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Review

Impacts of Renewable Energy Generation on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Saudi Arabia: A Comprehensive Review

by
Fahad Saleh Al-Ismail
1,2,3,
Md Shafiul Alam
1,*,
Md Shafiullah
3,
Md Ismail Hossain
3 and
Syed Masiur Rahman
1
1
Applied Research Center for Environment & Marine Studies, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
2
Department of Electrical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
3
Interdisciplinary Research Center for Renewable Energy & Power Systems (IRC-REPS), King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 5069; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065069
Submission received: 20 December 2022 / Revised: 14 January 2023 / Accepted: 6 March 2023 / Published: 13 March 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction)
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Abstract

:
Over the last few years, the electric energy demand in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has increased many folds due to several factors including increased population, industrialization, economic activities, and urbanization. The main source of electric power generation in KSA is the burning of petroleum products. Almost one third of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are contributed from the electric power generation sector, mainly, by burning diesel and natural gas. As a result, it makes it necessary to consider alternate forms of electricity generation in order to cut down emissions and to keep sustainable growth alive. The government has planned to diversify energy sources and suppliers. In recent years, energy generation from renewable sources including solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, concentrated solar power (CSP), biomass, geothermal, and tidal, has been given more importance. The ambitious Saudi Vision 2030 targets of 58.7 GW of power generation from renewable energy sources will cause a significant reduction in GHG emissions from the energy sector. This article systematically reviews the impact of renewable energy generation on GHG emissions. The detailed breakdown of GHG emission is discussed. Then, the status of renewable energy generation is investigated, focusing on the technical and economic potentials. The correlation of renewable energy generation and GHG emissions is then explained. The most distinguishing feature of this review is that it provides a comprehensive list of recommendations to reduce GHG emissions. The discussions and recommendations of this article will support decision makers, system planners, industry personnel, researchers, and academics to develop sustainable energy pathways for the Kingdom.

1. Introduction

Over the last decade, a multitude of environmental concerns have increased due to the emission of carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, such as petroleum-, natural gas-, and coal-based power-generating units. Because of environmental pollution, the globe has observed acid rain and warming [1]. Nevertheless, power generation from renewable energy sources (RESs), such as solar, wind, thermal, and tidal, is considered clean and environmentally friendly at low costs. Therefore, most global countries focus on increasing power generation from RES, especially the European Union (EU) and developed countries. Although many sources have prevailed in the globe as renewable ones, wind and solar are considered most promising due to their maximum power point tracking capabilities for wide variations of sunlight irradiation and wind speed [2,3,4,5].
The investment for power generation from two major RESs, solar and wind, is depicted in Figure 1. It is observed that more money was invested in wind power generation in 2008 and 2009. The highest investments in wind generation were observed in the 2015 and 2017 with 160 billion USD. However, this scenario was reversed afterwards as solar power generation observed more investments [6,7,8]. However, clean energy generation is still very much low compared to the total energy demand. Over the last three decades, the global overall growth rate was around 126.5%, while electricity generation increased from 11.88 trillion to 26.91 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) [9]. This huge demand was mostly (two-thirds) met by fossil fuel-based generation, emitting huge amounts of GHGs, whereas less than one-third of energy generation was from RESs [10,11]. Thus, focusing on strategies for more RES electricity generation instead of fossil fuels is an important GHG emissions mitigation approach. However, the massive integration of RESs with the utility grids is challenging and needs comprehensive technical and feasibility studies [12,13,14].
Electricity generation in Saudi Arabia is considered one of the major sectors for carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions [15]. Over the last thirty years, due to population growth, high living standards, massive industrialization, and improved transportation facilities, the overall energy demand in Saudi Arabia has increased manifold [16,17,18]. The electricity generation of many countries, including gulf cooperation council (GCC) countries, such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman, are shown in Figure 2. It is observed from the plot that the electricity consumption is higher for Saudi Arabia than in some of the other countries [19]. The country’s total population was 25.18 million in 2007; since then, high-rising trends have been observed, and in 2021, the total population was 35.45 million [20]. The gross domestic product has increased by 45.637% and electricity consumption per capita electrical energy has increased by 1.378 MWh up to now. Moreover, the gross domestic product (GDP) has increased by approximately 45.529% [21]. All these factors have led to more CO 2 emissions, which were around 559.6 million tons in 2019. The per capita CO 2 emissions of GCC countries are visualized in Figure 3 [22]. The per capita CO 2 emissions for the KSA for most of the years were around 20 tons. It is worth mentioning that Kuwait observed peak per capita emissions between 1990 and 1991 due to war with Iraq.
In [23,24,25,26,27], the impacts of electricity generation on GHG emissions for various countries are discussed broadly. However, few technical or review articles were found focusing on the impact of electricity generation on GHG emissions [28,29,30]. The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis was proposed to assess the dynamic impact of CO 2 emissions due to sector value addition and economic growth considering energy efficiency measures [28]. The short and long-term CO 2 emissions reduction strategies were also suggested by providing an industrialization planning policy.
With respect to Saudi Arabia, there is some research on the mitigation approach of GHG emissions from transportation, carbon capture, and energy storage [29,30]. Very few studies on emission reduction approaches from the electrical power sector [31] are available. In [30], the authors discussed energy consumption trends, forecasting energy consumption, factors related to GHG emissions, GHG emissions from the transportation sector, and GHG emission mitigation approaches for Saudi Arabia. In order to reduce GHG emissions, the country has taken several measures, including the utilization of combined cycle power plants and co-generation [32,33]. Moreover, the country has fixed a target to produce around 58.7 gigawatts of electrical power from all possible RESs, such as solar PV, wind, concentrated solar power, and so on by 2030 [34]. This considerable power generation from RESs could help the country to achieve sustainable development. The country and its people have considered climate change issue as a priority. Therefore, it is important to discuss the past, present, and future trends of renewable energy generation in Saudi Arabia to reduce GHG emissions. The contributions and the gaps in the existing literature are presented in Table 1.
The above-mentioned discussions encouraged the author to conduct a critical review of the past, present, and future trends of renewable energy generation in Saudi Arabia. A systematic review is introduced to discuss the impacts of renewable energy generation on GHG emissions in Saudi Arabia. Several sources, those responsible for GHG emissions, are broadly discussed to give a detailed view of the issue. How renewable energy generation can contribute to the reduction in GHG emissions is discussed amongst the up-to-date literature. Technical and economic potentials of renewable energy generation and the correlation of this energy generation and GHG emissions are used to provide a comprehensive list of challenges and recommendations which could be a guideline by the wider readership, including the system planners, researchers, decision makers, and industrial personnel.
This article is organized as follows: In Section 2, a breakdown of GHG emissions is provided with necessary graphical representations; Section 3 discusses the current status and future trends of renewable energy generation; economic and technical issues of renewable generation are discussed in Section 4; correlation of GHG emissions and energy generation is presented in Section 5; challenges and recommendations in reducing GHG emission are listed in Section 6; finally, the conclusion of this manuscript is provided in Section 7.

