Saudi Arabia: Energy Efficiency Center Seeks to Rationalize Consumption

Saudi Arabia: Energy Efficiency Center Seeks to Rationalize Consumption
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Saudi Arabia: Energy Efficiency Center Seeks to Rationalize Consumption

Saudi Arabia: Energy Efficiency Center Seeks to Rationalize Consumption

The Saudi Energy Efficiency Center launched on Sunday an awareness campaign aimed at clarifying the importance of rationalizing energy consumption and its optimal use at every moment to ensure its development and sustainability without affecting the welfare of citizens.

The campaign, which is the largest of its kind, follows a series of awareness campaigns that have been launched by the center annually since 2014 as part of its efforts, in cooperation with several government agencies working as one system, to control the increase in energy consumption in the Kingdom under the umbrella of the Saudi Energy Efficiency Program.

The five-week campaign presents energy and consumption changes over the past decades and how to maintain them to achieve many of the current and future positive impacts while consolidating many concepts and behaviors related to rationalizing energy consumption by presenting all the messages and advise provided by previous awareness campaigns to the Saudi Energy Efficiency Center.

This is aimed at raising awareness and changing the behaviors of the people who are consuming energy in order to conserve energy.

The campaign focuses on many of the Center’s initiatives, including capacity development and rehabilitation of local energy efficiency personnel.

It provides information and statistics on energy consumption in the building, land transportation, and industrial sectors and comparisons of the expected savings between the types of cars, in terms of fuel consumption, and air conditioners, in terms of energy consumption.

It also provides the results of censorship rounds that have been carried out at the customs outlets, local factories and the outlets and warehouses during the years 2014 to 2017 in order to apply technical specifications and standards related to energy efficiency.

The campaign aims to reach out to various groups and members of the society in the cities of the Kingdom through the use of all means of communication available, such as newspapers, radio and satellite channels, focusing on social networking.

Those who would like to read more on rationalizing consumption can visit the site of the campaign, “www.taqa.gov.sa”.



Gold Bounces Back from One-month Low after Fed Jitters

Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
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Gold Bounces Back from One-month Low after Fed Jitters

Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo

Gold prices erased losses to gain on Thursday, after dipping to the lowest level in a month earlier in the day on the Federal Reserve's hint of a possible rate cut slowdown next year.
Spot gold gained 1.2% to $2,617.96 per ounce as of 0748 GMT, having hit its lowest since Nov. 18 in early trade. However, US gold futures were trading 0.8% lower at $2,632.00.
Bullion declined more than 2% on Wednesday after the Fed lowered rates by 25 basis points as expected, but indicated that there will be fewer cuts by the end of 2025, boosting the dollar and bond yields.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said more reductions in borrowing costs now hinge on further progress in lowering stubbornly high inflation.
"The big question over here is that because the Fed says they will still be data-dependent and if Trump's policy starts to actually see inflation, a big risk would be that the Fed may not cut rates next year at all," said Kelvin Wong, OANDA's senior market analyst for Asia Pacific.
Markets now expect interest rates to remain unchanged at the Fed's January meeting.
"A rate cut is usually supportive for the yellow metal... but right now gold is up on short-covering after the dip," said Ajay Kedia, director at Kedia Commodities, Mumbai.
Traders are now awaiting key US GDP, initial jobless claims data later in the day and core PCE data - the Fed's preferred inflation measure - on Friday.
"If the US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data comes in line with expectations that shouldn't be a big surprise. But in case it inches up to 3% and above, we could see some pressure on gold again," Wong said, adding that very short-term oriented speculators are looking for opportunities to buy the dips.
Higher rates dull the appeal of the non-yielding asset.
Spot silver gained 0.8% to $29.59 per ounce, platinum added 0.9% to $927.75 and palladium advanced 1.7% to $917.86.