Lebanon’s government promised in COP15 that by 2020, 12% of our energy will come from renewable sources. In 2016, Solar power provided 0.26% of our total energy consumption, and hydroelectric was at 3%. This year, solar will reach 0.35%, and by 2021, 3 solar farms and 3 wind farms will be operational across Lebanon.
This means that there’s a potential to get much closer to the 12% target in the coming few years. In a country with consistent power shortages, producing renewable energy might be our ticket to lessen our public debt, and increase our ability to produce the power we need as a nation.
Even though it’s still pretty minuscule, the growth that the solar sector has shown in the past few years makes one optimistic. It’s important to note though, that unless the Lebanese government allows citizens to sell the extra power they generate from solar/wind back into the EDL grid with smart meter systems, the dream of renewable energy exponentially increasing will remain that: just a dream.
Below are 8 graphs and charts I pulled from the “The Small Decentralized Renewable Energy Power Generation (DREG) Project”, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Lebanon. The project is nationally executed by the Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) in coordination with the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC) (source)
(PV means photovoltaic)
Lebanon’s Electricity Generation (2016)
Stats About PV Savings and Numbers in Lebanon
PV Distribution Across the Governorates
Price Decrease of PV Projects
600+ Jobs Created
Annual CO2 and $ Savings
What the DREG Project Did
The UNDP’s DREG project wraps up in September of 2018. Here’s the projects they’ve completed in places like ABC Dbayeh and Liban Cables factory. Let’s hope more and more industrial and commercial projects introduce Solar PV into their energy consumption, and save money for themselves, pressure on the already crumbling EDL grid and most importantly, tens of thousands of tons of CO2 no longer released into our atmosphere.
A special thanks to Jil Amine for providing data and insights that helped in compiling this post.
Taking care of olive trees and forests includes pruning the trees to make sure healthy growth, and minimize risk of forest fires. Al Koura district in North Lebanon, is especially interested in that practice, given that 64% of the district is covered with olive trees and forests.
Usually, the trimmings are burned. That’s between 1000 and 2000 tonnes a year of burned wood and pruning residue. This is why when I heard about the new Bioenergy production project in Koura with the University of Balamand and Koura Municipalities Union, funded by the European Union in Lebanon, I was very happy and excited!
The plant will take in around 1000 tonnes of pruning residue from the district each year, and transform it into around 700 tonnes of “briquettes” that can replace fossil fuels as a means to heat households and businesses across the country.
The project creates jobs, curbs the burning of pruning residue and provides a cheaper, more sustainable alternative to heat homes and cook in traditional stoves still used across the district. In other words, it reduces pollution, creates a new industry from locally sourced materials and the grander scheme of things, it also helps Lebanon get closer to its COP15 target of 12% renewable energy by 2020.
I hope more and more sustainable projects like this spring up across the country!
The reason is that they didn’t expect Jad Khoury’s (aka Potato Nose) installation would generate this much of a buzz. Solidere is infamous for not only their land-grabbing of the Central District, and forcing the rightful owners out of their lands to build empty, expensive ghost-towns they thought Gulf rich folks would buy, they’re also extremely vain.
Solidere LOVE the attention, even for things they had nothing to do with, either financially or logistically. Anyone who ever wanted to shoot something in the Central District, knows that they charge you thousands of dollars for each hour, even though it’s a public space in our very own capital.
Why The Burj El Murr Installation Butthurt Them
The artist obviously had the necessary permits, given he was even allowed in to the former snipers’ nest which now has a Lebanese Army base the first few floors. As anyone who ever tried to go into such buildings, you’d know how hard that is. So, permits and permissions obviously aren’t the problem here.
The same artist painted the Holiday Inn hotel a few years back, and even though that one wasn’t as well-received as the Burj El Murr one, with a lot of people furious at what they felt “defaced” Beirut’s most famous war-time remnant right in the middle of Beirut’s fanciest resorts and hotels, he still was allowed to execute the huge mural. This indicates that this artist has always had the necessary permissions, given the Holiday Inn is also a Lebanese Army base on the first few levels.
Solidere wants credit for everything done in the plot of land they occupy in the Lebanese capital. If you want to organize something there, without making money from it, you just need to slap their logo on it, and you’re good to go. If you’re making money from it, then the process is obviously much more difficult.
It seems that even though Solidere didn’t object to the artwork, and waited many days before they did, indicates that they were upset the artist didn’t mention them as a sponsor or organizer, even though they had absolutely nothing to do with it. This explains their tight-lipped responses to the media, and why their “cease and desist” letter to the artist had no specific reason, just “safety reasons”. It also explains why they waited this long, and sent mixed signals, before sticking to their guns at the end.
