Dubai - Sharaf DG Energy, part of UAE business conglomerate Sharaf Group and a major solar energy solution provider, said it has successfully completed the installation of solar PV panels in 500 villas across Dubai within 45 days.
With the current Covid-19 pandemic affecting businesses and consumers across the globe, it is now more important than ever to protect from utility tariff increases and the volatility of oil, said a statement from Sharaf DG Energy.
Although Dubai Electricity and Water Authority's (DEWA) grid is majorly powered by natural gas, not petrochemicals, the oil industry affects all spheres of life and it is important to think long term. Dewa had launched a project to install solar PV panels on the homes of UAE nationals in Dubai. DEWA entrusted Etihad ESCO to oversee the project, including Sharaf DG Energy, 500 villas each in Dubai.
Sharaf DG Energy said it had executed the project from mechanical erection, to the completion and energisation in just 45 days. Around 12 teams were deployed that worked on around eight villas per day and successfully completed the installations within the stipulated time period, said the company in a statement.
Dewa had earlier launched a project to install solar PV panels on the homes of UAE nationals in Dubai. It had entrusted Etihad Esco to oversee the project. Sharaf DG Energy said over 6,500 solar PV panels had been installed as part of the project. Each villa will now produce 6,220 kilowatt-hours of electricity in one year, equivalent to CO2 emissions from consuming 1880 litres of gasoline or growing 70 trees for 10 years.
Vice President Sanjay Dabur said Sharaf DG Energy wants to empower communities to achieve higher levels of sustainability. "It was an important project for us to complete, not only to show our commitment to the growth of sustainable energy in the UAE, but to prove that we will always deliver on any promise we make."
On the key hurdles faced by the team, Dabur said: "A major challenge on the engineering front, was the orientation and the size of the buildings, each villa had different positioning with respect to the sun and different roof size."
"Our engineers designed custom solar PV panel layouts for these roofs in order to receive maximum sunlight and thereby produce maximum energy," he stated. Another challenge was helping the families involved to understand more about solar energy and how it works – there was a need to create awareness and inform the families about leading an alternate lifestyle based on using clean energy, he added.
Dubai - Del Monte, a global provider of fresh and healthy consumer food, is continuing its sustainability drive by exerting more efforts in several fields such as waste management. The company carefully recycles cartons, plastic, nylon bags, metal etc. and has partnerships with various waste management companies for kinds of re-purposed waste to achieve its sustainability objectives.
“Our commercial operations go hand-in-hand with our sustainability efforts which have always been a part of Del Monte’s DNA since its early days,” commented Taymour Shukri, the Regional QA & HSE Manager, Del Monte. “The end-to-end waste management operations we run include recycling cardboards, papers, plastics, treating drain water from production operations and re-using it for irrigation of perimeter garden and greeneries, as well as ensuring proper disposal of land fill waste.”
To help the environment and get valuable revenues; cardboards, papers and plastics are sold to vendors for recycling, and considerable amount of funds is saved on a monthly basis from selling these items. Del Monte was able to make considerable revenues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in 2017 and 2018, as well as during the period from January to June 2019.
“Adopting an effective waste management policy doesn’t only aim to help us reduce cost and create revenues from the waste we recycle; it primarily targets reducing the effect of our operations on the environment and mitigating our environmental footprint with the aim to achieve sustainability and preserve the environment in the places where we operate,” Taymour Shukri added.
Del Monte has also established a Waste Watch Committee, which continuously monitors and controls the waste generated at various sites including farms and production facilities. The Committee’s mandate include recycling, reusing and even selling various types of wastes, where feasible.
Notably, the Committee witnessed significant reduction in carton waste during the first six months of 2019 compared to previous year, with a reduction percentage in the volume (kilograms) reaching to 6%. Plastic waste volume increased by 26% due to the packaging resulting from the addition of a newly joined operation, however there was an overall reduction of 1% in packaging compared to last year.
Dubai - When you buy something in a store, do you rely on the store’s plastic bags to get your items home? Or do you bring your reusable bag? Avani aims to help rehabilitate the Middle East by offering 100% sustainable disposable packaging solutions and compostable plastic alternatives. Last month it opened a production facility in Dubai to fulfil rapidly growing local demand.
