The Question of Diminishing Arab Dependence on Non-Renewable Sources

Transcription

1 Committee: Issue: Student Officer: Arab League The Question of Diminishing Arab Dependence on Non-Renewable Sources Omar El-Shahidi (President of the Arab League), and Anas Soliman (Chair of the Arab League) I- Introduction The Arab World has been hailed many times as a great source of non-renewable energy such as oil and natural gas. Alone, the Arab world produces nearly a third of world oil supply, around an average of 26.3 million barrels per day. 1 Oil is perhaps the main energy source for the entire Arab world, and natural gas comes second. Renewable energy is hardly being utilized in any of the Arab states, yet the Arab world has the potential to be fully dependent on renewable energy. Politicians around the world have already stated that the technology of the future is renewable energy. Already the energy race has begun. The United States of America has begun major projects to lessen its consumption of non-renewable energy and switching its dependence to non-renewable sources. According to the Washington Post, the White House has begun installing solar panels. 2 Not to mention that Germany has already programs that are effectively running for renewable energy. The Arab world must also take part of this technological race and advance swiftly. Non-renewable energy sources will soon dry out with a high rate of consumption, and in the meantime, shall damage the environment that will ultimately affect future generations. Switching energy dependence is a matter of great importance to the Arab world. Until now, the Arab states do not have major programs in effect that will indeed help it to be completely independent on renewable energy. II- Involved Countries and Organizations [Egypt] According to the New & Renewable Energy Authority in Egypt, their aim is to satisfy 20% of the electric energy demand from renewable energy resources, by the year 2020, including about 12% from wind power, 8% from others RE sources (hydro power, solar energy,...). 3 Not to mention that on the 24 th of September 2013, the Minister of Electricity and Energy, Ahmed Imam, stated that a decision will seek to have high energy consuming factories meet 50% of their needs using new and renewable energy sources, specifically wind energy factories funded through the private sector, capable of producing 970 megawatts of energy. He also added, the Ministry soon planned on releasing 6 projects to produce electricity via independent power producing (IPP) wind farms capable of producing 600 megawatts. These projects will be implemented in the Gulf of Suez region and the decision will be taken into effect by 2015, as stated by the Minister. 4 Egypt has already received investments from investors, such as the UAE s green energy firm Masdar, to fund the $580m project. 5 Also in 2010, the Emirati firm and the Egyptian New and Renewable Energy Authority, signed an agreement that would construct a 200-megawatt wind park in Egypt as a collaboration in the green energy sector between the two countries. Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou announced that there are three projects planned to introduce renewable energy and clean energy to tourism in Egypt. One of these projects aims to use natural gas 1 Fattouh, Bassem, and Laura El- Katiri. Energy and Arab Economic Development. Rep. United Nations Development Program, Web. 5 Oct < hdr.org/publications/other/ahdrps/engfattouhkatiriv2.pdf>. 2 Eilperin, Juliet. "White House Solar Panels Being Installed This Week." Washington Post. Washington Post, 15 Aug Web. 5 Oct < politics/wp/2013/08/15/white- house- solar- panels- finally- being- installed/>. 3 "Welcome to NREA Site." Welcome to NREA Site. Web. 04 Nov < 4 Al- Manufi, Salih. "Government Mandates High Consumption Factories to Use Renewable Energy to Meet Half Their Needs." Daily News Egypt RSS. 24 Sept Web. 04 Nov < mandates- high- consumption- factories- to- use- renewable- energy- to- meet- half- their- needs/>. 5 Badawi, Nada. "Egypt's Renewable Energy Draws Interest, but Little Progress." Daily News Egypt RSS., 02 Sept Web. 04 Nov < renewable- energy- draws- interest- but- little- progress/>. 1