Now, unless curtains can murder someone if they fall on your head, I don’t see where the risk is. As for the risk to the artist, the concern should have been preemptive, not asking him to scale the entire dangerous building again for no reason but their vanity and pettiness.
Where’s the Government?
It seems Solidere is more powerful than the Municipality of Beirut and the Ministry of Culture. All of these governmental bodies and institutions gave their blessings, and expressed their support for the art installation even. But, as usual, private evil corporations seem to be more powerful than the government’s local and national authorities.
Shameful. Too bad we’re back to that heinous dildo from the Civil War days…Here’s hoping Solidere will figure out how to make money from it and turn it into something useful, or at least pleasant to look at.
Till then, let’s all make sure everyone sees this artwork, and knows Solidere stopped it.
In the past few weeks, I’ve been highlighting amazing success stories across Lebanon that aim to improve life for Lebanese communities across the country. From Khaldieh, a rose farmer in Akkar, to 24/7 electricity thanks to a solar farm in Qabrikha, what those projects have in common is that they are funded and supported by the European Union in Lebanon.
Today’s highlight is one of my favorites, and it’s the Jezzine Hub. The Jezzine Hub is a community center and incubator that seeks to help nascent businesses and social enterprises in the area to kick off their careers and businesses, many of which center around improving their communities.
Two examples of such projects that have been awarded 10,000 Euro grants recently, are “Pometto” apple chips, and “Jezzine by Bike”. I’ve personally tried Pometto, and the preservative-free, no added sugar and gluten-free chips were absolutely fantastic. I hope to try Jezzine by Bike next time I’m in that beautiful town south of Lebanon.
Helping students get into the right universities, holding capacity-building workshops and securing funds for local businesses to expand nationally and around the world, is precisely what Lebanon needs more of. Young people shouldn’t be forced to leave their hometowns to emigrate or move to overcrowded cities to secure a decent living, and I love what the Jezzine Hub has been doing, which you can check on their Facebook page here.
Sports has an incredible effect on communities. Whether it’s your love for the team you support, or the discipline, camaraderie and good sportsmanship needed to excel at it, sports, and football specifically, has a very special place in many Lebanese people’s heart.
In Ain Qana, Ali and many other local residents used to play mini-football games on dirt, make-shift playgrounds. The village in Lebanon’s Nabatieh district was a good 90 minute drive from the closest equipped, well-lit and affordable mini-football field.
With funding from the European Union, Ali was able to realize his and his father’s dream of creating the perfect mini-football field that young Ain Qana residents can benefit from. It didn’t stop there though, Ali also founded a mini-football academy in the beautiful rural town of Ain Qana, where many youngsters are enrolled today and honing their football skills.
I cannot stress how important team sports can be in building trust and a sense of fair play and just pure fun. I’ve seen the positive effects of mini-football in Tripoli, where friendly games between former combatants has helped shore up the peace and create some lighthearted fun in an otherwise hectic and stressful life.
I’ve been following up the progress on the Dbayeh seaside for quite some time now, and perhaps the most interesting aspect of this rapidly developing area is the massive Waterfront City project.
We all know about the residential part, but I personally didn’t know about the massive business hub they’re also in the process of finishing right now.
Just to get an idea of how large this planned business hub is, it will be enough to house anywhere between 4000 and 5000 employees and will cover 60,000 square meters of office space, and 12,000 sqm of retail space.
It was designed by LEFT architects (Makram Kadi) and I’ve managed to find some renders of how Lebanon’s first “Grade A” business hub will look like. It’s important to note that they’re also trying to get the first LEED Gold certification for a commercial space in Lebanon, making it clear they care about sustainability and minimizing their carbon footprint.
Now, if you’re like me, you’ll be more interested in the non-office related stuff, and the WFC folks have a lot planned for this space. They will have an outdoor amphitheater that will encourage companies and startups to have talks and discussions outdoors when the weather is nice. There will be ample bike racks, as well as pay-as-you-go bikes to ensure the new hub is pedestrian and cyclist friendly, encouraging people to drive less, and walk and cycle more.
The new business hub will include lots of new restaurants and coffee shops, as well as several piazzas, with one central piazza (square) that will host big events like Christmas themed markets, art exhibitions and other public events that can be accessed for free.
If I wanted to start a company, and didn’t wanna get stuck in traffic heading into Beirut every single day of the entire rest of my life, I’d get a small apartment in WFC and open up a small company in the adjacent hub, that way I could walk to work, to lunch, to coffee, to drinks, without ever needing a car…
I’ll be updating you guys soon with what shops, restaurants and coffee houses are slated to open there.
