Prince Saud bin Thunayyan, chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, inaugurated the First International Environmental Conference here yesterday. Prince Saud described the forum as significant. “This is a very important forum for the Kingdom as it has been created to tackle policy, legislation and control of industrial waste management across all industries.” The forum has brought together a number of senior decision-makers from a broad range of sectors and knowledge backgrounds. “The Royal Commission is committed to promoting sustainable best practices. We have created this forum to bring all industries together to learn from waste management experts and use industrial waste as a resource,” said Prince Saud. The forum, which is the first in Saudi Arabia to have been given accreditation by the Chartered Institute of Waste Management, has attracted several high-profile speakers and participants. Speaking at the one of the sessions, Dr. Khalid Al-Sulaiman, vice president for renewable energy at King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, underlined the need for energy mix diversification and its crucial and vital necessity for Saudi Arabia. “There is a dire need to create an awareness waste has substantial value as a significant source of energy,” Al-Sulaiman told the assembled guests. Among the speakers are experts from the United Kingdom, Austria, Japan and Germany. “All of them are focusing their attention on introducing new technologies and processes to reduce industrial waste,” said one of the organizers. The forum is being sponsored by Cristal, Saudi Environmental Services, GEMS UtilEco, Saudi Research and Publishing Group, SEPCO Environment, SAES Enviro, Ramky Group, Saudi Arabian Parsons, Leveraged Green Energy and Sanko Sangyo. Saudi Arabia can save SR 70 billion to SR 100 billion in electricity ?investment by taking measures for the preservation of energy and renewable energy, said Dr. Abdullah Al-Shahri, governor of the Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority. “Through rationalization of energy consumption we can also save 175 million barrels of oil in five years,” he told reporters. From : Arabnews