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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 April - 3 May 2000 Issue No. 479 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 April - 3 May 2000 Issue No. 479
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Local gas for friendly air
By Sherine NasrIn keeping with the worldwide theme of Earth Day 2000, 'Save energy now', an environmentally-friendly bus was put into operation in Cairo last Saturday. "The bus is one of 50 air-conditioned buses, powered by natural gas, manufactured in Egypt and funded by the USAID," said Nadia Makram Ebeid, State Minister for Environment Affairs.
The innovatory public transport fleet is part of the Cairo Air Improvement Project (CAIP), which is being carried out by the Egyptian government in collaboration with the United States.
Celebratory inaugurations included a model vehicle emission tune-up station in the industrial zone of Shubra Al-Kheima. The Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) has allocated LE4 million to tuning up the engines of some 4,000 public buses running in the streets of Greater Cairo.
"Improving the air quality of Greater Cairo is a major challenge," said Cairo Governor Abdel-Rehim Shehata, who recently made a number of decisions aimed at reducing the alarmingly high level of lead particles and other pollutants in the capital's air. One of the most important of these decisions was an order that all microbuses should switch to the use of natural gas. "Out of 800 microbuses, 450 have already switched to natural gas. Moreover, a driving licence will not be issued unless the vehicle is powered by natural gas," he said.
In the course of the celebrations, it was pointed out that Egypt is the first country in the Middle East and Africa and the eighth in the world to use natural gas for public transport. "Egypt possesses a wealth of natural gas and its applications are increasingly expanding," said Ebeid. She added that the major problem of Cairo's air quality is the suspended particulate matters (SPM), measuring 200 micrograms in every one cubic metre. "This is an alarming rate. The SPM in natural gas is 90 per cent less than in other types of fuel," she said.
There are 22,000 government-owned buses and 16,000 privately owned buses plying the capital's streets every day. "Studies have shown that the Greater Cairo Bus Company alone uses 150 million litres of diesel annually. The volume of carbon dioxide emitted from burning this fuel is frightful," said Abdel-Hamid Mukhtar, the company's chairman.
Ebeid examining a model vehicle emission tune-up station in the industrial zone of Shubra Al-Kheima
In an attempt to reduce pollution, the company has spent LE4 million on establishing a natural gas fuelling station and garage. "Yet, other problems remain to be solved," said Mukhtar, pointing out that not only is the price of a natural gas-powered bus double that of a diesel-powered bus but natural gas is also more expensive than diesel. "The government should address this problem in order to encourage more government and private-owned bus companies to switch to natural gas," he said
Fortunately, a growing number of taxi-cabs are switching to natural gas which is rapidly becoming the salient domestic and transport type of energy and polluting industries are slowly but steadily being driven out of crowded housing areas in Cairo and Giza.
In addition to natural gas, there are numerous sources of renewable energy in Egypt, which some scientists have predicted will be the most widely applied energy in the future. "A detailed solar energy atlas has been published to pinpoint the areas where solar energy can be most successfully used," said Sami Zanoun, head of the New and Renewable Energy Organisation. He was speaking at a seminar organised by the Desert Development Centre and Friends of the Environment Association to celebrate Earth Day.
Zanoun indicated that many developed countries have their sights set on Egypt where contemporary applications of solar energy can be tested. Two pioneer projects, using solar energy, have already been launched: at Wadi El-Rayan Lake, in the Fayoum governorate an ice-making plant was built to freeze six tons of fish daily and in Wadi El-Natroun, north-west of Cairo, thousands of feddans of desert land have been cultivated.
In addition, an area of 10,000 feddans in the western part of the Toshka mega-project deep in the south of Egypt will be cultivated by using water that photo-voltaic power will help to pump from deep wells to be stored in elevated tanks.
"We need the desert. It is the theatre where applications of solar energy can be best performed," Zanoun said.
As Cairo witnessed the inauguration of more natural gas projects, Mount Sinai hosted hundreds of tourists who voluntarily joined a clean-up campaign organised by an Egyptian-European group dedicated to the protection of the Sinai environment. After completing their work, the volunteers gathered at sunset and lit candles, forming a chain all the way up the mountain to its 2,285- metre-high summit.
Additional reporting by Eman Youssef
