KACST Highlights Projects, Initiatives at the World Energy Congress

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) recently participated in the 26th annual World Energy Congress held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on April 22-25.

This year’s event theme was “Redesigning Energy for People and Planet.” KACST’s participation aimed to showcase the role of the national laboratory in accelerating technological development and localizing technologies in future economic sectors, energy and industry, and environment and sustainability. This aligns with the national aspirations and priorities for research, development, and innovation and achieves the goals of Vision 2030 in enhancing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s global position.

During the event, KACST highlighted its initiatives in the future economy sector to visitors of the Saudi pavilion, which the Ministry of Energy supervised. Among the initiatives was the “Short- and Medium-Term Electricity Demand Forecasting Project,” which aims to predict the amount of demand for electricity, reduce waste for service providers, and lower electricity tariff costs for consumers.

KACST also presented the “Radiative Cooling Materials for Buildings Project” to exhibition visitors. The project aims to improve energy efficiency in buildings in dry and hot regions by using a new material derived from natural sand. The material is distinguished by its ability to self-cool buildings without consuming electricity.

KACST reviewed its initiatives in the field of environment and sustainability, such as the “Carbon Dioxide Sequestration in Basalt Rocks Project,” which stores harmful carbon emissions in volcanic basalt rocks that are widespread along the Kingdom’s western coast, contributing to achieving the Kingdom’s goals of reaching net zero emissions by 2060, improving air quality, and protecting the environment.

During the event, Dr. Majed Al-Aawad, a KACST researcher, gave a presentation on “Metal-Organic Frameworks as a Platform for Carbon Capture,” which are porous materials with a high surface area that can selectively absorb carbon dioxide, representing a potential breakthrough in carbon-capture technologies.