poland. He said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's proven reserves of 264 billion barrels of petroleum is just a part of the equation. The other part is the commitment of Saudi Arabia, in its capacity as the largest energy supplier, to provide the world with reliable energy flows. He noted that this commitment is reflected in the Kingdom's investment of 125 billion U.S. dollars over five years in different phases of the oil industry. Giving another evidence for this commitment, he cited the Kingdom's focus on research aiming at achieving the sustainability of supply. In this regard, he pointed out to the usage of a technology of tiny-bodies to draw and describe maps of petroleum and gas lurking places. He explained that Saudi Arabia has expanded its work to include other sources of energy, including solar. In this regard, the universities, particularly King Abdullah University for Science and Technology, will play a pioneering role, he noted. Al-Naimi considered renewable energy as an integral part of the universityâ€TMs actual building, citing the conversion of its non-emission electricity production to nearly 1700 tons of carbon annually. He expected the partnership between King Abdullah University for Science and Technology and Saudi Aramco would cover cooperation in the field of low-cost solar energy solutions for industrial activities including cooling, water desalination, pumping etc. He disclosed that Saudi Aramco is planning to build the Kingdom's biggest solar energy plant that would produce 10 megawatt of light electro energy at a car parking lot in Dhahran. He said such examples on cooperation between academic, government bodies, corporates and industry prove that there are huge capabilities that could be achieved in the energy and environment domains, hoping to see the Kingdom producing solar energy for the usage of power generation soon. He added that the Kingdom plans to produce solar-produced electricity tantamount its oil production, noting that its solar capabilities are estimated at 4.5 folds of the world gross demand of electricity in 2020. Concluding his speech, Al-Naimi paid tribute to the Saudi Polish shared goals and aspirations to put technology and science at the disposal of human prosperity and welfare.