2 instead of diesel in tour buses, after the construction of natural gas stations. The other aims to implement intelligent lighting, which detects the presence of people and turns the lights on or off in corridors and hallways automatically, in order to save energy. The third project aims to switch a 100,000 hotel rooms to solar water heating in the next five years. 6 [Jordan] The Jordanian National Energy Strategy aims for the share of renewable energy in the total energy supplied to reach 10% by Also, plans exist to generate 2,000MW in forms of solar and wind energy projects, with over 60 international firms expressing interest to fund these projects, as a long-term investment. Furthermore, the Jordanian government aims to generate 30-50MW of biomass by the year of Jordan has these following projects drawn up to reach its aims: 8 1. Al-Kamshah Wind Project, which aims to generate MWs. In March 2009, a team was selected encompassing Vector Aeolian Park, Enara Energy Investments, and Terna Energy to build a wind farm in Al-Kamshah. 2. Fuijeij wind project which is to generate 90MW shall be funded and build by private investors handpicked by the Jordanian government. After the initial phase of 90MW has been constructed, it shall be expanded to 250MW, as stated by the Jordanian government. 3. A wind project, Wadi Araba, which is to produce between 25-30MW. This project would readily fit into the existing electricity supply chain as an Independent Power Producer or Public Private Partnership stated the Jordanian government. 4. Three wind turbines to be stationed at Wadi Araa, Ma an, and Al-Harir to generate a combination of 400 MW. 5. JOAN 1 solar project, a 100MW solar plant located in Ma an, developed by the German firm MENA Cleantech, is expected to commence operation in This project shall be the world s largest concentrated solar thermal power plan using direct solar steam generation. Jordan has already several of wind power plants in effect such as in two at Ibrahimyah and Hofa. The Ibrahimyah plant consists of 4 wind turbines with a capacity of 0.08 MW each. 9 On the other hand, the Hofa plant consists of 5 wind turbines with the capacity of MW for each one. 10 [Tunisia] The Tunisian government developed the first national Solar Energy plan by December 2009, with the objective to increase the share of renewable energy sources to 4.3% in Solar water heating systems, solar photovoltaic systems, and solar concentrated power units are included for electricity generation. The energy savings expected to come out of the SEP could reach 22% for 2016, not to mention a reduction of 1.3 million tonnes of CO2 per year. PROSOL, the Tunisian Solar Programme is a joint initiative of the Tunisian National Agency for Energy Conservation (ANME), the state utility Société Tunisienne de l'electricité et de Gaz (STEG), the United Nations Environment Programme and the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea. This project is already in place and quite effective as it reached its initial goal of covering 400,000 m 2. Already the 6 Badawi, Nada. "Egypt's Renewable Energy Draws Interest, but Little Progress." Daily News Egypt RSS., 02 Sept Web. 04 Nov < renewable- energy- draws- interest- but- little- progress/>. 7 "Conference Poster." The University of Jordan. Ju.edu.jo, 26 Jan Web. 4 Nov < 8 Preston, Martin. "Renewable Energy in Jordan." Norton Rose Fulbright. Norton Rose Fulbright, Feb Web. 04 Nov < energy- in- jordan>. 9 "Ibrahimyah Wind Power Station." CEGCO. Central Electricity Generating Co, Web. 04 Nov < 10 "Hofa Wind Power Station." CEGCO. Central Electricity Generating Co., Web. 04 Nov < 2

3 Tunisian government has set a new goal of covering 750,000 m 2 for the period in As of 2008, PROSOL helped avoid 214,000 tonnes of cumulative CO2 emissions. 11 The Tunisian president took an oath to pursue a sustainable energy policy on June 27 th. New energy plans are being outlined by the government and should be presented to the National Constituent Assembly by the end of According to Tunisian news agency, TAP, this road map is intended to outline the steps taken till the year of Alexander Kurz, head of the Environment Department at the Tunisian-German Chamber of Commerce (AHK), has promised legal reforms that will allow Tunisia to cooperate with the private energy companies. These law changes will bring new attention to this problem and help the private sector to develop real strategies for embracing renewable energy, Kurz said. 13 According to the Tunisian President, Marzouki, the governmental energy plan will highlight rationalization of consumption across economic sectors, development of hydrocarbon resources, and improved power connections with Tunisia s neighboring countries. 