Introduction:
Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producer in the world with a quarter of the world total oil. Till today more than 260 billion barrels have been produced by Saudi Arabia. Oil in Saudi has a large effect on Saudi Arabia economy. The Saudi economy rises when the price of oil rises and falls when the price of oil falls. Also Saudi oil generates a huge amount of energy which has a lot of uses that Saudis cannot live without it. ‘However oil reserves will be depleted someday’1, so Saudi Arabia is working on another type of energy which is solar. This paper describes how oil and solar energy are used in Saudi Arabia.
Oil energy in Saudi Arabia:
Oil energy is daily used in Saudi Arabia in different ways. The whole Saudi life is depending on oil energy. ‘With only population of 27 million Saudi Arabia consumes more than United Kingdom with population of 62 million’2. That makes Saudi Arabia one the largest oil consumer on the world with 2154 barrels per day. Electricity which plays important part in Saudi Arabia spicily in summer needs oil energy to be generated. 89% of the Saudi electricity is generated by oil energy. Also in transportation 99 % of the vehicles are used oil energy to transport. Only electricity and transportation uses 2000 bpd. Instruction work is also is another source of oil energy consumption in Saudi Arabia. Another type of energy that can reduce the consumption of oil energy is solar energy.
Solar energy in Saudi Arabia:
Solar energy uses is starting to be spread in Saudi Arabia. ‘Unlimited amount of energy could be generated by the heat and light of the sun’3. This amount of energy will more than useful for Saudi Arabia. Also solar energy can be substitute for oil energy. Saudi Arabia is planning to expand the field of solar energy. The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in Riyadh has already done a lot of contact with the united state and