ABU DHABI // In addition to all that is involved in launching the world's first green-energy body, the organisation's new head has placed a priority on producing a map of the world's solar and wind resources.
Adnan Amin, the Kenyan economist who stepped in last month to take over as interim director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), for the first time yesterday outlined some of his plans for the position. Mr Amin spoke at a meeting of journalists organised by the German Federal Foreign Office in cooperation with the Ecologic Institute, a non-profit research institute with offices in Germany, Austria, Belgium and the US.
Mr Amin took over from Helene Pelose, who had been heading the Abu Dhabi-based organisation for about a year when she stepped down in late October.
Since then he has met with a high-ranking official at the World Meteorological Organisation, which owns records with a century's worth of data on wind velocity and solar radiation levels around the world.
Summarising this information in a map that could be disseminated to countries would clarify their renewable energy potential and hopefully help them develop green ideas in a more efficient and rapid manner, Mr Amin said.
He said Irena would not implement renewable energy projects, but rather "provide the space for all the stakeholders to come to the table" to discuss energy transformation. About 60 per cent of greenhouse emissions came from the energy sector.
Continuing to rely on fossil fuels only in the face of an ever-increasing demand for energy would have serious repercussions for the environment and public health, he warned. "The international community must come together in a common effort to transform the energy system in the coming decades," he said.
While the immediate challenge for the Irena boss is to establish the fledgling organisation as a functioning international institution, the next step would be to develop a mid-term strategy that takes into account the various factors limiting countries from adopting renewable options.
Mr Amin said Irena would work to improve awareness about renewable energy technologies and policies that encourage fast adoption, as well as help those governments interested in clean energy develop local expertise toward their goals.
Another priority was to raise awareness about subsidies received by the fossil fuel sector, he said. Globally these "massive" subsidies amounted to an estimated US$500 billion (Dh1.8 trillion) annually, he said, and remained one of the main factors blocking countries from adopting renewable energy options. When governments help oil companies defray the cost of exploration and production, prices of their end product are kept so artificially low that renewable forms of energy cannot compete.
"It is a responsibility of governments to design new systems of regulations and incentives that can create a level playing field," he said.
While environmentalists have been pointing to solar, wind and geothermal energy as the way to combat climate change, some countries, including the UAE, have been turning to nuclear power, which does not result in direct carbon emissions. Mr Amin was careful not to take sides in the debate between the two camps, which has often been heated.
"There is an international agency that deals with the issue of nuclear power," he said. "A lot of the safety issues have been resolved. Nuclear energy is becoming safer. The other side of the coin is that there are still risks."
Mr Amin outlined some steps that Middle East and African countries have been taking in the clean-energy field. Morocco had a renewables target of eight per cent of primary energy by 2012, he said. Algeria achieved a 10 per cent share in 2008, while Jordan had set a target of seven per cent by 2015 and 10 per cent by 2020.
Abu Dhabi has a renewables goal of seven per cent by 2020, which could be considered small compared to the country's neighbours.
"The significance of what Abu Dhabi is doing is not in the percentage we are currently seeing, it is in the nature of their investment," Mr Amin said. "They are really looking at future transformation and change."
vtodorova@thenational.ae
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
'Falling%20for%20Christmas'
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8
Power: 503hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 685Nm at 2,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Price: from Dh850,000
On sale: now
How they line up for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix
1 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
3 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
4 Max Verstappen, Red Bull
5 Kevin Magnussen, Haas
6 Romain Grosjean, Haas
7 Nico Hulkenberg, Renault
*8 Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull
9 Carlos Sainz, Renault
10 Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
11 Fernando Alonso, McLaren
12 Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren
13 Sergio Perez, Force India
14 Lance Stroll, Williams
15 Esteban Ocon, Force India
16 Brendon Hartley, Toro Rosso
17 Marcus Ericsson, Sauber
18 Charles Leclerc, Sauber
19 Sergey Sirotkin, Williams
20 Pierre Gasly, Toro Rosso
* Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth but had a three-place grid penalty for speeding in red flag conditions during practice
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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HEADLINE HERE
- I would recommend writing out the text in the body
- And then copy into this box
- It can be as long as you link
- But I recommend you use the bullet point function (see red square)
- Or try to keep the word count down
- Be wary of other embeds lengthy fact boxes could crash into
- That's about it
Abramovich London
A Kensington Palace Gardens house with 15 bedrooms is valued at more than £150 million.
A three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront bought for £22 million.
Steel company Evraz drops more than 10 per cent in trading after UK officials said it was potentially supplying the Russian military.
Sale of Chelsea Football Club is now impossible.
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
INDIA'S%20TOP%20INFLUENCERS
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UAE%20SQUAD
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Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
The specs: 2018 Maxus T60
Price, base / as tested: Dh48,000
Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder
Power: 136hp @ 1,600rpm
Torque: 360Nm @ 1,600 rpm
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Fuel consumption, combined: 9.1L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Recipe: Spirulina Coconut Brothie
Ingredients
1 tbsp Spirulina powder
1 banana
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (full fat preferable)
1 tbsp fresh turmeric or turmeric powder
½ cup fresh spinach leaves
½ cup vegan broth
2 crushed ice cubes (optional)
Method
Blend all the ingredients together on high in a high-speed blender until smooth and creamy.
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Company%C2%A0profile
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Stats at a glance:
Cost: 1.05 billion pounds (Dh 4.8 billion)
Number in service: 6
Complement 191 (space for up to 285)
Top speed: over 32 knots
Range: Over 7,000 nautical miles
Length 152.4 m
Displacement: 8,700 tonnes
Beam: 21.2 m
Draught: 7.4 m
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hoopla%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jacqueline%20Perrottet%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2010%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20required%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