Avani, which means ‘mother earth’ in Bahasa, was established in 2014 as a social enterprise on the Indonesian island of Bali. It aims to help rehabilitate the island by offering 100% disposable packaging materials and compostable plastic.
“Can I offer you a plastic bag which is made out of Cassava? Or do you prefer a plastic cup produced from corn? How about a take-away box made from the waste materials of sugarcane?”, said Peter Avram director of Avani Middle East.
Avram has a history of over 22 years in the UAE. He worked in senior management positions in the hospitality sector including the Ritz Carlton, the Jumeirah Group and Meraas. “The plastic bag that lies here on the table is 100 per cent compostable. It takes about three months. It is even safe when accidentally consumed by a land or sea animal”, Avram explained.
Main clients
Avram is licensed to manufacture and sell Avani’s products in the Middle East and GCC countries. One of Avani’s core objectives is to provide affordable & eco-friendly alternatives. The goal is to minimize the number of toxic plastics consumed and discarded into the regions critical ecosystems. In a relatively short period, the company managed to get over 300 customers. These customers vary from the coffee shop around the corner to market leaders as Atlantis the Palm, Marriott International and the Virgin Megastores.
“Virgin is one of our main clients, and the Virgin Group’s founder Richard Branson is one of our main advocates. When they started using our bags and introduced a 1 Dirham fee per bag, do you know what happened? Within a matter of weeks, they saw a 60% reduction in bag usage. I find that truly amazing and fantastic”, he added.
The Romanian national strongly believes in his company’s social mission. Avani is proud to have introduced an educational element through partnership programs in which things like how to maintain a sustainable future for generations to come is a core message. At the same time, it explains, for example, to packers in the supermarket how to use fewer bags when packaging groceries.
Plastic ban
On Tuesday Abu Dhabi announced that it plans to eliminate single-use plastic bags by 2021. The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) confirmed the move, which includes accelerating a sustainable circular economy for plastics.
Avram is very pleased by this move which will accelerate the already rapidly growing interest from some of the big local retailers and supermarkets. “We have to take action now and reduce the large amounts of plastic we all consume. That is one of my most important motives to be active in this business. Our products can strongly support these important Government initiatives.”
Abu Dhabi - Tatweer for Traffic Assets and Systems Operation and Management was awarded the contract to replace approximately 43,000 streetlights in the capital with energy-efficient LED lights by the Department of Municipalities and Transport Abu Dhabi City Municipality.
The use of energy-efficient LED streetlights is expected to save some 900 million kWh, valued at approximately AED 264 million over the contract period. Tatweer’s technology partners include AEC Illiminazione SRL. The tender is the first street lighting replacement project to be delivered using a Public-Private-Partnership model in the UAE. It is also the first to be assisted by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, ADIO, using the Partnership Projects model.
The project supports the improvement of traffic safety on Abu Dhabi’s roads, while following the highest standards of sustainability for infrastructure projects. The contract is a 12-year design, build, finance, operate and maintain concession agreement with the Department of Municipalities and Transport - Abu Dhabi City Municipality, following a competitive tender process facilitated by ADIO. The concession will target specific requirements and energy saving targets, including operating and maintaining the new devices, and installing and maintaining a smart central system to control the lighting throughout the agreement period.
"This long-term partnership with Tatweer will help us achieve greater project efficiencies, while delivering enhanced infrastructure and services to Abu Dhabi’s residents. It is part of our commitment to delivering world-class infrastructure in the emirate of Abu Dhabi," said Saif Badr Al Qubaisi, Director-General, Abu Dhabi City Municipality.
ADIO works alongside government departments, including the Department of Municipalities and Transport, to facilitate major infrastructure projects for Abu Dhabi through the Partnership Projects model.
The project is part of the Abu Dhabi Government’s recent announcement to procure infrastructure projects of approximately AED10 billion through Public-Private-Partnerships spanning multiple sectors, including education, transport and municipal sectors, amongst others.
The Executive Committee of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council approved the new Public-Private Partnership Law in February 2019 (Law No. 02 of 2019) under its Ghadan 21 accelerator programme to support local and international investment opportunities for the private sector.
