As the world is progressing, we can see and feel that the weather is changing across the world and this is impacting everything around us such as people, food, cost of living, etc… In short, these changes are impacting our basis of sustainability for our future generation.

Leaving these signs of degradation of nature unattended gets us closer to more drastic impacts. The way forward is to adopt sustainable practices within our lives in every possible way. It may be more efficient to concentrate on the newer constructions which have sustainable codes imbibed into them. But retrofit may be a costly affair that may have to be evaluated more systemically. Furthermore, we need to work on the so-called low-hanging fruits as well as operational improvements including effective maintenance regimes.

It is important to understand that energy conservation measures have to be put in place pre & post-construction and regular maintenance plays a very important role. Integrating quality-driven sustainable asset selection, construction, use of best-in-class facilities management services, and data-driven operation shall lead to achieving our objectives towards sustainability.

Let us evaluate our current problem, which is the growing demand for every natural resource. Excessive use of natural resources such as fossil fuels, and other bi-products is pushing the emissions to the next level. This can be directly co-related to the increase in pollution levels which is contaminating our natural ecosystems.

As per the recent study published by the US Energy Information Administration, the World Energy Demand will increase at the rate of 50% by 2050. And the major reliance would be on petroleum and natural gas. This is mainly because the current policy and trends support more reliance on fossil fuels. So unless there are remarkable changes made to the current policies, the CO emissions are set to rise steeply.

However, renewables are on the rise and the road map accepted by various countries is paving way for more advancements. In the past decade, there have been tremendous technological advancements in various renewable energy production and also on battery modeling. Moreover, there is a strong push in certain markets to rely on the electric grid.

Policy and regulatory changes do force the markets to work in compliance, but the real result lies in the holistic change to our practices.  An Integrated Energy Approach allows one to manage the transition from traditional methods to more efficient and sustainable methods taking into account the readiness and practicality of alternatives.

There is an old saying, that “don’t put all eggs into the same basket”, this is applicable in most walks of life and investments. Studies have proven the same in the same case with fossil fuel usage as overuse now becomes a threat to the ecosystem. Hence diversification is key to a better future, and through diversification, we can reduce our risk of over-dependence on a specific product.

To put in place an integrated energy roadmap the below steps can be utilized:

1. Data Collection & Analysis – Data is key to making important decisions for today and the future. If you further break down the process for data collection, the below steps can be used.
   • Granular Data collection
   • Automation of data collection
   • Analytics & AI
2. Renewables – renewables have always been part of energy production, but efficiency and reliability have been a hurdle. Today's most advanced technological advancements are closing the gap between renewables and fossil fuel lead energy production. However, for faster adoption and improvements the below aspects are very much needed as the energy demands are on a steady rise.
   • Country Wide implementation
   • Regulatory changes & Initiatives

3. Distributed Generation – for the past decade, this has been tried and put to use in various countries, but the challenges still are being regularized. Hence, the adoption rate is still very less. The below aspects are a few common examples of distributed generation, and these aspects are key to achieving an integrated model.
   • Onsite generation / Decentralized generation
   • Waste to Energy
   • Combined Heat and Power
   • Smart Grid

4. Transportation electrification – a decade back EV vehicles were un-thinkable, today it is put to use in day-to-day tasks. Some may ask, is our infrastructure ready for a roll-out of futuristic cars or trucks as the need for electricity will rise? Yes, this is where we need to complement and diversify our energy production methods.

Currently, electric vehicles are getting cheaper, and worldwide acceptance is on the rise and also paving the way for more technological advancements. Even though there is more need for awareness, the future of transport is clear to most of us.

5. Organizational-level initiatives – Most of the points we discussed above may be common to many and may not spark curiosity. But putting together an integrated energy approach roadmap at your organization level is the new trend.

These initiatives can be linked to the below aspects of the organization:

• Fleet management
• Hybrid operation
• Net Zero Movement

Even though UAE is an oil-producing country, the vision set by the leadership to achieve sustainability goals is remarkable. Their strong determination and target-focused approach has even led to UAE being the host of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC COP 28). WETEX is another great exhibition organized by DEWA every year and this year their commitment to diversification of energy production was a highlight. This shows the commitment of the UAE towards the sustainability of its future generation and more such initiatives are to come. Let us actively participate in these initiatives and work together towards a better future.

This article is written by Eng. Fahad Mohamed, Director – Dubai & Northern Emirates, Adeeb Group. It is part of CMtoday's Knowledge-sharing series.