Oman praised for having potential to be leading exporter of renewable energy

Oman has tremendous potential to be a leading exporter of energy based on renewable sources, an industry expert has said.

David Rooney, director of sustainable energy research at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast spoke at an event on renewable energy and biofuels organised by the Independent Learning Centre at SQU, according to Muscatdaily.com.

“The development of a robust sustainable energy infrastructure is important to all people. Together with food and water it forms the nexus for growth and prosperity. Of the three, energy is arguably the most important. With it one can turn the sea into clean drinking water, and combine that water with air and land into the materials needed to support our daily life,” Rooney said.

He added: “Simple calculations show that Oman would have sufficient solar energy to not only power its own needs but all of the UK as well. While solar would be the most obvious target for a national renewable energy solution, research carried out within Sultan Qaboos University has shown that there is a role for all other forms of renewable energies in Oman including wind, marine and biomass.”

Biofuels

According to Rooney, there will always remain a need for biofuels, be they from marine of land sources. “Biofuels are nature’s way of storing energy and are highly effective. The energy density of a biofuel is easily more than 50 times that of a lithium-ion battery and every time you fill your car you are adding power at the equivalent of over 30MW.”