Dubai - In a key environmental initiative, VFS Global, the world's largest visa outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide, has decided to ditch plastic bottle usage starting with its visa application centre in Dubai.
The initiative aims to decrease plastic pollution rates that threaten natural resources and congest the environment worldwide and help reduce carbon footprint overall for workers and visitors alike. Located at Wafi Mall the centre becomes the first VFS Global plastic bottle-free Visa Application Centre in the world. The initiative is an important step towards creating greener centres as it is expected to reduce plastic usage by over 50,000 bottles annually in the Dubai centre.
The second phase of the initiative will cover VFS Global Centre in Abu Dhabi and the best practice will be implemented across other larger centres globally where water quality and infrastructure allow the use of new dispensers.
Peter Brun, chief communications officer, responsible for the company’s initiatives related to sustainability, said: “At VFS Global, we aim to reduce our impact on the environment wherever we can. Caring for the planet is the natural thing to do. We are continuously improving our sustainability and ESG – Environment, Social and Governance – performance. Our first plastic bottle-free Visa Application Centre in Dubai is just the beginning. In 2020, we aim to develop an action plan, with targets to reduce our building emissions in a systematic and measurable way. We will explore purchasing renewable power for visa applications centres and offices and we will complement our long-standing commitment to offsetting our business travel.”
Plastic bottled water at the centre is swapped with water filtration dispenser machines that can filter the water straight from the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) pipelines. All prevailing plastic bottles and cups are replaced with eco-friendly bio-degradable paper cups that are environment-friendly. This arrangement is implemented at all areas, including front and back office, across the visa application centre. In the Premium Lounge, applicants are served water in a reusable glass.
To provide an alternative for plastic bottles and to ensure offering the cleanest water possible, water from the new dispensers have been tested via Dubai Municipality and is declared fit to consume in order to avoid any health or hygiene allied issues.
Rats love cities just as much as people do, a phenomenon that has been a problem for centuries. Dubai Sustainable City is now using smart devices from Danish RATMO to sustainably address the issue.
Ratmo’s sensors - and mobile app - are designed with both the user and the environment in mind. This Danish invented device transforms a conventional rat trap into a remote sensor and data collector. “Traditional traps use pesticides, around 600 grams per year per trap. These pesticides end up in nature: a rat eats the poison, and it takes about four days before the animal dies at another location than the trap”, said Jan Holm Pedersen CEO from Ratmo Middle East.
“As a consequence the poison ends up in nature, in the ground or in the belly of another animal like a cat or a dog. If you look at the Emirate of Dubai alone it means that more than 60,000 kg of these pesticides end up back in nature. That is huge problem”, Pedersen adds.
“If Dubai would support the industry with just AED10m per annum, we could reduce pesticide consumption by more than 60,000 kg and at the same time make Dubai the smartest city in the World with regards rodent management”, he concludes.
One of the crucial benefits of the traps is that they require no poison. Rat poison is a serious threat to the global ecosystem. A recent Norwegian study showed that half of the population of red foxes in Norway were found to have eaten rat poison. Owls and other birds of prey in many parts of the world die after eating poisoned rodents.
Smart trap
When a RATMO trap is activated, the staff is immediately alerted, enabling quick disposal of the corpse and resetting of the trap. A sensor on the trap records the trap activation time and temperature, and gives a signal to the monitoring system via GPS. The pest control or facilities management team can use the Ratmo app to record the type of bait, and time of trap activation enabling the facility manager to get a much clearer idea of the extent of the rat problem, their behaviour and favourite foods.
Karim El-Jisr Executive Director, Diamond Innovation Center at Dubai Sustainable City, said: “When we were using poison, we had no idea how many rats were visiting our traps and therefore how big a rat population we had. Ratmo’s app provides us with an excellent graphical overview of matters such as the catchment area, time of catch, trap effectiveness, site visit patterns, etc.”
El-Jisr adds that with the new method the rats are killed in a direct way without harming pets, wildlife or any other aspects of the Sustainable City environment. “We have the ambition to roll the smart traps out across the City over the next six months”, said El-Jisr.
Regional player
In the first year after its introduction in the UAE, RATMO has already signed up major players in the market as their customers. “We are growing rapidly. Smart rat catching is the future”, Pedersen emphasizes.
