Replacing one dirty addiction with another will not solve our problems, only renewable energy can.
Zouk electricity power plant – Lebanon
Reacting to the Lebanese council of ministers’ endorsement of the new electricity plan, Julien Jreissati Campaigner at Greenpeace MENA said: “This plan might get us 24 hours electricity but it certainly won’t give us clean air”. “Replacing our dirty addiction to heavy fuel oil and diesel oil with an addiction to natural gas will not solve our problems starting with our alarming air pollution levels threatening the health of Lebanese citizens[1]”, added Jreissati.
He continued, ”what this plan cruelly lacks is a serious investment in renewable energies and their immediate deployment, in parallel to natural gas, which will provide us with cheap and clean electricity”.
Lebanon has set a goal of reaching 30% electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030. Jreissati added “The announced solar and wind energy projects in this plan are way too insufficient and Lebanon’s renewable energy goal will not be met if we build so many natural gas power plants in the next five years”.
“One comes to wonder, while the world is transitioning towards renewable energy, why is the Lebanese government still not grasping the full potential of this clean, cheap and everlasting source of energy?” concluded Jreissati.
NOTES: [1]. A global analysis done by Greenpeace in 2018 on NO2 air pollution found that Jounieh is among the most polluted cities in the world notably due to the Zouk power plant among other sources.