Abstract
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is considered one of the countries with the highest consumption of electric energy per capita. Moreover, during the period of 2007–2017, the consumption rate increased from 6.9 MWh to 9.6 MWh. On the other hand, the share of residential electricity consumption in the KSA constitutes the biggest portion of the total electric consumption, which was about 48% in 2017. The objectives of this work were to analyze the exergy and assess the economic and environmental impacts of energy consumption in the residential sector of the Qassim region to determine potential areas for energy rationalization. The consumption patterns of 100 surveyed dwellings were analyzed to establish energy consumption indicators and conduct exergy analysis. The performances of different consuming domestic items were also examined, and energy efficiency measures are proposed. The average yearly consumption per dwelling was determined, and the total energy and exergy efficiencies are 145% and 11.38%, respectively. The average shares of lighting, domestic appliances, water heaters, and air conditioning from the total yearly energy consumption were determined.
Highlights
Energy is a source of life and development in any country
It is noted that the roof isolation percentage of the buildings under investigation increased from 31% to 43% in the present work, which indicates an increasing awareness of its importance
Energy consumption patterns of the residential buildings in the Qassim region in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) were analyzed in order to determine how they could become more sustainable
Summary
Energy is a source of life and development in any country. At the same time, energy consumption leads to environmental and health damage, as well as depletion of the economy if the consumption process is inefficient. It is essential to ensure adequate energy and efficient consumption. In 2017, in the KSA, the total primary energy supply was 211.32 Mtoe, while the total final consumption was 140.71 Mtoe; this means that the energy system efficiency was about 67% in this year. It can be observed that 10% of the final energy was consumed in the residential sector. It should be noted here that the fuel consumed in the industry sector was not all burned, and part of it (about 20% of the total) was used in the chemical industry. In 2017, the fuel consumption for electricity production was divided into natural gas (53.7%) and oil (46.3%) [2].
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