Oil-producing Gulf nations are pursuing greener energy. What does this mean for Asia?

Companies in Saudi Arabia and the UAE are positioning themselves as leaders in the development of renewable energy such as ‘green’ hydrogen

Ukraine war shifted goals of Gulf nations, the US, Europe and the Asia-Pacific to find both short-term and long-term substitutes for Russian gas and oil imports

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Gulf nations are pursuing greener energy sources. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:00pm, 18 Jun 2022Updated: 5:41pm, 21 Jun 2022

When people in Asia flip a switch, odds are their electricity is being generated by burning carbon-intensive oil and gas products imported from the Gulf.

For decades, the region’s monarchies have been the continent’s top provider of crude oil and its first supplier of liquefied natural gas.

And the desert kingdoms’ leading role in powering Asia will probably continue into the future, even as economies transition to renewables in pursuit of carbon neutrality.

Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and Masdar of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are among the notable Gulf companies that have positioned themselves as leaders in the development of renewable energy worldwide said Michaël Tanchum, a non-resident fellow in the economics and energy programme at the Middle East Institute, a Washington-based think tank.

As soon as “green” hydrogen was declared as the clean heir apparent to dirty petroleum products and natural gas by the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Saudi Arabia and the UAE announced their competing ambitions to become the world’s leading producer.

Green hydrogen is produced by splitting water molecules with electrolysers – which is a system that uses electricity to convert water into its component parts of hydrogen and oxygen.

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