معرفی استاندارد اجباری برای انتخاب لوازم خانگی در لبنان: تجزیه و تحلیل هزینه و سود

Lebanon's energy sector crisis leads to a lack of access to uninterrupted, basic modern electricity services that affects all sectors of the economy. Energy conservation measures are nearly inexistent yet they can potentially lead to substantial reductions in energy demand growth, environmental damages and public expenditures. This paper presents an analysis of the costs and benefits associated with the introduction of mandatory standards for energy efficiency for four different household appliances (refrigerator/freezers, AC split units, washing machines and lighting) over the period 2013–2027. Our results show potential savings in electricity consumption reaching 2054 GW h annually in 2027 as well as a reduction of subsidies paid to the public utility of 3.6 billion USD in 2027 while CO2 emissions avoided amount to 8.9 million tons over the period of analysis. Furthermore, we propose a financially attractive refrigerator/freezer replacement program for low income households. If this program would cover all existing low-income households in 2013, the savings in electricity consumption would lead to a reduction in subsidies of 9 billion USD (NPV) over the period 2013–2027, while full funding for this program would cost the government 223.8 million USD. This program would thereby benefit consumers, the government and further economic development.

Lebanon is a small open, middle-income economy deriving around 97% of total primary energy, from imported fossil fuels that are mainly used in the transport and electricity sectors. The fossil fuel imports place a heavy burden on public finances primarily because of subsidized electricity prices that have not been revised in nearly two decades. Household electricity consumption accounts for 35% of total electricity consumption in Lebanon (Mourtada, 2008) hence the introduction of energy efficient (EE) household appliances can substantially contribute to energy savings. In 2010 the Government of Lebanon has committed to reducing energy consumption by 6% by the year 2013 (MEW, 2010) and an energy-conservation law has been developed and is currently under review. A variety of factors such as the standard of living, the climate, the technological aspects of energy efficient household appliances available on the local market, as well as the price of energy will all contribute to determining household electricity consumption. Worldwide a large number of countries have adopted mandatory standards and labels while fewer countries have adopted voluntary standards. Practice has shown that mandatory standards are much more effective (Mahlia et al., 2003). This paper aims to show the costs and benefits for consumers, the government in terms of public finances and the environment that result from introducing mandatory EE standards for refrigerator/freezers, AC split units, washing machines and lighting. Section 2 presents a brief background review. Section 3 presents the national characteristics of the Lebanese economy and the essential features of the energy sector as they pertain to residential electricity consumption and appliance use. Section 4 highlights the methodology used. Section 5 discusses our results while Section 6 presents a refrigerator replacement program for low income households and Section 7 presents concluding remarks and policy recommendations.

Our analysis is in line with Lebanon's National Energy Efficiency Action Plan developed in 2011 and shows that the introduction of mandatory standards for household appliances can greatly contribute to energy conservation and thereby to the target reduction in energy consumption stated in the latest ‘Policy Paper for the Electricity Sector’ presented by the Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW, 2010). In addition, such standards will contribute to alleviating the burden on public finances and the environment. Introducing mandatory standards will also help increasing tariffs to cost recovery levels as EE equipment will become more attractive to Lebanese households through the increased electricity bill savings. While medium and high income households can readily afford the more expensive EE/RE equipment the same is not the case for about 28% of Lebanese households that are considered poor. We have demonstrated that a refrigerator replacement program for low-income households can potentially lead to a win–win situation, benefiting consumers, public finances and the environment.