President Obama gave a speech last night on the United States’ involvement in Libya and his hope for a sustainable country if and when the political transition takes place.
Another would-be president gave a hopeful speech of a sustainable Libya back in 2007.
“Our intention is to build a complete and sustainable social, cultural, economic and environmental system in which the needs of the present allow for the needs of future generations."
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, had a plan to develop the region of Cyrene into the world’s first sustainable community with architectural firm Foster and Partners designing the layout. The Green Mountain project aimed to diversify “sources of economic growth such as tourism and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, moving towards CO2 neutrality on a regional scale. With its emphasis on renewable energy and integrated regional planning, Cyrene Declaration will also be of relevance to other countries,” according to the firm.
Sir Nicholas Stern, chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics - which has been criticized for its links to the regime - backed the project that was supposed to be part of a larger plan to help diversify the economy in Libya from oil wealth to one of renewable energy, mostly solar.
However, Green Mountain along with Benghazi were the first areas to revolt against the Gaddafi regime this year, and the Cyrene idea, which seemed great on paper, stayed there.
Still, Libya, wherever the revolution may take it, can indeed become a solar energy juggernaut.
According to a July 2007 report commissioned by the German government on how Europe can meet its future needs in electricity, each square kilometer of desert in Libya has the potential of solar energy equivalent to Libya’s annual oil production, around 1.5 million barrels. As oil prices fluctuate and the world questions dependence on foreign oil, the solar industry in Libya has the potential to flourish.
For example, just last year, the government introduced a project that would export solar energy to Europe. Last December, Abu Dhabi’s Al Maskari Holding was behind the $3 billion project to build an energy hub in Libya that would transfer solar energy power to Europe through undersea cable. Europe is the largest importer of Libyan oil, and such a project could not only help to diversify Libya’s economy but also allow Europe to meet its carbon reduction goals.
Furthermore, while speaking at the LSE last year, Saif was a huge proponent of the potential of solar energy in his country, saying that plans were in the pipeline to build more solar plants and sell the energy to Europe.
But, also in the speech he spoke about the need for Libya to become democratic and elect its own “manager,” as he called it. Again, promising an idea that remained on paper.
But, as we said about Egypt, the political transition may be the time to actually implement larger renewable energy projects and diversify the economy.
Libya has the potential to become a world leader in solar energy, achieving sustainability while helping Europe meet its carbon reduction goals. The country could now be at the point in time where it leaves behind the Green Book and moves toward a booming green industry.
Lynann Butkiewicz is Managing Editor of Weathervane.
