Dubai Municipality, a member of the Supreme Council of Energy, or SCE, aims to cut its water and electricity consumption by 20 per cent in the next five years in line with Dubai’s Integrated Energy Strategy that targets a 30 per cent reduction in energy demand in the emirate by 2030.

At the SCE’s 18th board meeting, Dubai Municipality presented its ongoing energy-efficiency drive, which has delivered notable electricity and water savings and a reduction in carbon emissions, and plans to utilise solar power to light public spaces and parks, as well as to heat water.

Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the SCE, presided over the meeting held on Monday at the SCE’s new headquarters at Dubai Petroleum.

Vice-Chairman Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said the council is managing the ongoing implementation of the Dubai Integrated Gas Strategy 2030, which falls within the wider framework of the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030.

“The council discussed the implementation of the first phase of the Dubai Integrated Gas Strategy,” he said.

Nejib Zafrani, Secretary-General and CEO of the SCE, was also present.

The board reviewed the council’s visit to Brazil in June, led by Al Tayer, to attend the Rio+20 Earth Summit. At the event, the SCE presented its progress on ongoing demand abatement and supply-side strategies, and the Council’s position on implementing renewable energy initiatives.

The meeting also reviewed preparations for the World Energy Forum 2012, which will take place in Dubai between October 22 and 24, the first time outside of its United Nations headquarters in New York.

The Energy Forum is an opportunity for global decision-makers to debate world energy issues, and aims to establish a global platform promoting sustainable energies, energy efficiency and clean technology.

In June, SEC reviewed the implementation of energy efficiency initiatives in Dubai, which target a 30 per cent reduction in energy demand in Dubai by 2030.

In 2011, Dubai power capacity grew by 18 per cent. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, or Dewa, said its capacity increased to 8,718 megawatts, or MW, for 2011 in comparison with 7,361MW in 2010. Desalinated water production capacity increased in 2011 to 400 million gallons per day, or MIGD, in comparison with 330 MIGD in 2010.

Collective energy demand in the UAE, the second largest Arab hydrocarbon consumer, grew by around 5.2 per cent in 2011.

From around 1.48 million equivalent barrels per day, or ebpd, in 2010, domestic consumption of crude oil, gas and other energy sources increased to nearly 1.56 million ebpd, according to the Kuwaiti-based Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The UAE energy demand has steadily risen over the past years, recording a growth of about nine per cent since 2007, one of the highest energy growth rates in the world. Energy consumption in the UAE recorded its highest growth of around 22.9 per cent in 2008 as a result of an upsurge in its economy after crude prices leaped by nearly 50 per cent to an average $ 95 a barrel.