Research Profiles

The prime industrial players in the Qatari economy are oil and gas companies with activities in production and transformation of natural resources. The adverse environmental and unsustainable effects of the extraction and use of these non-renewable energy resources are quite known. Nationwide, enhancing oil and gas production and their transformation into products, mitigating their adverse effects on the environment, as well as reducing energy consumption while promoting alternative renewable energy sources are highlighted in both the Qatar National Vision 2030 and Qatar National Development Strategy 2. Therefore, this pillar is important to research activities and is considered essential since it is contributing to the core of national economy and can lead to more sustainable and environmentally friendly options. Thus, optimization must play an essential role throughout the whole value chain of the energy sector. The reliance of Qatar on fossil fuels has led to domestic challenges. Unsustainable energy and water use, driven in part by energy subsidies, has contributed to environmental degradation: from increasing groundwater salinity to urban air pollution. Moreover, anthropogenic climate change will lead to severe environmental and social consequences. It is in the national interest to mitigate the effects of these changes through long-term planning by deploying technologies and policies that can lead to optimal and sustainable resource use.In the modern business world, the influence and applicability of mathematical modelling and optimization technologies in various industries continues to grow. More and more institutions and enterprises use mathematical optimization tools on a daily basis. The technology of mathematical modelling and optimization was first introduced and successfully used more than 70 years ago and is still relevant and important today. The main reasons why mathematical optimization is still such an important technology are: 1. Greater availability and quality of data. Over the last decades, the availability of data has increased and the quality of data has improved. enterprises today have access to huge amounts of data and they want to use that data to make better decisions, and that's what mathematical optimization is all about. There is no other technology that can do this with the same robustness as mathematical optimization and with a guarantee of the quality of the generated solutions. 2. Emergence of advanced analysis technologies. Till recently, mathematical modelling and optimization applications were often sidelined and undertaken by the IT departments of enterprises. But over the last ten years, with the explosion of cutting-edge analytical technologies such as AI and machine learning, the world of business has markedly changed. Mathematical modelling and optimization have taken on a central and critical role in many industries and its importance and value will only increase in the coming years. 3. We are witnessing how even medium and small business use mathematical optimization. Traditionally, mathematical modelling and optimization were used primarily as a decision support tool to solve long-term planning problems, but now they are increasingly being used to solve real-time execution problems and thus have become an integral part of the daily work of many businesses. There are three key factors driving this shift in the use of mathematical optimization from scheduling to real-time execution: • Improving the speed and power of mathematical optimizers, which are now able to solve even the most complex business problems, sometimes in a matter of milliseconds; • Availability of user-friendly interfaces for mathematical optimization applications that allow even a non-specialist to use these very complex analytical tools; • Robust mathematical optimization solutions that can be embedded in a wide range of applications that are in the hands of non-business people who, in turn, can (without direct knowledge of the underlying mathematical model) make changes to the model using a high-level interface.

Qatar National Vision 2030's (QNV2030) and strategies are devised to address the challenges presented in previous human development reports published by the General Secretariat for Development Planning. One of the developmental pillars (Environment) outlines several distinct challenges facing Qatar's environment, which include a rapidly growing population, increased air pollution, and damage to natural habitats. Electric vehicles (EVs) are currently of immense interest all over the world and they have become one of trending topics in Qatar. This is a widely discussed subject in mass-media, scientific, governmental, and commercial communities. There are many different, and even contradictive, viewpoints about the wide-scale exploitation of EVs in Qatar. Different groups of interests present and defend different arguments, in particular, which are in-line with their interests. The information published in open sources are predominantly of journalistic and commercial character and there is a lack of academic studies based on objective facts and scientific justification which can serve as a basis for decision making. Such studies must discuss in-depth the economic and environmental dimensions of the problem. Meanwhile, a unique study which used an academic methodology to the problem made a major stride towards solving of this problem. However, this study didn't consider all economic and environmental factors. Moreover, it didn't discuss consumption of green fuel as a real alternative. This study also didn't measure the carbon footprint of electricity generation from natural gas in Qatar to be used as a pillar for the analysis. There are two diverged legends about EVs in Qatar. The first legend is borrowed from the best practices in developed countries where EVs have been proven by their economic and environmental advantages. The second legend insists on the local specific conditions which differ from those in developed countries. Among others, the influencing factors are the type of fuel for generation of electricity, charging stations, and after-sale service. This project aims to analyze the economic and environmental aspects of EVs introduction in Qatar based on scientific facts and real conditions in the country. It will provide the decision makers with scientific-grounded analysis and recommendations about the introduction of EVs in the country. This project will fill the gaps in previous studies, update and improve knowledge about the contemporary industry on EVs, their classification, and the most appropriate classes for Qatari conditions. Economic and environmental impacts comparing with traditional vehicles consuming fossil fuel and green fuel will be explained and discussed and, consequently, conclusions will be drawn out. It is hoped that the recommendations based on the undertaken study will have high practical value. This project will also discuss the latest updates on the ongoing researches in Qatar about perspectives of consumption of Green Fuel made of natural gas (Shell/QSTP), or hydrogen, which has a lower environmental impact than the traditional fossil fuel and could this be an appropriate alternative.