CAIRO: The effect of CO2 emissions on climate change is highly correlated with the automobile in the mainstream media. However, many people seem to forget that some of our other footprints are even bigger than those caused by vehicles. On one hand, cars leave a visible carbon stream in their trail which impairs our air quality. According to the US Department of Energy, engines only utilize between 31% and 38% of the fuel. This causes almost two thirds of the fuel to produce carbon dioxide uselessly. On the other hand, Maplecroft, a private-sector risk consultant, stated that the generation of electricity in Egypt is responsible for more than 35% of the emissions compared to about 22% by transportation. Last year, Egypt generated an excess of 131 Terra Watt Hours (TWh) of electricity (enough energy to light 150 million 100-Watt light bulbs for 1 year), burning an equivalent of 25 million tons of fuel oil. Most of this energy was generated by burning fossil fuels; specifically petroleum and natural gas. Boilers use the fuel to produce steam, which rotates turbines to generate electricity. In Egypt, an equivalent of 219 grams of oil is required to generate 1 KWh (same as above) of electricity, with an efficiency of 40%. After the electricity is generated, it is transmitted to end consumers using the electricity grid. The transmission process loses another 12% of the power in the transformers, transmission lines and the distribution network. This causes the generation and transmission process to have a net efficiency of about 35%. The biggest end user of electricity in Egypt is the residential sector. It is no surprise that studies have shown that the average home in the world has a larger carbon footprint than the average car relating to the dependency of the electricity generation on fossil fuels. In Egypt, we are 88% dependent on fossil fuels. The long term subsidization of electricity in Egypt caused people to think that electricity is almost “freeâ€. However, awareness of this valuable resource is spreading due to the escalation of the global-warming phenomenon and people realizing the true cost of our consumption of electricity. At first glance, the ideal solution seems to be using renewable energy. Currently hydropower from the Nile River produces almost 11% of our electricity, and feeds many areas in Upper Egypt. It uses the flow of the river to turn the turbines and generate the electricity. But hydropower is not as clean as it sounds. The dams built to generate this power trap silt, which is full of nutrients and revitalizes the fertility of the land. Since the installation of the Aswan High Dam, soil fertility in the Nile Valley has been on the decrease, causing decreased crop yields. The reduction in nutrients discharged to the Mediterranean has decreased phytoplankton and reduced the population of marine fish that rely on it for food. Another argument is for wind energy as it may not threaten marine or river ecosystems. The red sea coastline from Zaafarana all the way down to Hurghada experiences average wind speeds of 8.5 m/s, and the energy is harvested to produce almost 1% of the required energy. According to the Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Nazif, by 2020 Egypt would produce 20% of its energy renewably, and about 12% of this energy is intended to come from the wind. But the expense and the required land are a challenge. The answer really, as always, lies in our own hands. Studies show that through using more efficient appliances at home and at work, we can significantly reduce our carbon footprint. We already use over twice as much energy as we need to due to the inefficiency of electricity generation and transmission. Therefore, it makes no sense to use more and more poor and irresponsible practices at home. So how can we reduce our footprint? The answer lies in efficiency. Using efficiency as your guideline, you would use less energy with minimal impact on your quality of life. Reducing the supply chain of your energy is one of the ways to increasing your efficiency. During the production of electricity, chemical energy is transformed to heat energy, which is then transformed to kinetic energy, and finally to electrical energy. It then travels through thousands of kilometers of cabling to our homes, and into our appliances where it is transformed to whatever kind of energy we want. Each transformation involves waste as it is never a 100 per cent efficient. Reducing the number of transformation would inevitably reduce your carbon footprint. An example to the application of this practice includes using gas powered instead of electric powered water heaters and ovens (chemical energy is directly converted to heat energy). Using more efficient appliances is another answer. Pay attention to the cards that are now on every new refrigerator, automatic washing machine and air conditioner. These new cards give an ABCDE rating system for the efficiency of the appliance. Read the fine print and the technical information. Buy appliances with smaller standby power consumption, and maximal power factors. For example, Compact Fluorescent Lamps or CFLs are five times more efficient than their corresponding incandescent or filament lamps, and produce the same illumination. Finally, be more responsible in your energy consumption. Turn off anything you do not use. If it is cold, open the windows or use a fan instead of turning on the air conditioner. If it is the morning, open the drapes and use the sunlight. In conclusion, a final thing to remember is that even though energy is inexpensive, its use comes with a much higher price. Eco Options Egypt