2. Breakdown of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The GHG emissions of the KSA have been discussed in the national communication reports submitted by the presidency of the meteorology and environment (PME) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for 1990 [40], and 2000 [41]. The level of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions in 2000 was estimated at 284.36 Mega tons, with the industrial sector contributing 7.4%, and the energy sector contributing 92.1%. The dominant CO 2 -emitting energy sectors were electrical power generation, transportation, desalination projects, and the petroleum-refining sector with the emission leveld of 33%, 21%, 11%, and 8%, respectively. Out of the total 1.449 Mega tons of methane (CH 4 ) emissions, the waste sector contributed 66%, the energy sector contributed 26.3%, and the agriculture sector contributed 6.8%. The total nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emission by the KSA was recorded at 0.03802 Mega tons. The two dominating N 2 O-emitting sectors were agriculture and waste, which contributed 88.6% and 7.6% emissions, respectively. Several studies have shown that the most contributing sector in GHG emissions is the energy sector with almost 89% of the total emissions [42], as shown in Figure 4a. The emissions from the energy sector is further sub-categorized into different categories, such as electrical power generation, transportation, and construction and manufacturing, contributing around 47, 26, and 24, respectively, as shown in Figure 4b.
For the KSA, GHG emissions are mainly dependent on total petroleum consumption. The development plan can be considered a key document to determine the rate of change in domestic petroleum consumption. As per the report [43], total fossil fuel consumption in 1970 was 1.11 million barrels, while it increased to a total of 1.02 billion barrels in 2008. The increasing demand for fuel in road transportation systems also indicates increasing GHG emissions. The KSA observed increased fuel, for example, gasoline and diesel, demand between 2000 and 2013 with an increased rate of 6.11% and 5.9%, respectively. The total gasoline consumption increased between 2000 and 2013 to 12426 thousand tons (oil equivalent). Likewise, diesel consumption between these two years increased from 8527 thousand tons to 17,504 thousand tons of oil equivalent. Some studies [30,44] have shown that the energy consumption and CO 2 emissions have changed recently, as shown in Figure 5. The highest CO 2 emissions were recorded in 2015. However, the CO 2 emissions in 2021 was lower due to COVID-19 restrictions. It is also worth mentioning that in 2017, the KSA was one of the leading CO 2 emitters, emitting around 1.8% of global emissions [31]. The per capita CO 2 emissions of the KSA was recorded as 18.37 ton and 18.70 ton for 2020 and 2021, respectively [45]. The total 661.19 and 672.38 million ton of CO 2 emissions for 2020 and 2021, respectively, was observed in the KSA.

