Forces of nature
Renewable energy may offer Egypt a brighter, cleaner future. Amira El-Noshokaty investigates the use of green power in Upper Egypt
We were the first house to use a solar heater in our village," said Raawa Serafil as she proudly displayed her rooftop solar heater. "It does not cost anything and is useful. Something straight from God."
Serafil and her family are pioneers in the use of renewable energy in Al-Tayeba, a village in the southern governorate of Minya. Their home is located in the heart of the village and when they set up their solar heater on the roof, everyone became curious. The family boasted the benefits of the new device to neighbours and even led tours of their rooftop.
Of her sun-powered device, Serafil says, "It was not expensive to install and it is better than the electric heaters for which you have to pay an electric bill every month. You pay once and then forget about it."
The Evangelic Association For Development (EAD), an NGO established in 1991, is the powerhouse behind Al-Tayeba's green energy initiatives. Salama Mo'nis, an EAD board member, says that the total cost of a solar heater is approximately LE1,500. A down payment of LE400 to 500 is required and the remaining cost may be paid via monthly instalments. In Al-Tayeba alone, a village of 30,000 people, 90 solar heaters and 30 adjusted ovens have been installed.
The origins of the shiny contraptions sprouting on Al-Tayeba rooftops lie in the 1992 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The summit highlighted the adverse effects of green- house gases. Since then, concerted efforts have been made to cut down on pollution. Combustion fuels, which include petroleum and natural gas, have been identified as a main culprit. These fuels are pollutants as well as non-renewable sources of energy. Increasing reliance on cleaner, cheaper energy sources other than combustion fuels has become a global aim.
Efforts to promote the use of green energy include the Small Grant Programme (SGP) run by the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Global Environment Facility (GEF). The programme was first implemented in Egypt as a pilot project in 1992 in order to provide funding for eco-friendly projects.
According to Mohamed Hamed, SGP officer at the Arab Office for Youth and Environment in Egypt (AOYE), the SGP scheme offers grants of as much as $50,000 for environmental projects. "In 1993 after the acknowledgment of climate change, the project focussed on planting trees. From 1996 to 1999, the focus shifted to [promoting] wind turbines and solar heaters... Fourteen solar energy projects were implemented in Qena, Beni Sweif, Minya, Al-Qalyubiya, Giza, Cairo and Al-Sharqiya," Hamed told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Building on the groundwork laid by the AOYE, the Coptic Evangelical Organisation For Social Services (CEOSS) has also endeavoured to promote renewable energy sources. Sameh Seif, coordinator for CEOSS's development projects, explains, "Seven years ago the introduction of solar energy in Minya, Beni Sweif and Cairo started as a pilot project. Solar energy was a new concept in Egypt and we worked through local NGOs to provide necessary training."
CEOSS solar energy projects were first implemented in the Cairo districts of Al-Zawya Al-Hamra and Al-Sayeda Zeinab. "The project targetted middle- class families, however it did not succeed in Cairo," said Seif. "Solar heaters are placed on the tops of buildings and houses and in Cairo rooftops are shared by more than one person. Since solar heaters take up a lot of space, not everybody will allow them to be installed. Besides, the pace of life in Cairo is faster than that of Upper Egypt. Due to the accumulation of dust, the heaters need to be cleaned every week and people simply did not have time."
In Minya, however, the project has been a success. "Unlike those living in Cairo, people here usually live in small houses and rarely in rented apartments. It is much easier to put the necessary apparatus on a roof that you own. In villages, people tend to be more curious and have exhibited interest in finding out more about the new solar heaters. Some have even attended seminars," he added.
This is not Egypt's first foray into the use of renewable energy. According to Hosni El-Kholy, executive chairman of the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) at the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, 92 per cent of our electricity comes from combustion fuels such as petroleum and natural gas. In 1992, as a result of increasing pollution levels, a number of countries signed the Kyoto Protocol in order to prevent global warming and air pollution. According to the protocol, by 2008 each signatory will reduce its carbon dioxide emissions to 1992 levels. Although Egypt signed the protocol, it is yet to be ratified by parliament.
"Egypt first started using solar energy in the 1980s with solar heaters," said El-Khouly. "We bought 1,000 solar energy heaters and installed them in new cities. Then, we built factories capable of producing 10,000 solar heaters per year. They were priced at LE1,500 each. The Ministry of Housing added the costs of the solar heaters to that of the housing units so that people would not feel it was an extra burden. That was then. Today no one is interested," said El-Kholy.
Part of the problem, El-Kholy explains, is the initial expense. "You have to make the decision: should I buy a solar heater for LE1,500 and then pay only a small fee for maintenance or should I buy an electric heater for LE400 and pay LE15 in electricity bills per month?"
