A while ago I mentioned that oil producing countries are starting to go renewable. In that post I mentioned how they are just getting their toes wet, well not the UAE, they are diving in. Abu Dhabi which holds more than 90% of the oil reserves of the United Arab Emirates announced they are going to be spending 350 million dollars on a 500 MW solar plant. Which to me seems like a typo, as that seems like A LOT of solar for only 350 million. But if they even produce 1/5th that much it will be one of the largest solar power plants in the world. If it’s not a typo, well that is going to be one hell of a big solar plant.

The 500 megawatt plant, expected to begin operations in 2009, is part of Abu Dhabi’s drive to cut dependence on hydrocarbon power generation, said Sultan al-Jaber, chief executive of state-owned Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co. … The emirate eventually hopes to provide solar power to 10,000 homes and is setting up a special economic zone for the alternative energy industry, Jaber said. “We … do not want to be 100 per cent dependent on (hydrocarbon power), Jaber said. “We have an economic development programme dedicated to establishing an entirely new economic sector focused on alternative energy and sustainable technologies,” he said. The plant will be the first of its kind in the Gulf, home to oil and gas producers who supply a fifth of the world’s energy needs, he said.(via)

What this tells me is that oil producing nations realize that they will soon run out of cheap oil. Look for them to introduce renewable energy sources in reverse proportion to the amount of cheap oil they think they have left. They want to be able to sell oil to foolish countries (*cough* us *cough*) at super high prices and still have plenty of energy left over. We could just cut out the middle man and build our own solar plants, show em that “these colors don’t run!” I kid about the hyper-nationalism but am serious about positioning America as a world leader in renewable energy. I feel it would benefit the citizens of this nation, and help the rest of the world as well.