Publications

Cost‒Benefit Analysis for Petrochemical Projects

Philipp Galkin, Dongmei Chen, Colin Ward

Cost‒benefit analysis (CBA) has been used to assess investment projects for decades with the aim of quantifying their externalities and potential impacts on social welfare. However, the domain where CBA is applied has been primarily limited to direct public financing…

Galkin, Philipp

Chen, Dongmei

Ward, Colin

Methane Emissions Baseline Forecasts for Saudi Arabia Using the Structural Time Series Model and Autometrics

Anwar Gasim, Lester C. Hunt, Jeyhun Mikayilov

Reducing methane (CH4) emissions is key to near-term efforts to limit global warming. CH4 is the second most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) in the atmosphere after carbon dioxide (CO2). The production, transport, and consumption of fossil fuels, in addition…

Gasim, Anwar

Hunt, Lester C.

Mikayilov, Jeyhun

Baseline Forecasts of Carbon Dioxide Emissions for Saudi Arabia Using the Structural Time Series Model and Autometrics

Anwar Gasim, Lester C. Hunt, Jeyhun Mikayilov

To tackle the threat of climate change, countries worldwide have signed the Paris Agreement. This agreement aims to limit the global average temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius and potentially below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels (UNFCCC 2015). Parties…

Gasim, Anwar

Hunt, Lester C.

Mikayilov, Jeyhun

The Rebound Effect in Residential Energy Demand: The Case of Saudi Arabia

Mohammad Aldubyan, Fateh Belaïd, Anwar Gasim

A Bird’s-Eye View of the Rebound Effect Although the rebound effect phenomenon has sparked heightened policy and academic debate in recent years, the topic is not new. The concept of rebound – and its extreme form, “backfire”, where energy efficiency…

Aldubyan, Mohammad

Belaïd, Fateh

Gasim, Anwar

Exploring the Effect of a Transportation Subsidy on Saudi Arabia’s Main Labor Force Indicators

Mansour Al Rajhi, Cian Mulligan

As part of the strategic roadmap for Saudi Vision 2030, the Saudi Arabian government set a goal in 2017 to increase female participation in the workforce from 22% to 30%. This goal falls under objective 4, Increase Employment, of the…

Mansour Al Rajhi

Mulligan, Cian

Saudi-China Collaboration on Renewable Energy Supply Chains

Many countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have reinforced their interest in enhancing domestic value creation from renewable energy industries while striving to achieve their green energy transition targets. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has identified…

Consult Within: Analyzing the Recent Decision to Localize Consultancy Professions in Saudi Arabia

Cian Mulligan

In October 2022, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) issued a decision mandating the progressive localization of consultancy professions up to 40% by the end of March 2024. Such targeted localization (or Saudization) of specific professions…

Mulligan, Cian

Saudis in the Private Sector: Women Leading the Way

Cian Mulligan

In Q3 2018, 30% of Saudi employment was in the private sector, and by Q1 2022 this had increased to 46%. A major driver of this increase was the comparative outperformance of Saudi women, of whom over 60% now work…

Mulligan, Cian

Impact of Stay-home Orders on the Electricity Demand of Residential Buildings: Case Study of Saudi Arabia

Mohammad Aldubyan, Moncef Krarti

The analysis presented in this paper evaluates the impact of the COVID-19 stay-home order (or lockdown) on electricity consumption among Saudi residential building stock. Our analysis is based on an assessment of monitored data obtained for a sample of housing…

Aldubyan, Mohammad

Krarti, Moncef

Balancing China’s Energy Security and Its Transition to Carbon Neutrality

Dongmei Chen, Mari Luomi

At the United Nations (UN) General Assembly’s seventy-fifth session held on September 20, 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged that China would reach peak carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. This is seen as a significant…

Chen, Dongmei

Luomi, Mari

Role of Energy Efficiency in Designing Carbon-neutral Residential Communities: Case Study of Saudi Arabia

