QSTec (Qatar Solar Technologies) just signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar Electricity and Water Company today. The agreement is a step towards implementing Qatar’s 2030 vision by incorporating more clean energy, specifically solar, within Qatar’s energy mix. Last year QSTec announced a $1 billion polysilicon manufacturing facility. Along with the country’s focus on green building and sustainable architecture, Qatar is edging towards an economy not solely dependent on fossil fuels.

But Qatar still has a ways to go. It ranks high on the global carbon footprint scale, and its citizens could benefit from embracing energy efficiency--since pragmatically that would allow more of its lucrative oil and gas to be exported abroad.

But steps, even tiny ones, taken are better than taking steps back. Qatar has a long road ahead before the world is convinced it is embracing sustainability, but recent efforts show this corner of the MIddle East is well on its way.

Via AMEInfo

Photo courtesy Leon Kaye.

About The Author

Leon Kaye

Leon Kaye is the founder and editor of GreenGoPost.com and its advisory division, GGP Media. Contact him to discuss how he can work with your organization or event. His focus is making the business case for sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). He writes for San Francisco-based Triple Pundit, Inhabitat and now The Guardian, for which he writes about corporate responsibility, water, and green building. He has also written for AIA's Architect Magazine. Leon works out of Fresno and Silicon Valley, California, and when he has free time, he enjoys hiking, gardening, cooking, weightlifting, and planning his next trip to one of the 60 countries he has visited. He has an MBA from USC's Marshall School of Business and is also a proud graduate of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) and Cal State-Fresno.