Sunlight and space are the fundamental prerequisites for large-scale solar power, but Saudi Arabia, which has both in abundance, is not a country you would typically associate with renewables. The 40th most populous country in the world it ranks sixth in domestic oil consumption and 10th in CO2 emissions. Its population of 31m is a little less than half that of the UK's but each day it consumes twice as much oil. Heavily subsidised electricity costs Saudi citizens as little as $0.01/kWh (compared with the UK's $0.22), while petroleum is fixed at $0.61/gallon - 10 times cheaper than that in the UK. With such plentiful, cheap oil, the Kingdom's record of energy wastage is perhaps no surprise. Power generation is dominated by inefficient oil-firing processes, air conditioning units pump out cool air non-stop, accounting for 70% of the Kingdom's electricity use in 2013, and insulation in buildings is rare. The region's dearth of rainfall also means that fresh water must be produced through the energy-intensive desalination of seawater. Environmental effects aside, Saudi Arabia's domestic reliance on oil now threatens to eat into its exports. A report in 2011 published by Chatham House, "Burning Oil to Keep Cool - the Hidden Energy Crisis in Saudi Arabia" estimated that at the current rate of domestic consumption, the country would become a net importer of oil by 2038. This article describes how the country is now turning to solar power.
