Public attitude toward renewable energy in Qatar: particularly solar and wind energy

Abstract

Renewable energy (RE) is one of the most important topics of concern among the different parts of the world due to the growing shortage of fossil fuels and the rising prices of the energy supplies. Many countries have started to switch from the use of fossil fuels to the use of renewable sources such as hydroelectric, solar and wind energies, most of which is contributing more than 30% to their energy requirements. Yet, there are many countries that have not made use of these cleaner and cheaper forms of energy due to a lack of awareness, no government subsidies for cheaper energy supplies and the availability of abundant fossil fuels. This study highlights the views and opinions of the people of Qatar with the aim of understanding if they are aware of renewable sources of energy and if they support the idea of using cleaner energy as compared to the current trend of using natural fossil resources. The results obtained from public survey questionnaires indicate that the people were not well aware of the different forms of renewable energies or the rising concern for global climate change. Also it was seen that people did not want to initiate any public action towards the application of large scale renewable energy projects due to varying psychological and spatial factors, but that they were very supportive of the idea of keeping the environment clean and getting cheaper energy from renewable sources. Overall, this study was conducted on 120 individuals from both the capital of Qatar (Doha) and the surrounding suburban areas and it was seen that the people living in the suburbs were more welcoming of the idea of renewable energy than those in the capital.