14 [Morocco] Morocco is already quite advanced in the terms of renewable energy as it has many projects constructed, and even more in the process of construction. It has seven projects already constructed in the field of wind energy that have a combined production of 447 MW. On the other hand, the seven projects under construction are predicted to have a combined production of 1075 MW. While in the field of solar power, Morocco has launched one of the largest solar energy projects worth an estimated of 9$ billion. Its aim is to generate 2000MW of solar generation capacity by 2020, through five solar power stations. MASEN, the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy, has been created to lead the project. In 2019, the entire project will be commissioned, starting with the first plant in This solar project is predicted that after its completion it shall provide 18% of Morocco s annual electricity generation. 15 MASEN has received many offers on the interest to design, construct, operate, maintain, and finance the first of the five planned solar power stations. The 160MW first phase of the 500MW plant in the town of Ouarzazate was given to ACWA Power, a Saudi Arabian company, which will sell the electricity produced for $0.19/kWh. Construction of the Ouarzazate solar plant officially began on the 10 th of May, III- Focused Overview of the Issue 1) Negative dependence on oil and natural gas The Arab World enjoys a huge supply of oil and natural gas, both very significant resources in our world today. These resources are a major source of income for Arabic countries economies. However, the overdependence of economies on these limited and scarce resources may lead to a drastic economic breakdown on the long run. The fact that the Arab World is rich in these resources may be a disadvantage more than an advantage. Governments must start to rely more on renewable resources and realize that these non-renewable resources are becoming dangerously scarce, and that a regional economic crisis will follow if countries continue to rely on these limited resources. 11 "Green Economy." United Nations Environment Programme. UNEP, Web. 4 Nov < 12 Hartmann, Alexandra. "Renewable Energy in Tunisia." Tunisia Live., 02 July Web. 04 Nov < live.net/2013/07/02/renewable- energy- providers- eye- tunisia- but- laws- stand- in- the- way/>. 13 Hartmann, Alexandra. "Renewable Energy in Tunisia." Tunisia Live., 02 July Web. 04 Nov < live.net/2013/07/02/renewable- energy- providers- eye- tunisia- but- laws- stand- in- the- way/>. 14 Hartmann, Alexandra. "Renewable Energy in Tunisia." Tunisia Live., 02 July Web. 04 Nov < live.net/2013/07/02/renewable- energy- providers- eye- tunisia- but- laws- stand- in- the- way/>. 15 El- Yaakoubi, Aziz. "Saudi- led Consortium Wins Morocco Solar Energy Bid." Yahoo Finance. Associated Press, 24 Sept Web. 04 Nov < led- consortium- wins- morocco- solar- energy- bid finance.html>. 16 El- Yaakoubi, Aziz. "Saudi- led Consortium Wins Morocco Solar Energy Bid." Yahoo Finance. Associated Press, 24 Sept Web. 04 Nov < led- consortium- wins- morocco- solar- energy- bid finance.html>. 3

4 Sixteen of the twenty-two Arab League members are producers of oil, which explains the large role oil plays throughout the entire region. The share of oil and natural gas revenues in most Arab producers export earnings is fairly high. As it ranges from 33% in the economy of the Untied Arab Emirates to 88% in highly export-oriented economies such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and more than 97% in other economies like that of Algeria and Iraq. On the right is a diagram displaying the distribution of the world s oil reserves and production by region. The Arab World hosts 43% of the world s oil reserves and boasts 32% of the world s oil production. 17 The hydrocarbon sector s contribution to government revenues is in most economies even higher at around 66% in Algeria, 62% in Yemen, and between 80 90% in most of the Gulf States and Libya (see Table 3). Many major Arab energy producers government budgets hence depend critically on their oil and gas revenues. 