Energy short of solutions

Lebanon has spent enough money to build enough nuclear power plants to power the country several times over and still suffers from chronic power cuts and losses. According to the energy ministry, this year the country should lose around $3.9 billion from inaction in the electricity sector, or almost 10 percent of our economy’s estimated value.  According to Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi, the country will spend up to $2.2 billion to subsidize losses of the publicly owned electricity company Électricité du Liban (EDL) in 2011, constituting a 19 percent rise on the previous year. The reason for the hike is that Lebanon’s power plants are mostly powered by expensive gas oil, while a supply of cheaper natural gas from Egypt has been cut off for unknown reasons, said Safadi. Other potential sourcing from Turkey has been made unavailable because of the uprising in Syria. The cost to the government’s coffers