Upon landing at Doha International, I was whisked away to the terminal in a bus. Despite being sleep deprived and eagerly looking at everything with my head on a swivel, I noticed that the bus we were on was extremely quiet. Right as I was coming off the high of my initial exploration in the Middle East, I found my self starting to doze off when I was abruptly awoken by the sound of a diesel engine turning over as the bus reached the appropriate speed. I was not riding on a special Qatari silent bus, but a hybrid bus. In fact, the Middle East was perhaps the last place I would guess that I would find a hybrid vehicle. I thought, “with gas at just under $1/gallon, what’s the point?” I always imagined that they might be having impromptu gasoline fights like in Zoolander in between trips to the Qatar Central Bank.
While the use of a hybrid bus to bring passengers to and from planes at Doha International Airport is a nice start, I also learned that Qatar leads the world in carbon dioxide emissions per capita (in fact over 2X the per capita emissions of USA). Due in part to the high need for air conditioning, desalination for potable drinking water, and as much lawn care as Central Park (surprisingly Qatar has quite a bit of manicured Bermuda grass with a few scattered palm trees), Qatar is an excellent example of a country that is acting to become more sustainable instead of merely talking. Its efforts in hosting the conference are a gesture that the United States should keep in mind if we aim to stay a leader in environmental legislation and technology development.
While the use of a hybrid bus to bring passengers to and from planes at Doha International Airport is a nice start, I also learned that Qatar leads the world in carbon dioxide emissions per capita (in fact over 2X the per capita emissions of USA). Due in part to the high need for air conditioning, desalination for potable drinking water, and as much lawn care as Central Park (surprisingly Qatar has quite a bit of manicured Bermuda grass with a few scattered palm trees), Qatar is an excellent example of a country that is acting to become more sustainable instead of merely talking. Its efforts in hosting the conference are a gesture that the United States should keep in mind if we aim to stay a leader in environmental legislation and technology development.
My first experience at COP18 was participating in a youth demonstration along Al Corniche St, a unique boardwalk street along the Persian Gulf. A video is available here. “Arab Leaders Unite” and “Your action, our survival,” we chanted as we walked down the street carrying signs, dressed as polar bears, and posing for pictures. Journalists darted up and down the street snapping pictures and filming the rare Qatari protest. To put the uniqueness of the protest into context, apart from a recent government sponsored protest, many ex-pats living in Qatar could not remember the last protest in Doha. I found the chant, “Your action, our survival,” the most poignant and interesting. Those meeting behind closed doors as you read this post will be long dead by the time the outcomes from these decisions are known. And they are deciding YOUR future. Various Arab youth organizations, as the organizers of the event, were demanding their leaders give them a voice and asked them to agree on specific reduction goals.
The turnout was quite promising among the attendees (close to a thousand if I am being generous), but was even more surprising among local and international news outlets (which I guess includes me now!) This was most likely an even more important aspect of the protest. Hopefully this will echo across the world to the youth of every nation.
The turnout was quite promising among the attendees (close to a thousand if I am being generous), but was even more surprising among local and international news outlets (which I guess includes me now!) This was most likely an even more important aspect of the protest. Hopefully this will echo across the world to the youth of every nation.
After the protest, I headed to the convention center via a very organized mass transportation system with an army of volunteers. I obtained my security badge and headed inside the center. For those that have been to a national ACS meeting, the conference center was organized very similarly with an exposition hall and a variety of meeting rooms with a multitude of different topics of varying levels of international importance. The break areas were even equipped with chairs made out of recycled cardboard (yes, they were structurally sound as far as I could tell.)
The first side session I attended was focused on developing a sustainable transportation network in sub-Saharan Africa. Important people in the field, such as the Director of Transportation in South Africa, Minister of Gender and Development of Liberia, among others were present for the discussion and to share experiences in developing new mass transit networks in the developing continent. While this issue hasn’t impacted CO2 emissions as much as a New York City or Beijing traffic jam, with the increasing urbanization and development of African cities, people are moving from transit by foot to a car in every garage. Leaders of Africa are attempting to break these habits before they set in.
The second side session I attended discussed Lebanon’s aggressive stand on developing renewable energy technologies and utilizing sustainable energy sources. I found the development of Lebanon’s smart grid particularly interesting. They will have electronic monitors on every house in the next 2 years. This allows access to an immense amount of data to continue to help “Smarten” the electronic grid. Lebanon reached its goal of using renewable energy for 12% of its energy needs. Unfortunately, the government has to still subsidize electricity as the use of renewable sources causes the prices to raise. It was estimated that the price was $0.35, but the consumer paid only $0.10 per kW. This touches on a previous blog post by me that I believe Americans will not fully adopt the renewable and environmentally friendly agenda until market forces make the green technologies cheaper.
The first side session I attended was focused on developing a sustainable transportation network in sub-Saharan Africa. Important people in the field, such as the Director of Transportation in South Africa, Minister of Gender and Development of Liberia, among others were present for the discussion and to share experiences in developing new mass transit networks in the developing continent. While this issue hasn’t impacted CO2 emissions as much as a New York City or Beijing traffic jam, with the increasing urbanization and development of African cities, people are moving from transit by foot to a car in every garage. Leaders of Africa are attempting to break these habits before they set in.
The second side session I attended discussed Lebanon’s aggressive stand on developing renewable energy technologies and utilizing sustainable energy sources. I found the development of Lebanon’s smart grid particularly interesting. They will have electronic monitors on every house in the next 2 years. This allows access to an immense amount of data to continue to help “Smarten” the electronic grid. Lebanon reached its goal of using renewable energy for 12% of its energy needs. Unfortunately, the government has to still subsidize electricity as the use of renewable sources causes the prices to raise. It was estimated that the price was $0.35, but the consumer paid only $0.10 per kW. This touches on a previous blog post by me that I believe Americans will not fully adopt the renewable and environmentally friendly agenda until market forces make the green technologies cheaper.
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