The National Bank of Egypt has announced that it will give low interest loans to hotels throughout southern Sinai and Red Sea provinces that are commited to switching to renewable energy, according to local press. The move comes in advance of crippling energy shortages during the hottest time of the year.
When temperatures rise from May to October, so too does energy consumption as Egyptian residents fire up their air conditioners.
But Egypt is already running at a chronic energy deficit and consumption spikes cause widespread cuts – at great cost to the local economy.
Particularly hard hit is the tourism industry, which is so crucial to the country’s bottom line.
In order to secure tourism against energy shortages, the bank has entered into an agreement with the Solar Energy Development Association (SEDA) to empower hotels to switch to renewable energy.
“Increased electricity use during the summer, combined with diesel shortages has led to a spate of increasingly frequent blackouts nationwide as the government struggles to provide fuel to keep up with the mounting consumption,” Ahram Online reported.
The protocol is reserved mostly for high end hotels that can afford to make the investment in alternative forms of energy, but smaller businesses will still suffer.
Cairo residents and businesses will lose power for a few hours at a time during peak hours, but other parts of the country are hit harder.
In April, the former Petroleum Minister Osama Kamal told local press that the ministry would import fuel worth $500 to $600 million in order to bridge the gap between supply and demand.
Image of Red Sea hotel, Shutterstock
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
Too many people and too many heat-generating machines raise the Earth’s temperature, requiring yet more air-conditioners that generate more heat along with all the other billions of heat-generating machines around the World.
Too much of any good thing turns it bad. Instead, gently reduce the human population with family planning programs so, with less artificial heat, the Earth’s climate will return to normal.