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G
overnance
and
P
olicy
submitted under the Kyoto mechanisms.
12
Out of the
150 billion cubic metres flared annually, about 50
billion comes from the Middle East and North Africa.
Each cubic metre of gas flared generates two kilograms
of CO
2
and Kuwait is among the top 20 major flaring
countries in the world.
12
Another source of air pollution is vehicular emissions.
This is exacerbated by Kuwait’s complete reliance on
fossil fuels and the fact that the number of vehicles per
thousand of people is nearly triple the world average.
13
Rapid economic and population growth–at 2.4 per cent,
double the world average – has put Kuwait’s environment
under severe stress, especially with respect to air quality.
11
Adaptation strategies
Adaptation strategy is a broad and multi-dimensional
endeavour. Many of the issues related to adaptation
must be taken on a global rather than national scale.
It is important that each country endeavours to reach
a set of goals, but the activities concerned will work
best if they are coordinated with social and economic
development.
It is widely accepted global warming can be beaten
if political will exists. The available technologies and
measures are able, if implemented seriously, to achieve
a broad range of atmospheric CO
2
stabilization levels
over 100 years, but implementation will require socio-
economic and institutional changes. Switching to solar
and wind power is one of the many ways to do this.
According to the IPCC’s Working Group Three, follow-
ing its conference in Accra, Ghana, the cost of reducing
greenhouse gas emissions is lower than imagined: half
of these potential emissions reductions may be achieved
by 2020 with direct benefits exceeding direct costs,
operating and maintenance costs.
14
Kuwait ratified the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto protocol
in 1994 and 2005 and activities are under way on green-
house gas inventories and climate change action plans,
including efforts to create integrated waste management
programmes and monitoring and imposing legislation
on air pollution. Below are some success stories.
Ministry of Electricity and Water
Based on the recommendations of several pieces of
research, the Ministry of Electricty and Water (MEW)
has revised power plant expansion plans.
10,15,16,17
At
Az-Zour Power Station (AZPS), MEW is introducing
a more efficient co-generation (power and water) plant
containing Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT)
power plant and Multi-Stage Firing/Reverse Osmosis
type distillation units instead of conventional thermal
plants. Also, the existing Siemens and Alstom Open
Cycle Gas Turbines at AZPS will be converted to CCGT
to increase thermal efficiency and reduce fuel consump-
tion. In general MEW has started installing low NOx
burners in all new facilities, demanding supply of
cleaner fuels (natural gas and gas oil) instead of crude
oil and heavy fuel oil for power generation and optimiz-
tures. A general reduction in the global solar radiation measured
in Kuwait for that period is attributed to the increased cloud cover
during the daytime, and this ties well with the conclusions made
based on ambient temperature.
7
Challenges and opportunities for development
The hot and humid climate of Kuwait requires extensive use of indoor
air conditioning running on cheap, subsidized power. Also, the lack of
precipitation and scarcity of water dictate high desalination capacity.
Sixty per cent of the world desalination capacity is in the Arab coun-
tries, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
8
In the GCC countries about 58 per cent of energy consumption is
attributed to air conditioning and water desalination.
9
These conditions can only lead to high rates of electricity consumption.
The energy sector, dominated by huge thermal electric power plants with
complete reliance on fossil fuels, is a primary driver of both economic
development and environmental degradation; a balance between the two
has yet to be achieved in Kuwait, and globally.
Kuwait has witnessed a sharp rise in energy consumption with
peak power demand increasing 6-8 per cent annually in the 2000s.
10
In 2006, energy consumption per capita in Kuwait was 16.311 kilo-
watts per hour compared to 2.751 kilowatts per hour worldwide.
11
CO
2
emissions are largely a by-product of energy production.
Accordingly, annual CO
2
emissions per capita in Kuwait were 36.9
tonnes in 2005, well above the world average of 4.5 tonnes.
11
Kuwait has also gone through a rapid cycle of development in
oil exploration, exploitation and refining. This encouraged the
government to embark on major programmes for industrializa-
tion, establishing plans for new construction and rapid expansion
of petrochemical complexes, fertilizer plants, refineries, chemical
plants, iron and aluminium smelters and other energy-intensive
industries. This has led to an increase in pollutants, including CO
2
.
Flaring of gases (which usually accompanies oil production and
refining) results in high CO
2
emissions. According to the World
Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction partnership, at least 150 billion
cubic metres of gas is flared or wasted every year, adding about
400 million tons of greenhouse gases. This is equivalent to almost
all the potential yearly emission reductions from projects currently
Annual average temperatures in Kuwait (1963-2005)
Source: Ashraf Ramadan