From: Abdulla Al-Abdulla, Shouq Al-Musleh, Antonios Sichanis, Selina Haddad

To: Dr Naqaa Abbas

Subject: ENGL210 Technical Report for Project 2
Date: May 6, 2023

Abstract:
Gas emissions from fuel-gas cars have been an ever-growing problem in Qatar. Each year, a hotter summer
is experienced within Qatar, and a strive for sustainable solutions to transport people across the country is
sought after. The objective of this technical report is to discuss potential environment-friendly solutions that
can substitute fuel-gas cars in Qatar. The need for this analysis is to review three potential solutions –
air-conditioned paths, the Doha metro, and electric vehicles – and find the most appropriate solution to be
implemented within the country. This was done by studying research papers and comparing the feasibility of
each solution based on the information obtained. After the implementation of a decision matrix, the team
decided that electric vehicles are the best of the three solutions to be implemented, and a further discussion
on our recommendation helped us confirm our decision.

Keywords: Gas Emissions, Electric Vehicles, Air-Conditioning, Doha Metro

Introduction:
With a growing population in Qatar, the demand for private vehicles has increased. Consequently, the high
number of fuel-gas cars on the roads has led to atrocious environmental impacts, such as greenhouse gas
emissions (Planning and Statistics Authority, 2019). While multiple solutions to combat environmental issues
arose over the years, fuel-gas cars remain the main form of transport; however, 89% of transportation leading
to climate change are vehicles (Al-Thawadi & Al-Ghamdi, 2019). This problem holds importance as Qatar
must face local environmental issues, such as pollution, making the environmental aspect of the country a
major pillar in Qatar’s national vision (General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2008). Therefore, it is
important to find sustainable and implementable solutions for fuel-gas cars that can allow Qatar to meet the
goals set in the environmental pillar of its national vision.

Methodology:
To select an appropriate solution, our team had to go through three main processes: brainstorming,
researching, and deciding. During the brainstorming process, our team decided to share all the possible
solutions and save the solutions, which the entire team was satisfied with. Once the potential solutions were
down to three, the research process was initiated – each team member researched one topic and tried to
convince the rest of the team that their solution was the best out of the three. The research process was
completed using research papers and online blogs to find reviews of the users of different solutions in Qatar
and its neighboring countries. Finally, with Qatar’s National Vision taken into consideration, a decision matrix
was used to select the best solution based on the following criteria: sustainability, implementation,
functionality, and affordability.

Results:
1. Air-Conditioned Paths

Due to Qatar’s temperatures reaching 43 ℃, its government implemented the solution of air-conditioned
paths in 2019 (Hardiman J., 2021). Air-conditioned paths are a solution that allows people to walk and cycle
instead of using cars to move from one place to another. This solution can be specifically implemented when
people use cars for short trips in the summer heat. Many settings across Qatar have implemented outdoor
air spaces, such as open air-markets, walkways, and stadiums. Katara Cultural Village, Al Gharrafa Park,
and Al-Janoub Stadium are examples of places across Qatar that have implemented the idea of
air-conditioned spaces.

Although Qatar heavily relies on non-renewable resources, it has started to use solar panels to power the
country instead of depending on non-renewable resources. Qatar now has over 1.8 million solar panels that
work and can produce 10% of the total energy the country consumes (Aboualabass B., 2022). One initiative
that Qatar has taken towards this solution is the use of solar energy to provide power for these
air-conditioned systems, thus making the solution a sustainable one (Dar Al-Sharq, 2021).

Despite air-conditioned spaces being a solution for fuel-gas cars, they could be disadvantageous. Initially,
air conditioner systems were costly and required a lot of energy to power them, so the country must
consume a lot of energy to cool the air. When an AC unit reaches the end of its useful life, planet-warming
hydrofluorocarbon vapors can leak into the atmosphere when the coolant escapes. (Gunia A., 2022).

2. The Doha Metro

Qatar has implemented the Doha Metro, one of the fastest driverless metro systems in the world, to make
transportation for people more accessible and less reliant on cars (Agarwal K., 2022). Its accessibility has
allowed it to become the most popular form of public transportation, with it exceeding 100 million passengers
since its launch in 2019 (Qatar News Agency, 2023).

