While the previous MENASOL speaker profiled here (Nasser Majali) is a relative newcomer to the field of solar energy, Dr. Antoine Bittar, the Engineering Director for Solar Power at RES Mediterranean, is a leading expert in this field.

For the soft-spoken scientist, the conference in Cairo was a homecoming of sorts: Though now based in France, he was born in the neighborhood where the conference took place. Fittingly, he notes, the neighborhood is called Heliopolis – “sun city.”

In the early 1960s, Bittar’s family emigrated to New Zealand. Why New Zealand of all places? “It’s a long story,” he says with a smile. “Conditions were difficult in Egypt, and my family applied to several places. It was indeed unusual in those days for people from Egypt, or anyone in the Middle East, to go to New Zealand as immigrants.”

After earning degrees in Physics and Material Sciences in New Zealand, he won a scholarship to do his PhD in Paris. Bittar’s career in the solar field developed from his early work on selective surfaces – “the black surfaces on pipes and tubes used in solar thermal conversion,” he explains.” This led to my collaboration with people in the business, including in Australia and in France.”

His collaboration in Australia with David Mills, a pioneer in Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) technology, led him to California, where they founded the Ausra CSP startup. Bittar served as Ausra’s vice president for R&D.

Expanding the MENA portfolio

Now at RES Mediterranean, Bittar hopes to expand the solar portfolio of the group, whose main projects to date have been wind ventures in France and in Turkey.

“Working in the Middle East market is not always straightforward,” he says with a grin. But he is optimistic about the prospects for renewable energy in the MENA area and notes that the company has made good progress in wind energy projects in Egypt – “and this is not because I was born in Egypt.”

More MENASOL-related posts:
Cautious Optimisim at MENASOL Solar Energy Conference in Cairo
DESERTEC Opportunities for Mideast Countries

The 2nd annual MENASOL solar energy conference on the development and finance of utility-scale solar projects in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) opened Tuesday in Cairo. Approximately 250 people from around the world gathered for the two-day conference. This is about double the number of participants who attended the initial MENASOL conference, held last year in Abu Dhabi, conference director Heidi Hafes explained.

The conference speakers, from both the public and private sectors, included representatives from Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Libya, Amman and Yemen, as well as the UN, World Bank, investment banks and other organizations.

Nearly all of the speakers incorporated PowerPoint presentations with graphs showing steep curves in the projected demand for electricity, intersecting curves depicting the projected convergence of costs for renewable vs. conventional energy (in 2014-15, one speaker suggested), charts with national goals for renewable energy capacity and/or tables listing the pros and cons of various solar technologies.

Still not a ‘no-brainer’

Some emphasized the technological, financial and regulatory challenges the MENA region still faces before becoming a solar powerhouse. As one speaker noted, it is still not a “no-brainer” for Europe to look to North Africa to supply its electricity needs.

Another speaker reminded the participants to “mind the gap” that still exists between the relative costs of alternative and conventional sources of energy.

The real value of this kind of conference, however, is not the marathon of presentations but rather the opportunity to network with potential partners/competitors. Indeed, there is quite an interesting mix of talented and knowledgeable people here, and I’ll try to profile a few of them in later posts.

More green conference news from the region:

An Obvious Absence from the World Future Energy Summit

Upbeat Mood at Carbon-Neutral Eilat Energy Event

From garbage dump to municipal park.

The impressions of Alexandria I shared in a recent post were largely negative, so here I’ll present a happier picture: a green oasis in Cairo built upon a former garbage dump. The photos are mine; the background information comes mainly from touregypt.net.

Hard to believe, but this delightful site was formerly a municipal garbage dump.  Some 80,000 truckloads of debris that had accumulated over centuries were cleared as part of the park’s development. In comparison, the Hiriya project near Tel Aviv should be a piece of cake. (See: Going On A Picnic to Tel Aviv’s Garbage Mountain.)

The 74-acre park was inaugurated in 2005 and funded ($30 million) by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. According to touregypt.net: “The Aga Khan decided to donate a park to the citizens of Cairo in 1984, out of the Islamic belief that we are all trustees of God’s creation and therefore must seek to leave the world a better place than it was before us.”

More from touregypt.net: ”The multidisciplinary project presented a range of complex technical issues, including highly saline soils which first required the creation of specialist nurseries to identify and grow the best plants and trees for the soil, terrain and climate.

“Over two million plants and trees were propagated, of which over 655,000 have now been planted in the park. This also required the incorporation within the park of three large fresh water reservoirs for the city of Cairo each 80 meters in diameter and 14 meters deep.”

