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تختزن المنطقة العربية ما يزيد عن 60% من احتياطات النفط العالمية وحوالي 30% من احتياطات الغاز، وهي المنطقة العالمية الأكثر ملاءمة لاستغلال الطاقة المتجددة لسعة صحاريها وطول سواحلها وتعدد مرتفعاتها، لكنها في نفس الوقت لا تزال تعتمد إلى حد كبير على الخبرة والتقنية الأجنبية لاستغلال وتحويل هذه المصادر. وبالإضافة إلى ذلك فإن الاستهلاك المحلي العربي للطاقة ما فتئ يكبر وبنسب مرتفعة. ولا شك أن الالتفات إلى مسألة ترشيد استهلاك الطاقة، وإيلائها ما تستحق من عناية واهتمام، سوف يجنب البلدان العربية مختلف أشكال هدر الطاقة الذي لا يذهب من دون طائل فحسب، بل يرهن أمن الطاقة فيها، ويؤثر على مختلف مشاريع التنمية المستدامة المنشودة. تتناول هذه الدراسة مختلف السبل والأساليب التي يمكن من خلالها تحقيق الترشيد في هذا المجال بالغ الأهمية والحيوية.
The Arab region holds more than 60% of the world oil reserves and about 30% of gas reserves. It is also the world’s most suitable region for the exploitation of renewable energy resources, thanks to its vast deserts, long coast lines and the diversity of terrain altitudes. But the region is still dependent -to a large scale- on the foreign experience and technology in exploitation and conversion of these sources. In addition, the Arab domestic consumption of energy is still growing at high levels. There is no doubt that paying more attention to the rationalization of energy consumption, will allow the Arab countries to avoid various forms of uselessly energy wasting , add to energy security and shape all prospected sustainable energy projects. This study addresses all solutions through which rationalization can be achieved in this vital sector. Current energy utilization systems are still of very weak efficiency, cars for example use only 15% of the gasoline potential energy to spin the wheels, electricity end- users benefit from just 25% of the potential energy of the fuels used in electricity generation plants, 2% of the potential energy contained in gas cylinders is used in kitchens, the rest is wasted, current photovoltaic cells can convert no more than 15% of solar energy received, lighting consumes a small portion of electricity, the rest is vanished in the form of heat. Although energy wasting in different economic and social aspects seems inevitable and thought to persist for a while, yet, the energy crises of 1973, and the unexpected depletion of the Ozone layer in 1976, have formed a turning point in the path of worldwide energy consumption. Three fundamental factors interacted to build the contemporary human civilization, namely: • The importance of energy in modern economies. • The awareness of the seriousness of environmental degradation on the future of human life, and • The scarcity of fossil energy; upon which the modern industrial revolution was built. These factors were fundamental for any form of economic and social development, later they became challenges for its continuation, leading thus the researches and studies towards: • Creating more efficient transfer systems such as the use of associated gas as feedstock in the petrochemical industry after it was flared, the use of combined cycle to generate electricity, and the intensification of researches on the fuel cells domain. Such systems enhanced the benefits drawn out from the increased energy potentials from 30 to 50 %. • Diversifying the energy resources, especially the nuclear and renewable energies, and reducing the dependence vis-à-vis of hydrocarbon resources. • Initiating searches for new patterns of low-energy consumption life style, through the use of the natural lighting and minimizing commuting by the establishment of remote jobs, and drawing out benefits from the development of the new communication techniques and building designs, which use less energy for air conditioning and artificial lighting, along with the use of individual sources of renewable energy such as using solar energy for water heating, and generating electricity by small wind turbines and PV panels. • Taking appropriate measures to reduce environmental pollutants and the causes of climate change. It must be emphasized that the resources of energy above and below the surface of the earth are available in quantities that are large enough to fulfill human needs for a long time; fossil fuel resources represent just a small part of them. The solar, wind, waves, tidal and geothermal energy are available in vast quantities, however, it must be stressed that energy resources (whether conventional or nonconventional) are abundant, fossil fuels represent only a small share of them, solar, wind, waves, tidal and geothermal energy are available in vast quantities, they need only to be tamed. Arab deserts for example receive -in five days- an equivalent of all the regions’ reserves of oil and gas in the form of solar energy. Albert Einstein proved at the turn of the last century the evenness of energy and material; this was later proved by the fission and fusion experiment. Therefore, it can be stated that the problem is not the scarcity of energy resources; it is rather the conversion techniques, the scientific challenges and the technological and economic obstacles. In this context, the Arab region is located in the heart of these challenges for many reasons like as it holds more than 60% of global oil reserves and about 30% of gas reserves, it is also the world’s most convenient region for the exploitation of renewable energy resources, thanks to its vast desert, long coast lines and the diversity of terrains altitudes. Addressing energy consumption rationalization in an energy- rich region that needs cheap energy to stimulate the development process, is not an easy task, it is so difficult in petroleum countries, and even more difficult in non- petroleum countries where investing in renewables is very expensive comparing to hydrocarbon sector. However, paying attention to energy consumption rationalization in the Arab region represents one of the major inputs to control the utilization and conversion of the energy on one hand; it also represents the Arab states commitment to CO2 mitigation, which is assumed to form 80% of the green house gases. Presenting the by- sector consumption will give a better idea about the available sector of energy consumption rationalization and its relative importance.
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