3. Renewable Energy Generation in Saudi Arabia

It is expected that future electrical energy generation will be dominated by low-cost, low-carbon, sustainable, and renewable energy sources. As per the energy generation prediction by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), fifty percent of the world’s energy demand will be met by renewable energy sources by 2050 [46]. Many cities, for example, more than 80 cities in Europe and more than 170 localities in the United States of America (USA) have pledged to power their communities exclusively with renewable energy [47,48]. In comparison to conventional vehicles, all-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) emit less GHGs, and have zero emissions when powered only by RESs [49,50,51,52]. To implement the low-emission development strategies in line with international trends, Vision 2030 of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has an ambitious goal of generating 57.8 Gigawatts of power from renewable energy sources [53]. With the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP), Saudi Arabia has taken a significant step towards localizing the renewable energy market in the country and bringing it up to the highest international standards possible. The program aims to activate local sources of renewable energy production, with the goal of producing 9.5 GW of renewable energy by 2023 and an interim target of producing 3.45 GW by 2020 [54]. The NEOM and Red Sea projects in the KSA are under construction with a plan of powering them with 100% renewable energy [55]. The main source of renewable energy generation in the KSA is solar PV due to the high intensity of solar irradiation. The nation also has the potential to generate renewable energy from other sources such as concentrated solar power (CSP), wind, waste-to-energy, and geothermal. The total renewable energy installed capacity of the KSA [56], including the capacity of solar PV, wind, and CSP is plotted in Figure 6. The total installed capacity of the country in 2011 was 14 MW, whereas the capacity increased to 413 MW in 2020. The first CSP and wind plants were built in 2018 and 2019, respectively. It was observed that the installed capacity of the country increased drastically in 2020 to support its vision for 2030. As per Vision 2030, the country is planning to build more CSP, wind, and solar PV projects in different locations. The total renewable energy installed capacity of the KSA increased to 541 MW in 2021 [57,58].
The weather and geographical conditions derive the planned locations of several renewable energy sources as shown in Table 2. Due to the large direct normal irradiation (DNI) resource of an average 2200 kwh/m 2 /y, solar energy will be the main source of renewable energy [59]. Although the environment of the country will present both possibilities and problems, one of the challenges will be the impact of temperature and dust on photovoltaic and concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. The protective transparent covers for solar PV are severely affected and efficiency is reduced due to dust accumulation on PV modules [60]. Both CSP and solar PV are impacted by dust, but CSP experiences more losses. Since dust can significantly reduce energy output, it is important to take this into account when designing CSP plants [61]. Both the ambient temperature and sandstorms affect the variability and uncertainty of solar PV, which is important to know during the planning phase of the solar PV project [62,63]. The country is working towards potential solutions to the problems for the large-scale integration of solar PV and CSP. The largest Sakaka solar PV project of 300 MW is located in Al Jawf and consists of 1.2 million solar PV panels arranged over 6 km 2 of land [64]. With expenses of SAR 0.08775 per kWh, the project broke the previous record for the lowest costs in the solar photovoltaic industry. The project also helped to reduce 606 kilo ton of carbon emissions per year.
The hybrid solar PV and CSP of 350 MW capacity will be the country’s first project located in Hinakiyah, which will be constructed as an independent power producer (IPP) project [65]. This will be the first hybrid CSP/PV facility in the Kingdom. Acwa Power was reportedly in talks with the PIF for two PV solar projects with a total capacity of 2.3 GW, according to a recent energy and utilities report. The projects, a 2 GW PV independent power producer (IPP) in Shuaiba and a 300 MW PV IPP in the Rabigh region, are two of the 40 GW of clean energy projects Acwa Power plans to build as part of the ambitious goal set by the Kingdom to have 58.7 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030. The country’s renewable energy target for 2023 has been increased from 9.5 GW to 27.3 GW, while that for 2030 has been set at 58.7 GW, of which 40 GW will be PV, 16 GW wind, and 2.7 GW CSP. This information was released on 9 January by the Saudi Arabian Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) [66]. In addition to solar PV and CSP, the country has great potential to generate substantial renewable energy from wind sources. At the Dumat Al-Jandal wind farm, Saudi Arabia has begun the first wind turbine operational trial [67]. When fully operational, this wind farm will reduce CO 2 emissions by roughly 1 million tons per year and provide renewable electricity to 72,000 houses. A total of 99 wind turbines with a capacity of 4.2 MW each are included in the project. The phase of wind turbine installation activity is nearing its final stage. To date, around a 400 MW generation from this project has been integrated into the utility grid.

