‘The Energy Security Symposium’ is organized by the British Council in collaboration with the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) aims to review recent advances, challenges and issues in the field of renewable energy in Gulf.

This symposium also enables the formation of Gulf-UK research networks with a view to collaborating universities applying for British Council support to develop multi-lateral partnerships.

“Energy security cuts across a range of global issues from the environment, development, economics and geopolitics,” said Christopher Palmer, British Council Saudi Arabia — formerly leading on the British Council Climate Projects.

“As countries try to curb their emissions, reduce their dependency on fossil fuels yet increase their prosperity, energy research has become essential,” he said.

“Whether it be research into reducing energy costs of buildings through use of traditional wind tower technology, running engines on bio-fuels and water or exploiting the power of thermal, wave and solar energy to reduce the dependency on coal fired power stations, the race is on to find more sustainable ways of meeting the growing energy needs of the planet,” he added.

He said the event provides an opportunity for researchers from the Middle East region and the UK to share their research and build understanding of this vitally important shared agenda

The symposium will be directed by Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith, director of energy research, Oxford University.

He says that the Gulf region plays a key role in the discussion of energy, both as a major producer of oil and gas, and as a profligate consumer of energy.

“Directing the symposium will allow me to understand better the efforts that are being made to reduce energy use and expand the use of renewable in the region,” he added.

“It will also provide an opportunity to look for collaborators wishing to work with us in Oxford on solar, marine and nuclear energy technologies, future modes of transport, demand reduction and management, energy efficiency and storage, future oil and gas markets, and a range of policy issues,” he said.

The British Council Global partnerships for the Knowledge Economy program provides an opportunity for researchers, review recent advances, challenges and issues in the field of energy as the basis for agreeing a research agenda to which universities in the UK and Gulf countries would add value by collaborating; and to enable the formation of (Gulf-UK) research networks.

So far this year, researchers from the fields of Water Security and Diabetes have already met to develop similar research collaborations, with enormous success and the potential to win further research-grant funding.

Since the 1930s, the Middle East has emerged as the world’s most important source of energy and the key to the stability of the global economy.

Today, this region produces 37 percent of the world’s oil and 18 percent of its gas.

While the Middle East region has a reserve of 56 percent of world oil (including crude oil and condensate); alternative and renewable energy are still the focal point of environmental discussions and in the Gulf states.

The reason is not only the extension of future access to resources but also is the devastating state of our environment.

The use of nuclear power, oil, gas and coal all produce a great deal of waste product which pollutes the environment and increases the affects of global warming. It is also clear that the environmental movement will play an increasingly important role in protecting the future of our planet.

While global warning is not only an issue in the Middle East, but is very much a global issue, there is no single solution to today’s energy crisis.

However, the combination of all viable renewable energy resources coupled with energy efficiency, and smart grid development will not only lead the Middle East toward energy independence and a cleaner, more sustainable energy infrastructure, but also to what will soon prove to be the greatest business and investment opportunity of the 21st century.