Quantitative analysis methods used in modeling power systems and climate change for Saudi Arabia

The relationship between energy consumption and economic growth and emission reduction is considered sustainable development, and it has been the subject of intense research in the last couple of decades. The authors believed that balancing emission reduction while satisfying growing energy demand is an important issue for both policy makers and researchers alike in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This seriousness in sustainable development in KSA should be clearly evident in the literature through the increasing number of articles found in top journals related to the area. In order to ascertain our assumptions, the authors of this chapter conducted a sample review of publications that focused on quantitative modeling of the dynamics of both power and environment aspects in Saudi Arabia. Analysis of the sample of articles under study clearly revealed an exponential increase in the use of quantitative models for analyzing the integration of power generation and emission reduction dimensions in KSA. This growth indicates an increase in the propensity of research to evolve from descriptive energy studies to systems modeling that focuses more on KSA’s energy mix and emission reduction.