18 Despite this great and significant dependence of oil and natural gas, both share highly important and dangerous disadvantages. Firstly, oil is a non-renewable source of energy that comes with dangerous risks that might severely damage our environment. Oil spills are extremely harmful accidents that kill ecosystems and destroy living habitats. In fact the biggest oil spill in the world occurred within Arab borders. On January 19, 1991 during the Gulf War, Iraqi forces deliberately created oil spill in attempt to prevent American forces from landing onshore. This military maneuver resulted in the spillage of 380 to 520 million gallons into the Persian Gulf, and thus resulted in the biggest and most damaging oil spill in history. 19 Further, the actual location or exact determination of the whereabouts of an oil well is costly and has no guarantee that the oil is pure and fit for use. Its most significant disadvantage however is its extremely harmful carbon dioxide emission. When oil is being used or generated, it is being burned. This burning causes carbon dioxide emission. Other greenhouse gases also emerge with the burning of oil. Carbon dioxide emission is one of the primary and most basic causes of air pollution, and global warming as it is a greenhouse gas. Oil also emits metals and other poisonous elements such as lead and mercury. These elements, especially if emitted in an abundant amount, mostly harms land or more specifically, soil. The soil becomes contaminated and is unfit for agricultural purposes. Oil can also produce hazardous wastes that are damaging to land, animals as well as humans. During the actual manufacturing or generation of oil, certain wastes are left as a result of the processing. These wastes negatively affect animals and humans. When these wastes are dumped into bodies of water or land, they kill inhabited ecosystems and damage land and lead to soil erosion. Natural gas, biomass, coal and oil also emit airborne particulates that are slightly poisonous and have direct effect on humans in particular. These airborne particulates are emitted during processing and burning. These particulates result in the addition of asthma and pulmonary diseases. Oil burning also contributes to acid rain when it excretes sulfur and nitrous oxides. 20 Natural gas also has extreme negative effects on countries as well. Most importantly, natural gas if dealt with carelessly by producers and manufacturers can contaminate drinking water. This contaminated water can kill humans as well as animals. Careless drilling in the earth also has negative effects on humans as well as land. Carless drilling results in the creation of cavities in the earth as well as soil erosion and damage. The burning or consumption of natural gas also leads to carbon dioxide emissions, which is a greenhouse gas. Like oil, natural gas contributes to acid rain and emission of airborne particulates. 2) Solar Power 17 Fattouh, Bassam. Energy and Arab Economic Development. Rep. Arab Human Development Report, Web. 18 Robehmed, Natalie. "The Middle East Turns To Solar Energy." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 03 Sept Web. 15 Nov Moss, Laura. "The 13 Largest Oil Spills in History." MNN, Web. 15 Nov "Major Sources of Energy: Their Advantages and Disadvantages." BURN An Energy Journal, Web. 15 Nov

5 For the first time in years, the Arab World is using its most abundant energy resource efficiently: the sun. According to a recent IHS report, global spending on equipment for solar panels will increase to 30%, 3 billion dollars in Further claimed by the report, the Middle East is projected to increase solar expenditure to 40% after year Investors and renewable energy companies are already investing and initiating projects in the Middle East. Egyptian renewable energy corporation, Karmsolar, plans to solve the Middle East s water shortage conflict by creating solar desalination systems and water pumps. 21 In April, Arab nation, Mauritania decided to give the green light to a 15-megawatt, photovoltaic power plant that would generate and supply 10% of the country s electricity demand. Mauritania has recently fallen short of energy resources that could support the electricity demands of its 3.4 million people. This 10% was previously supplied by diesel generators. Mauritania relies heavily on dangerously on diesel generators. The corporation that is responsible for this project is called Masdar. Masdar is a renewable energy corporation based in Abu Dhabi that has undergone and has established many renewable energy programs worldwide. This power plant built by Masdar is named, The Sheikh Zayed Solar Power Plant. It is the largest solar power plant in Africa. Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, Mauritania s current president explained to press when addressing the power plant in April, Electrification, through sustainable sources of energy, is critical in ensuring our people have access to basic services and is a step toward improving our infrastructure and long-term economic development." 22 The Middle East is known for its abundant and bountiful supply of sunlight. However, it is evident that it is seldom used or integrated into countries economies. So far, only Mauritania and few other countries have taken advantage of this abundant supply of sunlight. IV- Key Vocabulary Renewable energy: Renewable energy is generally defined as energy that comes from resources which are continually replenished on a human timescale such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat. 23 Independent Power Producer: An entity which owns facilities to generate electric power for sale to utilities and end users. 24 Public Private Partnership: A partnership of government and one or more private sector companies that funds and operates a governmental service or a private business project. VII- Possible Solutions The most viable possible solution is to encourage the cooperation of countries that depend to drastically on non renewable resources, with international corporations that help plan and initiate renewable energy programs and projects such as Masdar or the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Other solutions may include the establishment of regional summits and conferences where member states of the Arab League can meet to discuss this issue. Lastly, a regional treaty could be signed or ratified, binding member states to a pledge of decreasing the damages and harms of the burning of their non-renewable resources. VIII- Useful Links "The Middle East s New Energy Export: Sunshine." Quartz. Web. 15 Nov Merchant, Brian. "Abu Dhabi Built the Biggest Solar Power Plant in Africa." Motherboard. Web. 15 Nov Stover, Dawn. "The Myth of Renewable Energy." Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The Bulletin, 22 Nov Web. 04 Nov < renewable- energy>. 24 "Independent Power Producer (IPP)." America's Generators., Web. 04 Nov < 5

6 IX- Works Cited 1. Fattouh, Bassem, and Laura El-Katiri. Energy and Arab Economic Development. Rep. United Nations Development Program, Web. 5 Oct < 2. Eilperin, Juliet. "White House Solar Panels Being Installed This Week." Washington Post. Washington Post, 15 Aug Web. 5 Oct < 3. "Welcome to NREA Site." Welcome to NREA Site. Web. 04 Nov < 4. Al-Manufi, Salih. "Government Mandates High Consumption Factories to Use Renewable Energy to Meet Half Their Needs." Daily News Egypt RSS. 24 Sept Web. 04 Nov < 5. Badawi, Nada. "Egypt's Renewable Energy Draws Interest, but Little Progress." Daily News Egypt RSS., 02 Sept Web. 04 Nov < 6. Badawi, Nada. "Egypt's Renewable Energy Draws Interest, but Little Progress." Daily News Egypt RSS., 02 Sept Web. 04 Nov < 7. "Conference Poster." The University of Jordan. Ju.edu.jo, 26 Jan Web. 4 Nov < 8. Preston, Martin. "Renewable Energy in Jordan." Norton Rose Fulbright. Norton Rose Fulbright, Feb Web. 04 Nov < 9. "Ibrahimyah Wind Power Station." CEGCO. Central Electricity Generating Co, Web. 04 Nov < 10. "Hofa Wind Power Station." CEGCO. Central Electricity Generating Co., Web. 04 Nov < 11. "Green Economy." United Nations Environment Programme. UNEP, Web. 4 Nov < 12. Hartmann, Alexandra. "Renewable Energy in Tunisia." Tunisia Live., 02 July Web. 04 Nov < 13. El-Yaakoubi, Aziz. "Saudi-led Consortium Wins Morocco Solar Energy Bid." Yahoo Finance. Associated Press, 24 Sept Web. 04 Nov < finance.html>. 14. Robehmed, Natalie. "The Middle East Turns To Solar Energy." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 03 Sept Web. 15 Nov Moss, Laura. "The 13 Largest Oil Spills in History." MNN, Web. 15 Nov "Major Sources of Energy: Their Advantages and Disadvantages." BURN An Energy Journal, Web. 15 Nov "The Middle East s New Energy Export: Sunshine." Quartz. Web. 15 Nov Stover, Dawn. "The Myth of Renewable Energy." Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The Bulletin, 22 Nov Web. 04 Nov < 19. "Independent Power Producer (IPP)." America's Generators., Web. 04 Nov < 20. Merchant, Brian. "Abu Dhabi Built the Biggest Solar Power Plant in Africa." Motherboard. Web. 15 Nov