Adwea lends weight to new energy saving drive

Abu Dhabi has launched an initiative aimed at reducing the wastage of energy in the emirate, which currently stands at 20 per cent of the total energy production.

The campaign has been initiated by the Emirates Wildlife Society (EWS), in association with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Environment Abu Dhabi (EAD).

The Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea) has joined the campaign for the first time, in the wake of a growing population that leads to greater water and power consumption. The other key partners in the campaign include the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Environment and Water and Masdar.

The campaign called "The Heroes of the UAE" aims at a saving of Dh2,200 to Dh4,000 per family per year on water and electricity bills, targeting 40,000 families in the first phase. This also translates to an average annual saving of Dh132 million.

The campaign is also aimed at helping a family in a two-bedroom apartment save Dh2,200 amounting to 9,167KW per household per year.

Talking to Emirates Business at the launch of the campaign, EWS Managing Director Razan Al Mubarak said 20 per cent of the emirate's total energy is being wasted on a daily basis and the campaign aims at reducing this number to zero.

"This campaign begins with the free distribution of 40,000 energy-saving light-bulbs with the collection of pledges from the recipients. We started distributing these bulbs yesterday and gave away more than 8,000," she said.

She said if all 40,000 energy-saving light bulbs were to be put into use, replacing existing traditional light bulbs, the potential carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions savings would be equivalent to taking 2,000 cars off the road.

"Households alone are responsible for over 50 per cent of the UAE's carbon footprint, consuming huge amounts of energy on a daily basis, with lighting an important contributor."

According to her, lighting accounts for almost 10 per cent of household energy consumption and by switching to energy–saving light bulbs the average two-bedroom apartment could save up to Dh800 per year on their electricity bill.

Referring to a study, Razan also said the UAE's demand for energy may rise to 40,000MW by 2020, with an accumulated annual growth rate of nine per cent from 2007.

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