Impact of biomass in Egypt on climate change

Dalia Adel Nakhla, Mohamed Galal Hassan, Salah El Haggar

Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Sciences and Engineering, The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt.
Department of Petroleum Engineering, School of Sciences and Engineering, The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt.
Environmental Engineering PhD Program, School of Sciences and Engineering, The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt.

DOI: 10.4236/ns.2013.56083                

Abstract

Egypt is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change due to the expected detrimental impacts on coastal zones, agriculture, water security as well as indirect social and health impacts. Egypt is responsible for 0.57% of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Although Egypt is a non-annex I country not requiring any specific emission reduction or limitation targets under the Kyoto protocol, its National plans have included mitigation measures to reduce its greenhouse gases. The main sectors contributing to climate change in Egypt are energy, industry, agriculture and waste. Waste, on the other hand, has been accumulating in the streets of Egypt and along its water banks causing considerable air, soil and water pollution and indirect detrimental health impacts. However, this waste which is composed of organic municipal waste, agricultural residues, agro-industrial waste, animal manure and sewage sludge are valuable biomass resources. Utilizing the waste resources of Egypt especially the biomass or the organic component of this waste will not only solve some of the pressing economic needs of Egypt such as animal fodder, fertilizer and fuel but will also alleviate environmental burdens through decreasing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the sector of waste as well as those of energy, industry and agriculture. This paper quantifies the biomass resources in Egypt generated from different waste resources. Then it demonstrates the efforts that Egypt made to contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions reductions through the Kyoto Protocol’s clean development mechanism (CDM). The projects in the waste sector already established in Egypt and approved as CDM projects are listed, which are related to waste management facilities and those which are waste to energy projects. Finally, a list of mitigation projects as proposed by the Egyptian government to decrease GHGs as related to the waste sector are enumerated.

Keywords

Waste; Climate Change; Biomass; Egypt

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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