About 50 Egyptian experts representing eight ministries and a number of foreign donors are developing the first national plan for energy conservation.
The government has neglected the field of energy conservation over recent decades, according to the group, which includes representatives from the ministries of electricity, transport, tourism, the petroleum, environment, national development, industry and housing.
All ministries must have, as one of their most important priorities, programs to rationalize energy consumption, said Dr. Emad Hassan, a senior official in the Ministry of Electricity and Energy. He said the Office of Energy Planning and Conservation has gone from a leading institution to one that only sucks up government funds in recent years.
“In the Ministry of National Development, for instance, there must be programs for energy conservation in buildings and streets. For the Ministry of Education, there must be school awareness programs on energy conservation,” Hassan said.
According to the group of experts, the volume of investments in Egypt's energy sector is LE18 billion annually.