4. Technical and Economic Potentials of Renewable Energy Generation in Saudi Arabia

4.1. Technical Potential

Solar and wind energy facility development depends on the analysis of solar irradiance and wind speed data. The RESs are generally distributed in nature. Thus, the development of a micro-grid powered by RESs will have significant impact on GHG emissions in Saudi Arabia [68,69,70]. The first and biggest obstacle to installing commercial wind turbines is finding the ideal location for wind farms, dependant on wind speeds. In addition to having access to wind energy, the site location must also meet all ecological, environmental, and socioeconomic restrictions and regulations. Wind speeds in some regions show the country has great prospects of wind energy generation [71]. Most of the regions have an average wind speed of 7 m/s throughout the year. This indicates that a huge amount of wind energy can be generated by installing wind turbines and generators in these regions.
According to field research, Saudi Arabia hopes to rank among the world’s top five wind energy markets during the next fifty years [72]. The Saudi Vision 2030 targets 16 GW from wind-generated electricity [53]. In order to produce power, the Dumat Al Jandal 400 MW project was sponsored in 2017 by the REPDO, which is part of the Ministry of Energy [67]. The organization also started a few further wind energy projects, including Yanbu Wind, an 850 MW plant in 2019, and Midyan Wind, a 400 MW onshore power plant in 2017 [73]. Additionally, in 2017, Saudi Aramco erected a 2.75 MW wind power plant at Turaif with the assistance of General Electric (GE) [74]. In partnership with KACTS and TAQNIA, the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) inaugurated a 2.75 MW wind turbine in Huraymila in 2019 [75]. Additionally, 400 MW of electricity will be supplied by wind technologies installed by the Vantha Group Company and CG Holdings Belgium NV Systems in Saudi Arabia [76,77]. With an average capacity factor of 35.2%, Saudi Arabia is able to produce more onshore wind energy than other emerging countries, such as the US (33.9%), UK (27.8%), Denmark (28.4%), and Germany (19%). King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE) was founded in 2010 to help Saudi Arabia create a sustainable future by creating the potential to provide significant alternative energy.
Knowing the spatial distribution of sun irradiation is the most important need for solar PV. In order to monitor and map Saudi Arabia’s wind, solar, waste-to-energy, and geothermal resources, initiatives were taken in 2013 to establish the Renewable Resource Monitoring and Mapping Program (RRMM) [78] in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Based on recordings from roughly 70 stations that have been set up across the nation, the initiative makes data available. An examination of the RRMM data was conducted by Alyahya and Irfan [79]. The direct normal irradiance (DNI) in January and July 2013 is visualized in Figure 7. It was observed that the DNI varies from 3.5 to 4.0 kWh/m 2 /day in Dammam on the east coast to 6.5–7.0 kWh/m 2 /day in Tabuk and Khamis Moshait on the west coast [80]. These data indicate that the western coast has significantly more intensive solar radiation in January than the eastern coast. The DNI readings are significantly higher across the country in July, which is regarded as the summer season’s peak month. Tabuk shows 9.0–9.5 kWh/m 2 /day on the northern side of the country, Riyadh shows 6.0–6.5 kWh/m 2 /day in the centre, and Dammam receives 5.5–6.0 kWh/m 2 /day on the eastern region.