He pointed out that solar heaters are used in more than 70 per cent of Israeli homes and in more than 20 per cent of the residences in Jordan. In Egypt, only one per cent of homes rely on solar energy. "Our problem is that people take the easy way out. Electricity and natural gas are cheap energy sources in Egypt. There is also a lack of solar facilities."
Solar heaters are equipped with a shiny surface that reflects sunlight and heats water. In winter, water enters the machine at a temperature of 10 degrees centigrade and comes out at 60 degrees; in summer, it enters at 30 degrees and is heated to 80 degrees. A foam-covered tank capable of holding between 120 and 180 litres of water serves to preserve the heat. "All you have to do is install the heater and turn on your tap," said Sami Kamel, head of EAD.
Upper Egypt is also embarking on projects to upgrade traditional ovens. These ovens are rigged with an air exhaust pipe and a sliding door to prevent carbon monoxide from coming into the house. These adjustments provide more space for gas to be transformed into carbon dioxide, which is less harmful to the environment and less toxic for humans than carbon monoxide.
Emad Tawfiq and his family are proud owners of a converted oven. Their home, located a short distance from EAD's headquarters, is a primitive two-floor building with a room for baking. Umm Adel, the matriarch of the family, is happy with her home's new environment-friendly fixtures. "My eyes used to get black from the smoke created when baking the family bread. I love the new adjustment made to my oven because it has made life much easier. It has gotten rid of the smoke which was an inevitable by-product of baking baladi bread," she told the Weekly.
Umm Adel first heard about the solar heaters and adjusted ovens at church. "When I told my sons, they became very enthusiastic. Three years ago we installed the solar heater... Now we can bathe anytime we want. Before, one would have to heat up the water in a pot on a gas stove. This was not only inconvenient but also dangerous. Many of our neighbours had accidents and burnt themselves," she added. However, Hanan William, Umm Adel's daughter-in-law, complains that despite the benefits, in the winter the water is not hot enough and sometimes they are forced to use a small electric heater.
For some, however, the new system is worth this minor inconvenience. "We have had so many accidents. Nine people in a neighbour's family were killed as a result of gas leaks," said Ebeid Youssef, a butcher who has installed a solar heater in his home.
As EAD asserts, electric heaters add approximately LE20 to monthly expenses in winter, not to mention the problems of short circuiting and maintenance. And while the initial price of a solar heater is higher than that of electric heaters, subsequent costs are minimal, involving only the changing of the magnesium bar within the heater to avoid salinisation of water.
Curiosity and safety concerns are major factors behind the adoption of solar heating in Al-Tayeba. The relatively high economic status of village residents has enabled many to make the initial downpayments. Many villagers work in factories or are small to medium-sized landowners or merchants.
The picture is different, however, a half-hour drive down the main highway in the village of Itssa. Most of the 20,000 inhabitants of Itssa are middle to lower-class agricultural workers who do not have a stable income. "We started promoting solar heaters three years ago. But they have not been very popular because the economic status of most of the inhabitants here is low and many cannot afford the downpayment," explained Ramadan Abul-Ela, secretary of the Islamic Association for Development and Environment (IADE), a local NGO established in 1978. To date, IADE has succeeded in distributing 12 solar heaters to village residents and has obtained a GEF grant from the UNDP for similar projects.
"I think that the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and the NREA should be the ones to promote and subsidise such technology," argued Abul-Ela.
"How long can we depend on electricity? Instead of using electric power supplies, why not use the sun? Egypt has 360 sunny days a year," Seif said.
"This year we asked GEF for a $50 million grant to build a power plant that functions during the day with solar energy and at night is switched to the natural-gas energy. This will be the first electric station of its kind in the Middle East. Only three other countries have installed similar facilities, namely Mexico, Morocco and India." The power plant will be located in Korimat, 90 km south of Cairo in the desert in order to maximise sun exposure.
However, despite the fact that solar heaters are used in some sports clubs, swimming pools, chemical and textile factories, as well as in tourist villages along the Egyptian coastline, the expenses associated with installing the equipment have hindered wider application, says El-Khouly.
These one-time expenses are a small price to pay in comparison with the long-term benefits, argues Samia Galal, head of the Environmental Health Department of the Higher Institute for General Health Care at Alexandria University. "Combustion fuels cause the green-house effect, which increases the earth's temperature. They may also cause an increase in the reproductive rates of insects such as mosquitoes that transmit diseases. With regard to agriculture, the rate of water evaporation increases and crops need more water to survive," she explained. "When they say that the costs of renewable energy sources are more expensive than using combustion fuels, they are miscalculating."
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 5 -11 June 2003 (Issue No. 641)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/641/sc5.htm