Dubai, UAE: The Middle East region has been experiencing a steady population growth and the industrial sector is expanding ahead of the mega events and, as a result, energy consumption has elevated, leading to further emissions of CO₂ and greenhouse gases. Therefore, the need at the moment is to develop more sustainable solutions for energy consumption, such as District Cooling ‘zones’ in urban plans, says Yasser Salah Al Jaidah, CEO of Qatar Cool.

He explains: “…assigning District Cooling ‘zones’ in urban plans for areas with a density cut-off ratio of around 10,000 tonnes of refrigeration (TR) per square kilometre (km²) or more, can be economically feasible for the utility provider and user alike. Such a design, would allow for approximate savings of 40-50% in energy usage, when compared to the energy consumption of conventional air conditioning methods in densely populated areas.”

“To put things into perspective,” Al Jaidah says, “District Cooling could provide around 30% of the GCC [region’s] forecast cooling needs by 2030. This would prevent the region from having to build 20 gigawatts in new electricity generating capacity, and save 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in fuel.”