Renewing the Source

It was at the Copenhagen Climate Summit in 2009 that Lebanon committed itself to generate 12% of total energy from renewables by the year 2020. An electricity whitepaper from 2010 laid out the plan, and the government has made incremental headway toward generating electricity from renewables, particularly in capturing the sun’s rays. Pierre Khoury, director of the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC), says Lebanon is well on its way toward reaching its goal. “By the end of 2015, Lebanon will have 15 megawatts of solar farm installations. All these installations are done through two main incentives – one by the ministry and the other through financial incentives from Lebanon’s central bank,” says Khoury. 1 megawatt, he says, is enough to satisfy 1000 Lebanese houses. He also says that nearly 15 percent (150,000) of Lebanese households have water heaters powered by solar panels. The target for 2020 is to have