Environmental Impacts of Renewable Energy in Egypt (Review article)

Abstract

Egyptian rapidly growing population and establishing energy-intensive industrial facilities demanded large supply of power to maintain that growth. Egypt is a country well suited for alternative energy production. It has strong, steady wind, good solar energy and the hydrothermal resources from the Nile. The government decided to improve the diversity of energy by embracing opportunities from renewable sources as solar and wind in the energy mix, to bring the balance back to Egypt's energy market. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) , should be considered in all stages starting from planning, site selection, type of technology used, and installing phase. Life cycle assessment tool is used as a method to know the average environmental impact of different renewable energy source for appropriate planning and proper decision making. This showed the importance of generating awareness towards environmental impact of various renewable energy systems.