drenched Kuwait, a desert nation with no solar-power plants and electricity demand that's growing about 8 percent a year, has set the most ambitious target for using renewable energy in the Gulf region, Bloomberg online news said on Thursday. OPEC's fifth-biggest oil producer, whose air conditioners run cheaply off state-subsidized oil-fired power plants, aims to generate 10 percent of its electricity from sustainable sources by 2020, Eyad Ali Al-Falah, assistant undersecretary for technical services at the Ministry of Electricity and Water, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. Kuwait is trying to free up oil for export and expand its generation capacity to support increased tourism , manufacturing and home building in a $112-billion development program, Bloomberg said. To meet its clean energy target, which exceeds the 7 percent goal set by Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait must gather data on sunshine and wind speeds, Al-Falah said. “Renewable energy is a new subject for Kuwait,” said Al-Falah , who coordinates alternative energy for the ministry. “That's why there's a lack of information regarding the suitability of renewables for our weather .” Bloomberg said Kuwait consumed 413,000 barrels a day of oil in 2010. — SGl gathering.