4.2. Economic Potential

According to solar irradiance, [81,82] identified the best locations for PV power plants in Saudi Arabia. Uqlat us Saqoor, Hanakiya, Shaqra, Madina, Sulayyil, Derab, Nijran, Bisha, Al-Namas, and Heifa were among them. An excellent investigation was carried out on Saudi Arabia’s solar energy industry by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Industrial Collaboration Program [83]. Given the current challenges with debt financing on a global scale, the Saudi Arabian scenario of low-interest loans and local equity partners presented a particularly compelling case for business investments. The interest rate in Saudi Arabia is currently 2% and averaged at 3.9% from 1992 to 2105 [84]. Thus, Saudi Arabia has huge solar PV investment potential. Costs for solar energy have decreased, going from about 90 cents per kWh in 1980 to about 20 cents per kWh now. It is anticipated that the cost of PV will further drop to between 5 and 10 cents per kWh from its present range of 18 to 23 cents per kWh [35,85].
As discussed in reference [86], the average total cost for a unit of government-subsidized conventional energy generation (kWh) in 2008 was roughly Saudi Riyals 0.15. The overall cost of electricity generation for a typical GCC utility at US market pricing is 12 cents per kWh, or SR 0.45 [87,88]. One ton of petroleum (6.84 barrels) might produce 11,630 kWh of conventional energy using a synchronous generator [89,90]. According to Platts Analytics, global oil consumption will increase by 2.8 million b/d in 2022 and by 2.4 million b/d in 2023, assuming dated Brent prices of 106 USD per barrel in 2022 and 90 USD per barrel in 2023.
As a result, the cost of producing power using conventional generation sources is much more than solar PV [91,92]. When the hidden costs of fossil fuels are taken into account, such as the costs to the environment and public health, the cost of power generation from renewable sources will decrease more than from fossil fuels [93]. Solar energy economics are best in regions with high sun radiation parameters. Any comparison between solar energy and conventional generation is flawed if it ignores the indirect costs of conventional energy, which are determined by things such as their effects on the environment and human health. The indirect CO 2 , SO 2 , and NO x emissions costs per kWh for conventional generation are 0.0001, 0.0086, and 0.0412 SR/g, respectively. Then, the estimated total indirect cost in Saudi Arabia is 0.1688 SR/kWh [94].
Even though wind energy has detrimental impacts on birds and forest life, it is clean and less polluting compared to other sources. On the other hand, due to its quicker development rate than other renewable energy sources, wind energy is predicted to be the main source of energy in the future [95,96]. The Arabian Gulf and Red Sea shoreline zones are two of Saudi Arabia’s most desirable locations for wind energy production. Dumat Al Jandal, a 400 MW onshore wind farm in Saudi Arabia, claims to have the lowest onshore wind levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) in the world at under 1.99 US cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). For Al-Wajh, Jeddah, Yanbu, and Jizan the cost of wind-based electricity utilizing 600 kW (50 m hub-height) commercial wind electric conversion systems (WECS) was determined to be 0.0536, 0.0704, 0.0423, and 0.0711 USD/kWh, respectively [97]. Additionally, in this study, efforts have been undertaken to estimate the capacity factor (CF) of wind-based power plants, and it has been discovered that the CF varies between 12 and 21 percent for various places throughout the Kingdom.

