Lebanon

Index rank 77

Energy Sustainability Index Rankings

 2010  2011  2012  Trend
Energy Performance  73  70  81 
Energy Security  68  44  65 
Social Equity  43  62  63 
Environmental Impact Mitigation  77  82  85 
       
Contextual Performance  54  61  58 
Political Strength  78  79  74 
Societal Strength  81  60  62 
Economic Strength  8  38  35 
       
Overall Rank  67  72  77 
Download CSV

Fossil Fuel Resources

  Loading graph...

Key Metrics

Industrial sector (% of GDP) 19.7
TPEP / TPEC  (net energy importer) 0.03
Emission intensity (kg CO2 per USD) 2.51
Energy affordability (USD per kWh) n.a.
GDP / capita (PPP, USD); GDP Group 15,168 (B)
Energy intensity (million BTU per USD) 0.03
CO2 emissions (metric tons) / capita) 3.80
Population Access to Electricity (%) 99.9
Download CSV

Index Commentary

The Lebanon drops five places in the Index due to a decrease in energy security. Energy security struggles with a very low ratio of production to total energy supply and low diversification of electricity production; the recent drop was driven by a deterioration of the stronger indicators: a decrease in the wholesale margin on gasoline and an increase in the 5-year energy consumption growth trend. Social equity remains fairly constant with good gasoline prices but with a low performance in providing high quality, affordable electricity access. Lebanon’s weakest dimension is environmental impact mitigation with very high CO2 emissions from electricity and heat generation and high emissions intensity per capita. Lebanon thus underperforms in mitigating its environmental footprint compared to other countries with similar levels of energy intensity per capita. In the contextual dimension the Lebanon struggles with political stability, while small improvements are noted for regulatory quality and effectiveness of government as well as control of corruption and rule of law. A low macroeconomic stability, mediocre scores in credit availability, but very low costs of living as proportion of household consumption expenditure drive the relatively strong economic performance (rank 35).

Trends and Outlook

Lebanon has a chronic electricity supply problem. However, in 2010, the Government has approved a promising strategy for the rehabilitation of the power sector, including the development of energy efficiency and renewable energy. The national target is to reach 12% of renewable energy out of the total electricity production in 2020. Energy efficiency target is to minimise demand by 5% in 2015. Challenges include mainly updating the legislative framework of the power sector. In addition to the policy paper, Lebanon is the first country in the Arab World to develop its National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) in 2011. Currently, the Renewable Energy Strategy is under preparation. Furthermore, Lebanon is embarking on a quite promising oil and gas exploration program. Policymakers should focus on creating an enabling legislative framework for the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency, in addition to setting clear environmental regulations for the upcoming oil and gas industry