The company is now active in all seven Emirates. It has ambitions to expand to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar.
Dubai - SirajPower has announced it has successfully completed the construction and installation of a new fully-financed solar model for DP World’s staff accommodation in Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) East and West.
The two combined 6.75MWp system capacity solar rooftops span across a total of 110 mid-rise buildings between both locations and generates over 10.72GWh of annual energy production. It will help displace 7,579 tonnes of carbon dioxide emission (Co2) per annum, corresponding to 966,626,499 number of smartphones being charged or 125,328 trees planted, said the statement from SirajPower.
To complete this project within only three months, SirajPower put together a centralised project management team with Jafza facility management team to build and install 17,500 solar panels with the mobilisation of more than 50,000 man-hours.
With these new green staff accommodations, the overall well-being of DP World’s staff will be improved by providing a safe working environment, it added. The installed solar plant is part of the second phase of projects under the 22-year solar lease agreement for Jafza and National Industries Park (NIP) signed in Q4 2018.
On the key milestone, CEO Laurent Longuet said: "SirajPower kicks off the year with a major project milestone allowing the company to continue expanding its portfolio and make its first foray into the residential sector."
"Beyond the commercial and industrial sectors, the main adopters of solar rooftops in the region, we demonstrated that we can extend the same strategic platforms to the residential market. It is taking more time to develop with some challenges to overcome but the potential in that space is tremendous and a focus shift is happening," he stated.
SirajPower said its partnership with DP World further supports the group's sustainable, long-term growth plan that is aligned with the United Nation’s ninth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation.
"Our long-term partnership with DP World is a real success. The staff accommodation project in Jafza is the first one in the region with the most number of buildings in one solar leasing development," remarked Longuet.
"Most importantly, it is improving the overall well-being of staff by providing a safe working environment. It will pave the way for more housing, accommodation and residential solar projects across the Middle East, making a turning point for SirajPower’s ground-breaking strategies towards the end-user market under Dewa’s Shams Initiative and the UAE’s growing solar industry," he added.
Source: Trade Arabia
Abu Dhabi - ADNOC Logistics & Services will test biofuel as a bunkering fuel for ships, in an effort to comply with the 2020 sulphur cap, the company's Chief Executive Officer Captain Abdulkareem Al Masabi said.
Al Masabi stated that ADNOC has applied the regulations by November 2019 across its entire fleet, which totals 28 ships, and the company now explores other alternatives such as LNG, LPG and blended biofuel to carry its vessels to reduce fuel consumption.
"We're studying with one of our subsidiary companies the usage of biofuel and how that can reduce fuel consumption," Al Masabi told The National in an interview. The biofuels trial comes as the International Maritime Organisation mandated all vessels to reduce emissions of sulphur oxides from all ships from January 1. Allowable sulphur emissions have been cut to 0.5 per cent of fuel oil, from 3.5 per cent previously used.
The move forms part of the company's ambitious climate-protection goals.
Dubai - HSBC bank, Get in the Ring, and Globally will organize the first UAE edition of the Living Business Competition and Awards. The event kicks-off on the 20th of February and continues throughout the year until the end of October 2020.
Since its launch in 2004 the HSBC Living Business Programme has been helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Hong Kong to become more competitive and productive. This year the programme for businesses who want to be more sustainable will be launched for the first time in the UAE.
Opening event
At the Living Business opening event participants will be joined by CEOs and other senior professionals, who have first-hand experience using sustainable innovations and implementing sustainable initiatives, will share their experience and vision on how to make a business leaner, fitter and stronger.
On the agenda are matters like how to use sustainable best practice to build greater business resilience, reduce costs, grow revenue and engage staffers. At the same time topics like how sustainable practises could increase a company’s overall appeal as a business partner and how to build a national or international reputation for sustainable leadership will be discussed.
The ambition of the programme is to assist SMEs to incorporate social and environmental sustainable practices into their business operations. The programme provides a learning platform for SMEs to understand best practices in corporate sustainability (CS) and offers recognition to SMEs for outstanding performance.