5. Renewable Energy and GHG Emission

The sun, wind, water, waste, and heat from the Earth are all abundant sources of renewable energy that replenish themselves naturally and emit little to no GHGs or other air pollutants. Unless otherwise stated, electricity generated from renewable sources and integrated into the grid would prevent emissions that would otherwise be created entirely or partially from more carbon-intensive sources as per the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines [98]. Numerous studies on GHG emissions from the production of electricity for various nations have been carried out by academics, researchers, businesses, and public entities. These studies encompass multiple nations, nations in a region or union, or various regions of a single nation, while some of these studies specifically sought to determine overall emissions, others looked at the connection between energy generation and GHG emissions [99,100,101]. In terms of emission intensity in Turkey, authors of [102], examined how the utilization of renewable energy sources affects the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, the annual growth of Turkey’s electricity production from renewable sources and its proportion in the overall total were evaluated. The emission intensity, which was 563 g CO 2 eq./kWh in 2008, declined to 437 g CO 2 eq./kWh in 2020 with an average yearly decrease of 2.1%. The evolution of CO 2 emissions from electricity generation in seven nations was investigated using the decomposition approach to assess the impact of electricity production, electricity generation structure, and electricity generation energy intensity [103]. Together, these seven nations produced 58% of the world’s electricity and more than two-thirds of the CO 2 emissions from electrical generation in 2005. The generating structure impact was a factor in the rise in CO 2 emissions. The electricity generation structure can be modified with the integration of renewable energy to reduce the GHG emission [104,105,106].
Investments in renewable energy have the potential to significantly cut carbon dioxide emissions and advance the transformation of the energy system to one that is low-carbon, effectively lowering the energy intensity [107,108]. The “multiplier effect,” “structural effect,” and “technique effect” mechanisms can be used to categorize the impact of the scale of investments in renewable energy on carbon dioxide emissions [109,110], as shown in Figure 8. According to the “multiplier effect” mechanism, the amount invested in renewable energy has an impact on carbon dioxide emissions through changes in the economy. Similarly, increasing the renewable energy investment scale can reduce GHG emissions through the structural and technical effects. Using the annual data from 1981 to 2015, the authors of [111] investigated the relationship between agricultural value added, coal electricity, hydroelectricity, renewable energy, forest area, vegetable area, and GHG emissions in Pakistan. Two techniques investigated the causal relationships among all the explanatory factors and GHG emissions, added agricultural value, coal electricity, hydroelectricity, renewable energy, and forest area. In [112], the causative relationship between GHG emissions, power generation, and consumption for 10 Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) nations between 1980 and 2009 was investigated. Real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita exhibited an inverted U-shaped relationship with CO 2 emissions, according to the panel’s fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) results. In general, reducing GHG emissions had a number of co-benefits, such as improving energy security and lowering local air pollution. The long-range energy alternative planning (LEAP) model was used in [113] to estimate the potential GHG emission reduction in Thailand from the use of renewable energy sources and increasing energy efficiency during 2015–2050. Results showed how Thailand may contribute to its nationally determined contribution (NDC) through domestic renewable energy sources and energy efficiency measures. In a nutshell, many countries have accomplished different analyses and adjust their energy policies to reduce GHG emissions. Similarly, the KSA has undertaken several initiatives in the energy sector to actively contribute to the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement goals.
The KSA is developing plans for economic growth to achieve sustainable development taking climate change into account. The article [114] suggested implementing a new policy to switch from conventional to renewable energy sources by emphasizing increased energy efficiency or reorganizing the energy sector to impact the rise in GHG emissions in the KSA. The authors of [115] investigated the long-term and causative relationships between energy consumption, oil, total natural resource, economic growth, and CO 2 emissions for Saudi Arabia. The article [116] recommended that the KSA needs to diversify its energy sector by emphasizing and allocating greater resources to non-conventional energy sources, including nuclear, solar, wind, and biomass energy to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs). Additionally, there is a need to include more talented and energetic young people in the crucial decision-making process. The article [117] attempted to examine how Saudi Arabia’s future energy policy will be shaped by CO 2 capture and storage. In [118], different energy efficiency and renewable energy programs implemented in Saudi Arabia were summarized. Later, the success of energy-related policies and activities was assessed using an indicator-based methodology. In order to comprehend the patterns and causal links among the major drivers of emissions from the energy sector, this study also conducted temporal and econometric analysis. In recent years, there has been a slight improvement in energy intensity and efficiency. The decision makers can benefit from this research in identifying crucial policy gaps that must be filled in order to reduce emissions from the energy sector. The author in [119] suggests a framework for community–government collaboration in the development of a low-carbon energy system in Saudi Arabia. The cost–benefit analysis of energy use in the selected geographic areas and operational energy demand were the main subjects of this study. The proposed framework primarily consists of four stages: (1) gathering energy-use data; (2) establishing a target to reduce emission; (3) a community–building intervention approach by taking into account energy, cost, and emissions using the technique for order of performance by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS); and (4) the use of grey relational analysis (GRA) by the government to determine which renewable energy systems best integrate with the grid. It is worth mentioning that the KSA has developed many projects, with some are under construction, including renewable energy projects with the aim of minimizing GHG emissions [120,121]. The wind energy projects are located in Yanbu, Al-Ghat and Waad Al Shamal, whereas solar PV projects are located in Tabarjal and Al Hinakiyah. Together with the Saudi energy ministry, Saudi Aramco established a carbon capture and storage (CCS) hub in the Jubail Industrial Area on the country’s east coast, with the goal of having a storage capacity of up to 9 million tons of carbon dioxide annually by 2027 [122]. A 5 billion USD green hydrogen facility in NEOM Saudi Arabia is under construction (expected to be fully operational in 2026) that will produce 650 tons of carbon-free hydrogen every day, fuelled by renewable energy [123].
One of the most reliable sources for boosting the production of renewable energy is the sea–shore wind farm. However, current projections for the increase in offshore wind energy generation could have a considerable negative impacts on the ecosystem. As there are currently many gaps in our scientific understanding on the biological effects of wind turbines, there may be interactions between devices and marine species or ecosystems that regulators and stakeholders perceive as problematic [124]. Recently, wind turbines have drawn a lot of attention for killing birds. Bird collision with the turbine towers or blades cause death. Several studies have been conducted to collect and analyse the data from offshore wind farms to measure the impacts on birds species at local and national levels [125,126,127]. The risk of wind turbines on the marine environment and the causes of failures of wind turbine foundations have been critically reviewed in [128]. The installation of floating solar PV might alter a variety of physical, chemical, and biological water body features and processes, with the main drivers being changes in light attenuation, water temperature, and water movement [129]. Similarly, the solar PV panels and wind turbines installed in urban areas may also affect the ecosystem. The solar panels mounted on buildings increase the dead load and snow load causing the building’s life to deteriorate [130].