“The park’s vegetation varies from dry, succulent plants on the western slopes to lush, grassy meadows with shade trees, to formal gardens and, finally, to bustan-like orchard spaces. “

Of course, all is not rosey in Cairo. Besides the park’s proximity to the historic Citadel and Muhammad Ali Mosque (visible at the top-right), it is also adjacent to one of the most impoverished areas in Cairo – the City of the Dead, a neighborhood built among the tombstones.

Cognizant of the stark contrast between the lush park and its dire surroundings, the park’s developer – the Aga Khan Trust – has initiated a range of community-based urban renewal projects and offers micro-credit loans to enable residents to open small businesses.

More on Cairo:
Keep It Clean Cairo
Tap Into Solar Energy at MENASOL
Get A Ride With Egypt Car Poolers

Despite its impressive shoreline, Alexandria – the self-proclaimed “Capital of Arab Tourism” – seems to be a city in decline. (Hint: watch out pedestrians).

When the Green Prophet’s editor heard I’d be stopping in Alexandria en route to the MENASOL solar energy conference in Cairo next week, she asked (implored) me to write a post from there. So, after my first day in Egypt’s second largest city, here are a few first impressions. (I’ll let some pictures do the talking too.) Any Alexandrians or others familiar with the city are invited to comment and tell me what I missed and where these first impressions are mistaken.

I arrived in Alexandria on a bus that raced down the narrow Cairo-Alexandria desert highway, with the driver blasting his horn every few seconds to warn anyone else on the road to get out of his way. I was later to discover that Alexandria is also the most treacherous place I’ve ever experienced as a pedestrian. However, I seemed to be one of the only tourists strolling around the city. (A souvenir peddler later explained to me that most foreign tourists get bused straight to and from their cruise ships to the various museums and sites.)

Anyway, approaching Alexandria from the desert road is not very pretty. A large industrial complex, belching smoke, reminded me of the ugly stretch of New Jersey you pass after exiting lower Manhattan.

The industrial complex on the outskirts of Alexandria reminded me of this scene from New Jersey.

I was prepared to encounter a city that had lost the cosmopolitan vigor and romance depicted, for example, in Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet, but I did not expect to find such a thick layer of neglect and litter. (I am writing this now after arriving in Cairo a few hours ago and I was surprised to find Cairo much cleaner and somehow less manic.)

Here’s a picture of Alexandria’s most famous mosque.

Just adjacent to the mosque is a dilapidated market with piles of garbage and an awful stench. I did meet one local beauty there, however.

The kids below also seem undeterred by the trash floating in the sea and piled up on the beach – just across the street from one of Alexandria’s top attractions, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

The impressive library, completed in 2002, is sparkling clean and state-of-the-art. The library includes skylights to illuminate the expansive reading areas without allowing direct sunshine to reach the books. Part of the complex (pictured below) is designed to represent the rising sun.

Are these solar panels? Nope. And the library tour guide noted that I was not the first person to ask this question.

To be fair, I did find some tidy corners of the city, and people making an effort to clean up.

My first impressions of Alexandria might suggest that the sun is setting – or has already set on the once grand city. But perhaps I’ll come away from the MENASOL conference later this week convinced that the sun is indeed rising for Egypt, including its famous port city.

Read more about MENASOL:
Have Sun to Spare? Meet DESERTEC at MENASOL
Tap Into Solar Energy Potential of the Middle East at MENASOL
An Interview With MENASOL Organizers

From leaps in the bronze age to massive droughts that wiped out cities, civilizations we learn from history, depend on water. We need to protect our life sustaining resources now. An Akkad sculpture from Iraq.

Over the course of history, numerous civilizations have peaked and then gradually fettered out or even disappeared abruptly. In many cases, the cause of both their rise and disintegration was the same: Water. This precious resource has been a driving factor of progress in the past and will prove to be a determining factor for development in the future as well.

The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), located in present-day Pakistan and India, was based around the Indus River and its tributaries as early as 2,600 BCE. Its efficient management of water resources has led archeologists to consider it an extremely advanced civilization for its time: The Bronze Age.

The Harappans — named after the first IVC site discovered — constructed public baths, drinking water infrastructure, water storage facilities and intricate sewage network systems.  But did water also play a hand in its demise?

Till date archeologists debate over the ultimate cause for the collapse of IVC, but most of the possible theories involve water. The existence of defensive walls and multiple layers of silt found among the ruins have suggested that the civilization was destroyed by floods; an opposing theory suggests that rivers could have changed their course and caused drought and desertification. Either way, the Harappans found themselves at the mercy of water.