Categories
HSBC Living Business Competition 2020 consists of the following Living Business Awards: Best environmental impact, Best social impact, and Best governance implementation. Each winner can use the ‘Living Business winner 2020’ logo on its website and social media and will get a short social media friendly video created using existing video or photo content.
The overall winner of the competition will receive an invitation including a flight ticket to the ‘Get In The Ring Global Meetup 2021’and will at the same time be awarded with an original video made about the winning initiative.
Dubai - The UAE-based sustainable and smart transportation company, has partnered with the Sharjah City Municipality (SCM), and Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) to supply, install and operate public electric vehicle charging stations across the city of Sharjah.
The new charging stations will play an important role in accelerating UAE’s ongoing electrification of its transportation and supporting the current electric vehicle network. With a mandate to promote green mobility solutions in the region, ION, a joint venture between Bee’ah and CE-Creates, the business incubation platform of Crescent Enterprises, will build a vast network of charging stations across the Emirate in a phased approach, paving the way for greater use of electric vehicle mobility in the UAE. The partnership will encourage the mainstream adoption of electric vehicles by residents, who can avail free charging services.
The agreement between ION, SCM, and SEWA will further support the UAE Vision 2021 through achieving a sustainable environment in terms of air quality, increased reliance on clean energy, and green development within Sharjah. The global transport sector is acknowledged as a leading source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as being a major contributor to urban air pollution.
Commenting on the occasion, HE Khaled Al Huraimel, Group CEO of Bee’ah and Chairman of ION, said: “We are transforming the way people use transportation in the Middle East region, by introducing services and solutions that allow for smart and sustainable mobility. Electric charging stations are an important component in the development of a zero-emissions transportation network in the UAE and wider region and we welcome the chance to work with partners such as SEWA and SCM to contribute to a better quality of life for the residents of Sharjah.”
Samer Choucair, Director, CE-Creates and Board Member, ION, commented: “At CE-Creates, we invest in business concepts that can bring positive change to communities. Our mandate is to ‘do good’ while ‘doing well’ and we believe ION meets this goal. With a phased roll-out planned until 2025, the collaborative effort between us and Bee’ah will be aligned with the establishment of regulatory frameworks governing the use of electric vehicles in the region. ION also aims to embrace a holistic approach and extend beyond electric mobility to include power generation and storage products.”
HE Dr. Rashid Alleem, the Chairman of Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority, elaborated on the new development, saying: “As the UAE lays out the blueprint to improve its environmental performance, we are also following the SEWA Vision 2020, to achieve a highly innovative and sustainable tomorrow. We are delighted to offer residents the ability and convenience to pursue greener modes of transport and look forward to working with ION and SCM to ensure the right infrastructure is in place to support electric vehicle users.”
Sharjah is fast-emerging as a hub for sustainability and is on track to become the first zero-waste city in the Middle East through a waste-to-energy plant. Sustainability across all aspects of transportation is another priority in Sharjah, with Bee’ah, who manages the city cleaning, having ordered 50 Tesla Semi electric trucks to add to its waste management fleet by this year.
HE Thabit Salim Al-Turaifi, Director-General at Sharjah City Municipality, also shared his views and stated: “As Sharjah positions itself to be more eco-friendly and technologically advanced, this agreement will be of vast importance to the success of green mobility in the city. Partnering with like-minded entities to unlock the potential of electric vehicles in Sharjah is a strong indicator of our commitment to creating a safe and sustainable environment for residents that enables them to adopt better quality lifestyles.”
There has been a rise in the number of electric vehicle motorists in the UAE as governments introduce policies and infrastructure that support sustainable transport. Several renowned electric vehicle companies have also established their presence in the country including Tesla and NAVYA.
The company is dedicated to bringing about a positive shift in attitude towards the use of sustainable modes of transport while supporting the nation’s strategy to reduce traffic growth and congestion by encouraging more efficient and environmentally friendly means of transport.
ION has recently partnered with NAVYA, a leading company in autonomous driving systems, to operate and maintain the company’s electric and autonomous shuttles as well as promote its vehicles and related activities in the UAE and the GCC region. ION is also providing next-generation mobility solutions within Masdar City, including a fleet of Chevrolet Bolt electric cars for on-demand, ride-hailing services as it expands operations across Abu Dhabi.
Source: Eye of Riyadh