6. Challenges and Recommendations to Minimize GHG in Saudi Arabia

Around 17% of the proven petroleum reserves in the world are in Saudi Arabia. Natural gas, iron ore, gold, and copper are among the Kingdom’s other natural resources outside petroleum. The country’s economy is mainly dependent on oil production and exportation, which is a challenging frontier to fight climate change. However, the country is working towards the diversification of the economy to achieve more sustainable goals. For example, the Kingdom has already undertaken a number of steps to decrease and mitigate GHG emissions across all major sectors, including integration of more renewable energy, green initiatives to plant trees, carbon capture, and green hydrogen energy. Renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, depending on the weather conditions making the large-scale integration a challenging task. Such uncertainty makes it more difficult to maintain the equilibrium between energy supply and demand for dependable electrical infrastructure. However, the development of cheap and flexible energy storage devices could help minimize uncertainties. The KSA, in recent years, has been working to develop sustainable cities with more cleaner energy mixes including net-zero energy buildings. Furthermore, the country has observed positive impacts of the reduction in oil dependency on the economy. The trend of GHG emissions has reduced very recently. With more effective methods and procedures, the reduction process can be sped up. As a result, this section offers suggestions to further lower GHG emissions in the KSA.
  • Demand-side management could be used to reduce the amount of power used as it is the main source of GHG emissions in the KSA. Although certain actions have been taken to reduce emissions from the generation side, the transmission, distribution, and consumption sides have received little attention.
  • The net-zero energy building concept is evolving nowadays. The KSA has a high potential to implement net-zero energy building in several regions with solar PV and energy storage systems. Despite how far sustainable energy technology has come, net-zero energy building systems still require significant time and financial investment. Regional feasibility studies and integration impacts on the grid should be considered along with environmental impact analyses.
  • In addition to technical difficulties, Saudi Arabia’s regulatory problems include a lack of third-party-certified workers to design and install renewable energy systems, suitable rules for consistent power-purchasing agreements between utility companies and power producers, and grid integration. For instance, in 2017, the Water and Electricity Regulatory Authority (WERA) established a net metering plan; in 2019, it was converted to net billing [131,132]. Thus, societal dynamics, possible technological changes, economic and political conditions change, and policy legality should be considered in adopting long-term renewable energy investment policies.
  • Co-generation is the simultaneous production of electricity and heat from one source. Co-generation is more efficient than conventional power plants, which leads to significant reductions in fuel consumption and overall GHG emissions. New designs of fossil fuel co-generation plants have been the focus of recent co-generation research. The KSA should conduct feasibility studies for co-generation for several regions to tackle environmental challenges.
  • Incentives and subsidies are known to be critical driving factors in attracting more investments in solar and wind energy. The KSA could consider low-interest loans and local equity partners with local investment incentives to promote high-level renewable energy generation.
  • Since the country is targeting to integrate 57.8 GW of renewable energy by 2030 to reduce GHG emissions, the major challenge will be the smooth and reliable operation of the electrical grid. This is mainly because of uncertainties and a reduction in grid inertia. This technical challenge in integrating renewable energy can be handled with numerous virtual inertia controllers and storage devices.
  • Over the next three decades, it is projected that hydrogen will dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of the global energy supply chain due to its special features. Green hydrogen could be produced from surplus renewable energy sources by integrating a carbon capture system, gas turbines, combined heat and power systems, and micro-gas turbine modules. Thus, the KSA should explore ways to develop an integrated hydrogen and electricity network.
  • The generation of CO 2 emissions from gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicles decreases when there are more electric vehicles on the road. The large-scale EV utilization in the transportation sector will also support Saudi initiatives to lessen carbon emissions and promote sustainability in order to combat the effects of climate change.

