Wind Energy in the United Arab Emirates - Essay Example

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is made up of seven distinct emirates, among them Abu Dhabi, which is the largest of and the capital of the EAU. Although the UAE has been named among the world’s carbon emission contributors along with the highly industrialized and oil-producing countries in the world, EAU has initiated projects for the development and utilization of renewable and almost carbon-free energy sources in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) (Pierce, 2012). Such states as Tunisia and Egypt that have taken up the UAE wave of using wind energy and wind farms are under development in these states.

According to Poullikkas, (2013), among the major positive impacts of wind energy to the UAE is the reduced exposure of UEA fuel expenses. The costs of fuel are characteristic of volatility. This is a positive impact of wind energy which has prompted the UAE and other Arab countries to adopt this energy system. Whereas the other energy forms have received a lot of attention as far as their costs are concerned as a result of most industrialized nations seeking to obtain fuel in some politically unstable nations, wind energy rarely gets accounted for in terms of setting standard prices.

 Wind in itself is a free resource, thus the production of electricity using wind is spared of the tedious price fluctuations of other energy sources like oil. Rohani & Nour (2014) argue that the UAE is saved the cost of spending its economic resources in a bid to control pollution. The use of wind energy contributes less significantly to the pollution of the environment, thus named as a clean source of energy. It contributes close to zero percent of the greenhouse effect. As much as little carbon is released into the atmosphere when the turbines are being constructed and maintained, there is completely no greenhouse gas that is emitted in the process of production of electricity.

Lack of release of carbon during wind energy production is the basis for the claim that wind energy has little carbon footprints. The economy of the UAE enjoys the flexibility that comes with the adoption of wind energy (Poullikkas, 2013). The purchase and maintenance of the machinery needed in wind farms for electricity production are designed in various sizes. The flexibility allows the UAE wind farms to acquire the machinery according to the resources available without much strain. For instance, a turbine that can produce electricity that is sufficient for use in a single home has blades whose radius can measure up to 4 feet mounted on a height of close to 30 feet, while those serving many homes require mounting on story buildings with close to 20 floors on a spread of 100 yards.

Wind energy has led to the creation of job opportunities in the economy of the UAE. The wind farms have to be run by human beings. The need for turbines necessitates the production sector of the UAE to produce more of the turbines. The production of turbines still calls for an extra workforce, thereby creating jobs for the people. The owners of lands who give accent for mounting of turbines on their land also get regular payments, boosting their source of income. The government as well as benefits through taxation of the wind farms and reduced efforts of development of the rural areas as the wind farms enhance the development of these areas.

The economy of the UAE also faces negative impacts as a result of the adoption of wind energy. The economy of the UAE has suffered a loss of highly skilled manpower through death. Technical errors while mounting the turbines have led to deaths and fatal accidents to technicians (Markaz al-Imārāt Lil-Dirāsāt wa-al-Buḥūth al-Istirātījīyah., & Energy Conference, 2008). The turbines have also been rated as top killers of birds though battering them. This fact puts the environmentalists at loggerheads with the economy over the adoption of wind energy farms.

The economy risks losing a source of income and development as the adoption of wind energy in the UAE faces opposition from society. A number of people are opposed to wind energy as it is considered a disruption to the surrounding through noise pollution as the turbines produce irritating noise in the process of energy production (Rohani & Nour, 2014). Other individuals have opposed wind turbines claiming that the turbines interfere with the beauty and serenity of the skyline. Therefore the economy of UAE has to use extra resources in order to ensure the turbines are located in the most strategic positions where the air currents move without any obstruction and far from homes to reduce the effect of noise pollution.