Moncef Krarti, Mohammad Aldubyan

This study focuses on the impact of improving the energy efficiency of housing units on the design of carbon-neutral grid-connected residential communities in Saudi Arabia. Particularly, it examines the efficacy of both photovoltaic systems and wind turbines as on-site renewable…

Krarti, Moncef

Aldubyan, Mohammad

The Role of Building Energy Efficiency in Shaping the Energy Transition in Saudi Arabia: Key challenges and initiatives

Fateh Belaïd, Mohammad Aldubyan

This commentary discusses a crucial topic that has emerged in the policy and economic literature in recent years: the potential role of energy efficiency in the current energy transition. It provides a straightforward analysis of the prominent role that residential…

Belaïd, Fateh

Aldubyan, Mohammad

What Drove Saudi Arabia’s 2020 Fall in CO2 Emissions?

Thamir Al Shehri, Jan Frederik Braun, Anwar Gasim, Mari Luomi

In June 2021, the energy data provider Enerdata released its initial estimates for Saudi Arabia’s 2020 carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The data indicate that the Kingdom’s CO2 emissions from fuel combustion decreased by 3.3%, from 508.3 million tonnes of CO2…

Al Shehri, Thamir

Braun, Jan Frederik

Gasim, Anwar

Luomi, Mari

Cost-Effectiveness of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technologies for Reducing Peak Demand

Moncef Krarti, Mohammad Aldubyan

This paper describes an optimization-based approach to evaluate measures providing peak electricity demand reduction cost benefits for Saudi residential buildings. These measures can be categorized as energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) measures. Specifically, this paper models the existing…

Krarti, Moncef

Aldubyan, Mohammad

Building Back Better in Saudi Arabia With Energy Efficiency

Nicholas Howarth, Moncef Krarti, Thamir Al Shehri, Eric Williams, Mohammad Aldubyan, Jan Frederik Braun, Elizabeth Carey

The first priority for governments in managing the COVID-19 crisis is the health of their citizens. However, the implementation of restrictions on activity necessary for limiting the spread of the disease has caused the greatest global recession since the Great…

Howarth, Nicholas

Krarti, Moncef

Al Shehri, Thamir

Williams, Eric

Aldubyan, Mohammad

Braun, Jan Frederik

Carey, Elizabeth

Measuring to Manage: The Case for Improving CO2 Monitoring and Reporting in Saudi Arabia

Mari Luomi, Thamir Al Shehri, Nicholas Howarth

To support the transition to a circular carbon economy, there is an urgent need to develop robust domestic systems of carbon dioxide (CO2) and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) monitoring and reporting in the Kingdom. Such systems provide the essential evidence…

Luomi, Mari

Al Shehri, Thamir

Howarth, Nicholas

The Circular Carbon Economy Index – Methodological Approach and Conceptual Framework

Mari Luomi, Fatih Yılmaz, Thamir Al Shehri, Nicholas Howarth

The circular carbon economy (CCE) approach, developed during Saudi Arabia’s G20 Presidency and endorsed by G20 leaders and energy ministers, can be used as a framework for holistic assessments of all available energy and emission management technologies within the confines…

Luomi, Mari

Yılmaz, Fatih

Al Shehri, Thamir

Howarth, Nicholas

Economic Diversification Under Saudi Vision 2030

David Havrlant, Abdulelah Darandary

The last decade has brought a row of substantial changes that have profound implications for the hydrocarbon resource-rich economies. The general answer to a changing environment is: Adapt! From the macroeconomic perspective, this means diversifying the economy to broaden the…

Havrlant, David

Darandary, Abdulelah

The RCEP and its Potential Impact on Saudi Regional Exports

Philipp Galkin, Dongmei Chen

On November 15, 2020, 10 Southeast Asian economies, joined by Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, formed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) – the world’s largest trading bloc, representing about a third of the global economy (BBC…

Galkin, Philipp

Chen, Dongmei

The Future of the Petrochemicals Industry and Sino-Saudi Cooperation

The Covid-19 pandemic and the responses to it have had a pronounced impact on the global economy. Major consuming sectors for petrochemicals, including cars and appliances, construction and textiles, have suffered a slump in demand. The production outputs of petrochemicals…