A Review on the Feasibility of Using Alternative Energy in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries

The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) held its meeting in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in May 2011. The IPCC through the meeting of its 11th session of Working Group 3 concluded that almost 80% of world's energy supply could be met by Renewable Energy (RE) by mid-century if backed by the right enabling policies. This will save about 220 to 560 Gt of CO2 from 2010 to 2050 and will keep the greenhouse gases concentration level to 450 ppm. The key factor for this development is falling costs of RE technologies per kWh. This paper will give an insight of the importance of shifting into renewable energy in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. In addition, some examples of the existing initiatives and results achieved by some of the GCC countries in this issue will be presented.