UPDATE: A Purple Monkey has rightly pointed out that the plan to reach 12% energy production through renewable means is scheduled for 2020 and not 2012. The source where I had obtained the information from seems to have made an error. You can find the correct (and more sensible) target here. Though my attitude towards “funds” remains unchanged.
Arabic Text
The government plans to launch a fund to tackle environmental issues:
“The state loses up to 550 million dollars (365 million euros) to pollution annually, 100 million of which is due to climate change,” Environment Minister Mohammed Rahhal said at a conference in Beirut.
The government, which for the first time plans to start a fund for environmental issues, has concrete plans to fight climate change, he added.
A “fund” is a just a nice name for a budget black hole, much like the Fund for the Development of South Lebanon and the Central Fund for the Displaced, where money goes in and not much comes out.
Of course, what grand idea would you have if it doesn’t preclude a preposterous plan:
“We aim for 12 percent of Lebanon’s energy to be produced through alternative sources by the year 2012,” he said, adding Lebanon should capitalise on the wide availability of wind, water and sun.
That’s in two years! You really think Lebanon can pull of 12% energy from renewable sources when we’ve been suffering power outages for over 20 years? Well actually, the 12% goal should get easier as we move forward since our production capacity is falling, so maybe 12% could be achievable in two years when we are producing half the amount we are able to produce today.
Lebanon actually produced more than 6% of its power through renewable resources in the 1950s. The 12% target 60 years later is far from impressive. Given the right funding and support, it is very achievable.
Well, according to the CIA factbook this is where we stand today:
Power from Fossil Fuel: 97.2%
Power from Hydro: 2.8%
In total we produce 9 billion kWh of electricity per year. We’ll need atleast 1 billion kWh of electricity from a new renewable source by 2012 to reach the 12% target. I see no plans at all for any new power plants renewable or not in the pipeline. Though, I probably should give the new government the benefit of the doubt.
By the way, the 2012 target reported by “Middle East Online” is incorrect. Saad Hariri mentioned this point when reading the Ministerial Statement.
– ????? ?????? ???????? ???? ?????? ??????? ????? ???? ????? ????? ??? ?????? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ????? ?????? ????????(Green Energy)
?????? ??? ????? ??? 12 ?? ????? ?? ??????? ?????? ?? ??????? ??? 2020.
Argh! The ???? were supposed to be Arabic text.
Anyways, the target mentioned was 2020.
Its toward the middle of the page here:
http://lebanonfiles.com/report_desc.php?id=681
Thanks for the correction. I’ll add a header to the post.
As for the Arabic, if you can recommend a way to configure WordPress to accept Arabic text I would greatly appreciate it. I’ve had my frustrations with it in the past and I’m still no closer to finding a solution.