Towards a New Energy and Environmental Policy for Egypt: Development of Clean Sources in an Emerging Economy

Within the new world order, it is generally seen that sustainable development is a tradeoff between resource efficiency and social equity such that total resource essentials in society can become sustainable in the long run in a manner that meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Egypt as an emerging economy falls under this paradigm, which requires countries to adapt their natural resource management and energy policy directives towards new sustainability solutions. An emerging economy such as Egypt, striving for its identity under a new world order, entails a shift in its energy policy away from traditional energy sources which are non-sustainable in the long run. This will require the inclusion of new policy dimensions related to energy conservation and efficiency, climate change, development of clean energy sources, and long run sustainability within a global perspective. Consequently, a new energy policy mandate is a critical requirement for Egypt’s future. This mandate, however, will provide a solution to long run energy sustainability for the country so long as the following constraints are addressed: (1) it constitutes a necessary condition in the country’s path towards sustainable development, (2) it is implemented simultaneously as a target and constraint, and (3) social welfare and political sacrifice are complemented by incentive-based systems in contrast to authoritarian or universality solutions. The objective of this study is to design a new energy policy mandate for Egypt as an emerging economy within the new world order along national policy directives and global governance measures. In particular, an analysis of the Egyptian energy sector will be conducted from an energy sustainability perspective, including analysis of traditional hydrocarbon (oil and gas) energy sources, energy conservation and efficiency targets, feasibility and requirements for the development of alternative clean energy sources (such as nuclear ...