The metro is advantageous as it is affordable and functional. In terms of affordability, the standard train costs
2 QAR per ride (Desk M., 2022). In comparison to a ride in Dubai, which would cost 3 AED per ticket
(Rodriguez E., 2023), Doha’s metro system is more affordable. The metro system is also functional as it
does not require anyone to pay attention to driving, which makes it more convenient than cars.

However, this solution requires a lot of money to start new updates and utilize power. Initially, it cost Qatar
around 36 billion dollars to implement the metro (Kilani H.,2022), and if any changes were to be made to the
metro, it could cost more. In addition, the metro is not fully available in terms of time and locations: the metro
timings are from 6 am to 11 pm from Saturday to Wednesday, 6 am to 12 midnight on Thursday, and from 2
pm to 12 am on Friday. Hence, relying on the metro and its timings can restrict the user from travelling at
their selected time. In terms of locations, the metro does not fully cover Doha, so travelling to a desired
location might require a form of transportation in addition to the metro.

3. Electric Vehicles (EVs)

Using EVs is another potential solution that could be further implemented in Qatar to reduce carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions by fuel-gas cars. Many projects in Qatar have been put into place to decrease the emission
of CO2 and enhance the dependence on renewable energy sources to align with Qatar’s 2030 national vision
(US-Qatar Business Council, 2021). For instance, 25% of the buses were electric during the World Cup
(Ministry of Transport and Communications, 2021). Consequently, this has allowed Qatar to promote
sustainability and continuously use electric buses after the world cup.
Additionally, EV adoption is occurring on a global scale. For example, Norway succeeded in adopting EVs:
In 2022, the percentage of sales of electric vehicles has increased from 2.9% to 65% in 2021 and 79.3%
during the past ten years (Johnson, 2023). The Norwegian government's decision to remove value-added tax
(VAT) and purchase taxes on EVs has significantly reduced the cost of buying them compared to fossil-fuel
cars (Norwegian Ministry of Finance, 2017). This proactive step has encouraged the citizens of Norway to
consider EVs as a viable option. Moreover, car companies in Norway have been incentivized by the
government's low tax rates on EVs (Norwegian Ministry of Finance, 2017), which has made adopting EVs
more beneficial than fossil-fuel cars. As a result, the adoption of EVs by car companies has increased
significantly.

In recent years, some of the Gulf countries have taken steps towards promoting the use of EVs as part of
reducing greenhouse gas emissions. For example, in UAE, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority and the Road
Transport Authority impose EV advantages, such as free parking, exemption from tolls, and lower registration
prices (Zawya, 2022).

Analysis:

The solutions have been analyzed under four different criteria: sustainability, implementation, functionality,
and affordability. The analysis was completed via the extraction of information from sources, and finally going
through the decision matrix in Table 1.

Table 1: Decision Matrix

1. Air-Conditioned Spaces

Implementing air-conditioners for outdoor applications has already been done in parks, stadiums, and
outdoor areas. However, those are small-scale solutions (Hukoomi, 2022) and can be implemented on a
larger scale.

The small-scale approaches of this solution utilize solar power energy which makes this solution
environmental-friendly. The aftereffects of the prolonged use of these systems, however, hinder this solution
from being a recommended solution. After many months of operation, the air-conditioners tend to release
coolant gas if not maintained often, consequently polluting the atmoshpere (Gunia A., 2022). They would
require maintenance every 600 days as stated by ashghal (Ashghal, 2020).

Furthermore, applying air-conditioning under the streets in major cities would be incredibly costly for
implementation, and would interfere with the existing pipelines that run throughout the underground pipe
systems in every area. With a minimum clearance of 1.2 metres between the ground and the sewage pipe
lines (Ashghal, 2013), it does not leave ample room for a major air-conditioning unit (such as the one at al
gharafa park) to exist within the small gap. Therefore this produces construction restrictions.