Installing TerraNet earlier today on the roof of the new Kahwetna location
TerraNet reached out to me a few weeks back, to tell me about their ambitious CSR campaign to connect schools across the country with free, high-speed Internet. The #GetOnline initiative is the perfect example of a company giving back to the community in the best way possible: getting young people online in places where they previously couldn’t.
Luckily, this coincided with the MARCHKawhetna cultural cafe’s relocation and expansion in Tripoli, right on the former frontline of Syria Street between Beb El Tebbeneh and Jabal Mohsen. That’s when we decided to pitch the cafe to the TerraNet team, explaining what we do there, how it’s a hub for all our development projects in the region and how quickly we outgrow our first location and its terribly spotty Internet connection.
We were delighted when TerraNet agreed to install high speed unlimited internet connection through microwave for one year for free. Preliminary tests before installation showed extremely promising potential for a reliable, fast connection in an area where Internet connection is notoriously terrible.
Why Getting Connected is Essential for Kahwetna
Being able to #GetOnline is essential for Kahwetna’s success. Apart from helping the MARCH team run our many projects in the area, from the Beb El Dahab rebuilder’s initiative, to football tournaments, the stateless dilemma, drug awareness campaigns, countering violent extremism initiatives and regular trainings, workshops and events, having WiFi attracts a lot of young men and women from both neighborhoods to come and hang out in the safe space MARCH has created.
MARCH struggled to find affordable, reliable connections for the new cafe and cultural center’s location. With TerraNet, this will no longer be a problem, and the TerraNet team even offered the ability to sell DSL connectivity to our neighbors too! Helping not just Kahwetna get connected, but the entire marginalized areas of Beb El Tebbeneh and Jabal Mohsen.
History of Kahwetna
Kahwetna’s new location
Back in late 2014, the MARCH team went up to Tripoli just before the clashes were stopped, and brought together young men and women from Beb El Tebbeneh and Jabal Mohsen to create a play about their lives and circumstances. Over the course of more than a year, the actors transitioned from former combatants and prospective refugees, into youth leaders in their communities, solidifying reconciliation and bringing the severely neglected communities together for a common cause: peace and prosperity far from violence and extremism.
Security concerns, resistance and intimidation from local non-state actors and a deep distrust and fear of each other took months to thaw, but the results stunned everyone, including the MARCH team and our partners. A witty, honest play that eloquently satirized the tragic conditions the actors face every day which the actors co-wrote and co-directed was the result of months of stubborn perseverance. It toured all over the country and a documentary that cataloged the arduous process was also received with much praise and massive boosts of serotonin for everyone who witnessed them and got to meet the actors.
But, that wasn’t enough. Capitalizing on the positive momentum of the play “Love And War on the Rooftop”, MARCH decided to turn the results into a more sustainable project. That’s when Kahwetna: Cafe bi Kafak was born. Early 2016 saw the official opening of “Kahwetna”, which has since seen dozens of events, festivals, workshops and themed nights. The ever-growing Beb El Dahab project, as well as all of MARCH’s other projects in the region, meant we needed a bigger space to be able to host more people and projects. That’s when we found the new Kahwetna location, and spent the past 3 months in 2017 renovating and equipping it, and officially opening it to the public in mid-November!
Four Schools Across Lebanon will also #GetOnline with TerraNet
Intilaka School in Akkar, Goodwill School in Beit Misk, Lycee Notre Dame de Maghdouche in Maghdouche and Zein El Abidin in the Bekaa will all also get free Internet for the next year, along with free installation.
I absolutely love this initiative, and feel that having the ability to go online, with the parental control services offered by TerraNet, is essential to give students in under-privileged areas and communities the chance to further their education and increase their chances in succeeding later in life. It also provides entertainment, not just education, especially in rural areas where safe, fun spaces are often replaced with environments that foster bad habits and extreme ideologies.
Thank You TerraNet
I’d like to wholeheartedly thank the TerraNet team for coming up with and executing this initiative. Most companies would spend money on silly ads and lame campaigns, so seeing TerraNet decide to invest that money in communities and projects that need that support, is extremely encouraging.
Kahwetna Official OPENING on November 16
We invite you all to come and test out our new TerraNet connection, and see our gorgeous new location, furnished with home-made, up-cycled furniture. The cafe will include a large event space, a cozy cafe, multipurpose rooms for trainings, classes and meetings. Later this year, we will also inaugurate a fully-equipped recording studio too!
The opening is on November 16th, starting 3PM. You will find us on Syria Street! See you all there.
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