7. Conclusions

The international community has been tracking the upward trend in GHG emissions and the adverse effects of climate change. There is a growing need for the integration of large-scale RESs into existing electrical infrastructures to reduce GHG emissions. This paper provides an in-depth review of renewable energy integration and its impact on GHG emission reduction in Saudi Arabia. The breakdown of GHG emissions considering major sectors, such as energy, industrial processes, agriculture, and waste, has been provided. Two major renewable energy sources, solar PV and wind, are summarized in an attempt to realize GHG emissions from the energy sector. The total renewable energy capacity of the KSA in 2020 was slightly higher than 400 MW. However, the KSA has taken many initiatives with different partners to reach a renewable energy generation of 58.7 GW by 2030, which will significantly reduce GHG emissions. The technical and economic potential and challenges of renewable energy in the KSA are well-documented. The high temperature and sandstorms are major obstacles in implementing large-scale solar PV systems in the KSA. The relation between renewable energy and GHG emissions has been thoroughly investigated. Some already implemented real-time and ongoing projects for reducing GHG emissions have also been documented in this article. In order to achieve sustainable development, decision makers, system planners, business executives, researchers, and academics can significantly benefit from the discussions and recommendations provided in this article.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, F.S.A.-I. and M.S.A.; methodology, F.S.A.-I.; formal analysis, F.S.A.-I., M.S.A., M.S., M.I.H. and S.M.R.; writing—original draft preparation, M.S.A. and F.S.A.-I.; writing—review and editing, F.S.A.-I., M.S.A., M.S., M.I.H. and S.M.R.; supervision, F.S.A.-I.; and funding acquisition, F.S.A.-I. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the support provided by King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) through direct Funded project No. ER221005.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Figure 1. Investment in solar and wind energy.
Figure 1. Investment in solar and wind energy.
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Figure 2. Per capita electricity generation of GCC and several selected developed countries.
Figure 2. Per capita electricity generation of GCC and several selected developed countries.
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Figure 3. Per capita GHG emissions of GCC countries.
Figure 3. Per capita GHG emissions of GCC countries.
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Figure 4. GHG emissions of the KSA (year 2019). (a) Emissions from different sectors. (b) Breakdown of emissions from the energy sector.
Figure 4. GHG emissions of the KSA (year 2019). (a) Emissions from different sectors. (b) Breakdown of emissions from the energy sector.
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Figure 5. Emissions and energy supply in the KSA for recent years.
Figure 5. Emissions and energy supply in the KSA for recent years.
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Figure 6. Renewable energy installed capacity of the KSA.
Figure 6. Renewable energy installed capacity of the KSA.
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Figure 7. Direct normal irradiance of the KSA in (a) January and (b) July [37].
Figure 7. Direct normal irradiance of the KSA in (a) January and (b) July [37].
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Figure 8. Renewable energy investment scale and GHG emissions.
Figure 8. Renewable energy investment scale and GHG emissions.
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Table
Table 1. Research gaps in existing literature.
Table 1. Research gaps in existing literature.
ObjectivesContributionsResearch Gaps
Studying solar energy potential [35,36]Cost of solar energy in the KSA is investigatedImpacts of GHG emissions are overlooked
The potential of wind energy is not investigated
Techno-economic potential [37]Best technologies for solar energy with low cost are suggestedAll regions of the KSA are not considered
GHG emission mitigation approaches are not suggested
Public awareness building of renewable energy (RE) [38]Legislators and state organizations receive benefits in decision making for REOnly a selected groups participate in this study
Questionnaires of GHG emissions are overlooked
Reviewing the impact of electricity generation [31]A summary of electricity generation in the KSA is provided to reduce GHG emissionsRenewable energy is not well summarized
Reviewing the current status and future prospects [39]Current status and future trend of RE are discussedThe environmental impact RE is not fully discussed
Table
Table 2. Locations and renewable energy sources in the KSA.
Table 2. Locations and renewable energy sources in the KSA.
LocationsSources
Madina, Sakaka, Mahd Al Dhab, Al Masa’a, Mastoorah, South Yanbu, Rabigh,Solar PV
Al-Faisalia, South Jeddah, Bisha, Haden, Al-Laith, Dhahban, Qurayyat, Qaisumah, Rafha,
Henakiyah, Unaizah, Tuwaiq, Dhurma, Malham, Sudair, Al-Haeer, Ghilanah, AL-Kharaj, Al-Quwaiiyah, Layla,
Shahrorah, Farasan, Wadi Al-Dawasir, Jazan
Tabuk, Tabarjal, Al-Kahafa, KhushaybiCSP
Dumat Al-Jandal, Shaqra, Waad Al-Shammal, Yanbu, Al-Ras, Sourah,Wind
Al-Ghat, Duwadimi, Tuwaiq, Wadi Al-Dawasir, Starah
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Al-Ismail, F.S.; Alam, M.S.; Shafiullah, M.; Hossain, M.I.; Rahman, S.M. Impacts of Renewable Energy Generation on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Saudi Arabia: A Comprehensive Review. Sustainability 2023, 15, 5069. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065069

AMA Style

Al-Ismail FS, Alam MS, Shafiullah M, Hossain MI, Rahman SM. Impacts of Renewable Energy Generation on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Saudi Arabia: A Comprehensive Review. Sustainability. 2023; 15(6):5069. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065069

Chicago/Turabian Style

Al-Ismail, Fahad Saleh, Md Shafiul Alam, Md Shafiullah, Md Ismail Hossain, and Syed Masiur Rahman. 2023. "Impacts of Renewable Energy Generation on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Saudi Arabia: A Comprehensive Review" Sustainability 15, no. 6: 5069. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065069

APA Style

Al-Ismail, F. S., Alam, M. S., Shafiullah, M., Hossain, M. I., & Rahman, S. M. (2023). Impacts of Renewable Energy Generation on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Saudi Arabia: A Comprehensive Review. Sustainability, 15(6), 5069. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065069

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