One of Saudi Arabia’s leading national challenges is soaring energy consumption. As one of the world’s largest oil producers, Saudi Arabia keeps domestic energy prices low through subsidies, and as a result the Kingdom is threatened by unrestrained domestic fuel consumption which has increased by more than 30% since 2000.
Energy use per capita.
A new research paper by Samar Khan, Hafez Abdo, and Abdulrahman Al-Ghabban takes a look at consumer awareness of energy usage. “This increased and inefficient consumption is causing environmental pollution and is leaving the country vulnerable to economic and social crises,” the authors write.
The paper seeks to address several difficult questions head-on, like why Saudi Arabia hasn’t yet fully embraced energy efficiency despite its national importance. “Results suggest that Saudi consumer behaviors, particularly energy consuming behaviors are influenced by social, cultural, educational and economic factors.”
“A high percentage of participants (84%) knew what the term ‘energy efficiency’ meant. As such, it can be argued than energy efficiency non-compliance is not about a lack of awareness of what efficiency is.”
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