Energy Policy, Vol.26, No.6, 487-493, 1998
Baseline energy and electricity consumptions in Lebanon and opportunities for conservation
Energy production and consumption statistics that are periodically published by different organizations play a significant role in assessing energy trends and patterns. These reports provide information about energy consumption breakdown among different sectors, mainly residential, transportation, and industrial. State and private organizations and agencies make use of these reports to identify cost-effective opportunities for energy conservation, and consequently pollution reduction, Lebanon has gone through a long period of civil unrest and wars, As a result, local and international organizations were not able to keep updated records of various social and economic changes, including energy consumption trends, that took place during this period. Scarce reports that were published during this period were based only on the extrapolation of old historic characteristics without taking into consideration the demographic and social changes, This paper provides information concerning energy consumption taking into account the alignment of the post-war population realities and their energy consumption patterns. The aim is to establish a baseline on energy consumption at the household level in Lebanon in the post-mar era. Analysis is also conducted to examine the influence of various social, economic, and even geographic factors on energy consumption trends. Cost-effective opportunities and means for achieving energy conservation taking into account all these factors are also highlighted,