In terms of affordability, the Ministry of Transportation can fund such a project over a long period of time. And
in terms of its usage towards the population, people currently find it difficult to walk short distances during the
summer months therefore the air-conditioned paths would be incredibly helpful. However, long distances may
pose to be unnecessary due to people not needing to walk incredibly long distances to reach their
destinations. In general, the best way to maximise the use of such a solution would be to identify where
people walk the most, and implement the idea there.

2. The Doha Metro

The successes of the metro ever since its launch made it a great solution to combat gas emissions. With a
few enhancements that could be made, it can perform much greater than its current state. When improving
the performance of the metro, there are numerous factors that come into consideration: the structure of the
railway, the speed of the train itself, the scheduling of the trains, the length of the train system itself, and even
the availability.

When sustainable solutions are being sought after, methods such as adjusting the physical system of the
train station seem to be the best choice since it improves the fuel efficiency of the entire system and burns
less fuel overall. However such improvements have been anticipated to being costly since the metro system
initially costed around 36 billion dollars (Kilani H.,2022). In terms of performance, the trains would need to
have a much lighter body for better fuel economy, as well as effective acceleration to minimize fuel
consumption. With the body in mind, the train tracks would also have to be enhanced to support the faster
speeds of the trains.

3. Electric Vehicles

Despite electric vehicles increasing in demand around the world, it is still a new concept that is being
implemented in Qatar. So far, EVs have been mainly implemented in the form of buses during the World Cup.
The potential of reducing gas emissions from cars by introducing more electric cars to the market is profound
as zero gas emissions are released from electric vehicles, making this solution the quite sustainable. In
addition, an EV’s battery contains parts that can be recycled. For example, companies like Tesla and BMW
are working on battery-recycling programs (Matousek, 2019). This ensures that the energy needed to
produce EV batteries can be obtained without constantly generating harmful pollutants.

In addition, EVs are relatively affordable. Compared to the cost of enhancement of trains, and the cost of
construction of underground air-conditioned paths throughout Doha as mentioned previously, investing in
electric cars is inexpensive.

In terms of implementation, it is easy to import EVs and build charging stations in comparison to interfering
with underground pipelines or the way trains are programmed to run. Therefore, EVs are considered the
easiest solution to implement.

Lastly, Norway's successful policies for promoting EVs could be replicated in Qatar to encourage more
people to adopt EVs, resulting in more EVs on the roads. Currently, there are no taxes on car purchases in
Qatar (General Tax Authority, n.d.), but imposing taxes on fossil-fuel cars and exempting EVs could make
them more expensive and unaffordable, further incentivizing people to switch to EVs. For businesses and
companies in Qatar, offering low tax rates when adopting EVs, like Norway, could be an excellent way to
promote EV adoption and reduce the availability of fossil-fuel cars. This could increase the likelihood of
people choosing EVs over fossil-fuel vehicles.

Discussion of Recommendations:

After considering the proposed solutions, our team has concluded that implementing EVs would be the most
effective way to reduce the number of CO2 emissions generated by cars in Qatar out of the three options
presented. EVs are powered by a battery rather than burning fuel internally. Thus, it has lower greenhouse
gas emissions compared to fuel-gas cars, the metro, and air-conditioned spaces. Moreover, EVs do not have
tailpipes as they are powered by electricity, so they can produce zero tailpipe emissions. In addition, EV
manufacturers are setting requirements for their battery suppliers, which include using only clean energy
sources such as solar and wind during production (Samsara, 2023).

While electric vehicles offer numerous benefits, such as reduced emissions, there are still some significant
constraints that need to be considered. First, the heat reduces the battery life of EVs (Argue, 2020).
Therefore, it is important to develop a special feature that makes EVs resist heat in Qatar. Second, the fact
that EVs take up to eight hours to charge (1Access, 2016) can be a main constraint for buyers. In addition,
the cooling system in EVs has high power consumption (TLX Technologies, 2021). Therefore, it may lower
the amount of energy needed to run the EV.

One issue that might arise is the lack of financial gain as Qatar relies on selling fossil fuels for improving the
economy. It is suggested that fuel gases in Qatar are exported at larger volumes, allowing Qatar to redirect
its sources of profit without facing many losses due to the decrease in fuel consumption of cars.
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