Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Department of Energy (DoE) has launched the Abu Dhabi Energy Outlook 2050, the first comprehensive blueprint to map the Emirate’s net-zero vision.
The outlook illustrates what Abu Dhabi’s transport, buildings, industry, and power sectors might look like under ambitious policies and technology advancements. This aimed at accelerating the pace of decarbonization in all sectors over the next three decades.
It aligns with the COP28 Net-Zero Transition Charter, which intends to mobilize all sectors of the economy and society to commit to a national pledge of reducing carbon emissions and producing a credible net-zero transition plan.
Ms. Awaidha Murshed Al Marar, Chairman of DoE, stated that, “This outlook presents an ambitious vision towards our green goals and positions Abu Dhabi as a global beacon of sustainable development moving towards a zero-carbon society. Crucially, the scenarios outlined in the outlook – maintaining current policies, closing the gap for net zero in 2050, embracing a full technological shift paradigm – are designed to inspire sustainable change and shape the net-zero transition, without prescriptive measures.”
The outlook was developed after a year of modeling using the DoE’s Integrated Energy Model or Energy Cube, insight gathering, and consultation with a broad range of public and private stakeholders. It will be reviewed and updated as progress is made towards net zero goals, markets change, and technologies progress.
Abu Dhabi has deployed decarbonization policies and regulations including Clean Energy Targets 2035, Regulatory Policy for Clean Energy Certificates, Policy for Energy Production from Waste, Regulatory Policy for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure, District Cooling, Recycled Water Policy, Demand Side Management Strategy, as well as important position papers related to hydrogen and market reforms.
“We are already at 40 percent renewable energy in Abu Dhabi. We are targeting 60 percent clean electricity by 2035, and a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. We are also innovating in water reuse and, by 2024, we hope that not a single drop is wasted in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. To achieve this kind of collective socio-economic change and climate action, at the Emirate and national level, we have to bring everyone along with us. It is not about limiting options; it is about forging the right outcomes together with behavior change, dialogue, agreement, and alignment,” Ms. Al Marar added.