Lebanon and Investment in Renewable Energy
It may seem a luxury to argue that Lebanon must prepare for the transformations taking place in the energy sector at the global level, at a time when the country is drowning in crises that begin with the financial and economic crisis, pass through the presidential vacuum, the paralysis of the state's institutions and the erosion of its authority, and do not end with the Israeli aggression and the existential threat it poses to the Lebanese entity. Yet this must not prevent Lebanon from keeping pace with these transformations, especially since they have a direct bearing on electric power generation, which constituted one of the main causes of its financial and economic crisis.
What is meant by the energy transition is the shift from one particular source of energy production to another, with the aim of either using new, lower-cost and more abundant sources or, above all, curbing the emissions that cause climate change. Shifts in energy and its uses are nothing new to humanity: the world moved from using wood as an energy source to using coal in the 19th century, and then shifted to nuclear power, to oil and subsequently to gas in the 20th century, without abandoning coal.
What distinguishes today's transition from earlier ones is the urgent need to protect the planet from climate change, which poses the greatest threat it has ever faced, and the necessity of limiting its dangerous effects as quickly as possible. Despite calls since the 1980s to reduce the use of fossil fuels, low coal, oil and gas prices hindered the expansion of renewable energy use. Conversely, falling costs for renewable technologies over the past decade (2010-2019) accelerated these shifts.
As for Lebanon, despite joining the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in 2009 and pledging to secure 12% of its energy supply from clean and renewable sources by 2020, none of that was achieved at the time. Even so, Lebanon went on to ratify the Paris Agreement on March 29, 2019, adopting another ambitious target of covering 30% of its primary energy consumption from renewable energy sources by 2030. That goal is impossible to achieve amid the financial, economic and political crises sweeping Lebanon, in addition to military and security risks.
Initiatives by households and private companies to use renewable energy to meet their electricity needs have compensated for the state's inability and failure to carry out its international commitments and fulfill its responsibility to provide citizens' needs for sustainable energy. The total capacity of privately initiated solar power installations has exceeded 1,200 megawatts, or roughly 15% of total electricity consumption, according to a statement made by Minister of Energy and Water Walid Fayad to a Lebanese newspaper.
By contrast, the cost of electricity generation in Lebanon remains at high levels comparable to what it was before the financial and economic crisis, with the cost of providing 12 hours of power supply reaching $140 million a month, or roughly $1.7 billion a year. The cost per kilowatt-hour stands at between 14 and 15 cents, equivalent to double what it would cost if generated using Egyptian gas, which Lebanon was promised without ever receiving. This should prompt the minister, and the government with him, to incentivize investment in renewable energy, particularly in the resources available, to reduce the electricity bill before it is too late.
Renewable energy has undergone rapid developments and gained considerable interest and appeal since the turn of this century, especially over the past ten years. These advances have not been confined to one source of clean and renewable energy over another, but have extended to most of them. In solar energy, the cell technologies used have evolved to produce power that is more viable in terms of overall cost and more technically efficient and effective, extending to the integration of transparent cells into window glass, in addition to paints that can be applied to surfaces to make them energy-generating.
Wind energy applications have in turn seen major technological advances, with the invention of vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) capable of capturing wind from various directions instead of conventional horizontal-axis wind turbines. Airborne kite power-generation systems (kite wind energy systems) represent an advanced development that makes it possible to harness wind power, which increases with the altitudes these kites can reach.
The use of floating wind farms has also enabled wind energy systems to take advantage of the strong, consistent winds available in deep and distant offshore areas. Nor are the advances seen in hydropower technologies and those used in geothermal systems any less important than the technological developments and innovations mentioned above.
Biomass energy production technologies have in turn witnessed significant advances, much like other renewable energy technologies, particularly in technology for processing fast-growing algae with high oil content. Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), the technology of capturing and storing carbon dioxide simultaneously with the energy production process, also constitutes one of the major technological developments in generating energy from biomass without allowing emissions that pollute the air and the environment.
In addition to the above, waste-to-energy technologies, one of the methods for producing energy from biomass, feature a number of advanced applications, such as anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis and gasification, which help convert organic waste into electric power. Most importantly, these technologies treat waste without resorting to landfilling, with the environmental damage that entails and the risk of causing fires due to methane gas emissions.
Perhaps the progress made in technologies for generating energy from biomass makes them among the electric power generation methods most needed in Lebanon, where landfills proliferate haphazardly. On the one hand, this technology helps solve the chronic waste-landfilling crisis and reduce environmental damage as well as the risk of fires and explosions; on the other, it provides a sustainable source of electric power generation, in whose supply Lebanon suffers a severe shortage and irregularity.
Lebanon generates more than 5,500 tons of waste daily, 99% of which goes to landfills and unregulated dumps, according to the Ministry of Environment. The economic crisis has altered the composition of waste, with the share of organic waste rising to 70% in 2021 after having stood at just 50% in 2017. The number of unregulated waste dumps may equal the number of Lebanese towns and villages, while the number of landfills exceeds seven that have reached their maximum capacity without the Lebanese government managing to adopt a sustainable solution for them.
Ironically, in 2014 the Lebanese government was moving toward treating waste through incinerators, instead of adopting the advanced technologies mentioned above, which address existing landfills and prevent the establishment of new ones. Perhaps one of the positives of the financial and economic crisis sweeping Lebanon, if it has any positives, is the scrapping of waste incinerators and the high cost they entail, especially since such incinerators preclude converting waste into virtually free electric power, at a time when there are no indications that the government will soon adopt sustainable solutions.
Successive governments' approach to the chronic waste crisis, which persists to this day despite numerous attempts and multiple formulas, is proof of the ruling class's unwillingness to find a genuine solution to this crisis that would at the same time help solve part of the electricity crisis. Lebanon's problem lies in the poor governance of its human and economic capabilities, the mismanagement of its available resources, and the deliberate squandering of its revenues at the expense of the nation and the future of its people.
If Lebanon has so far not been permitted to extract the oil and gas held in its exclusive economic zone, continuing to provide electric power supply at the current high cost carries the risk of accumulating debt once again. This leaves Lebanon with limited options, chief among them investing in renewable energy and incentivizing citizens to rely on renewable energy sources of all kinds, even if oil and gas are to be extracted tomorrow.
Translated from Arabic with AI. Read it in Arabic