The Akkad civilization in Iraq, dating back to the 3^rd millennium BCE and considered the predecessor of the Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations, thrived along the banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates.

These rivers gave rise to a massive agricultural system, resulting in one of the highest recorded population densities of the time. Southern Iraq was extremely fertile and had a yield of 30 grains returned for one grain sewn, which is more productive than present day yields aided by modern farming technology.

However, the blossoming of this civilization was short-lived due to a massive drought. The rivers experienced a sudden drop in water levels, while improper farming methods led to a progressive salinization of the soil. Trade seems to have collapsed, cattle starved and ultimately there was forced migration. Another affluent civilization had fallen prey to the devastating effects of the very water that once supported its lavish existence.

Archeologists posit that the same climatic changes that affected Akkad were in fact responsible for a dramatic change in the hydrology of the entire Middle East region and paralleled the collapse of the Old Kingdom in Egypt (2700-2200 BCE). The fertility of the Nile River is well known and hardly requires mentioning here. This river helped sustain Egyptian civilization for 3 millennia. However, a devastating drought crushed Ancient Egypt and sent it spiraling into a dark age which lasted for over 1,000 years before it was able to thrive once again. The drought and the terrible famine that followed were documented by the Egyptians themselves (in the Intermediate Period) and were later verified through scientific evidence in 2003.

According to author Jared Diamond, the importance of environmental conditions has often been understated in the narration of human history. His book ‘Guns, Germs and Steel,’ highlights the pivotal role that the environment played in the progress of societies.

Countries like Iran and the Americas were able to flourish thanks to adequate precipitation and hydrology conducive to agriculture, while Australia and certain other pacific islands were not able to progress due to harsh environmental conditions.

In the future, water will again play an important role in the same countries that housed these great civilizations. Rising water demand in India, especially within its agricultural sector, is set to almost double existing water supply by 2030.

Regional disparities of water distribution between Pakistan’s Sindh and Punjab provinces could instigate serious internal tensions in the future. Despite having abundant water supplies of around 67 BCM annually, or roughly 2,000 cubic meters per capita per year (a comfortable amount by international standards), Iraq will suffer from severe water shortage in 2020 due to the effects of water pollution, drought, poor water management, obstruction from upper riparians and as a long-term consequence of conflict.

Lastly, Egypt is undergoing a water crisis of its own.

It no longer enjoys a monopoly over the benefits of the Nile River; as supplies dwindle while demand rapidly increases Egypt must map out an effective river basin management plan that will meet its water needs while simultaneously benefitting the other 4 riparians of the river.

Water security has always been an essential element while assessing the development of a civilization. With the use of modern irrigation technology and infrastructure, the importance of water has been largely down-played in recent history.

But dwindling supplies, potential effects of climate change and a rising population have again brought water to the forefront of future development and risk analysis. It will be a key factor in the future, determining power-sharing strategies and political alliances. Just like the need for energy and the lack thereof has resulted in organizations such as Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), fresh, marginal and virtual water exporters will form the organizations of tomorrow. 

Similarly countries that do not have adequate water resources will find themselves in a terribly disadvantageous position in the political spectrum – they risk instability, not just at an international level but also domestically.

In the past, several civilizations, recognizing the importance of water, viewed it as sacred.  Water enjoyed a sacred presence in the Indus Valley, Mesopotamian and Egyptian Civilizations, taking a central role in rights and rituals.

The climatologists, environmentalists and strategists of today are once again emphasizing the importance of water for a safer and more secure future. Whether the driving force to recognize the importance of water is religious or scientific, it is time that the human race makes efforts to manage water effectively and preserve this precious resource for our future generations.

Gitanjali Bakshi is a research analyst for a political think tank in Bombay, India called Strategic Foresight Group (SFG). She specializes in strategic, political and security issues in the Middle East – with a focus in Conflict Prevention & Conflict Resolution. She was the principle researcher for ‘Cost of Conflict Middle East‘, a report by SFG that measured the economic, military, socio-political and environmental costs of various conflicts in the region over the years. She has written several articles on security in the Middle East, and has a particular area of interest in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Solar field at Kuraymat, Egypt is now fully assembled. Image via changents.com

Ra, the sun god of the ancient Egyptians, would be proud: Egypt’s first large-scale solar thermal facility is nearing completion. A parabolic trough solar field, incorporating nearly 2,000 collector units and covering 130,000 square meters, has been installed at the Kuraymat project site, located about 100 kilometers south of Cairo. The solar power plant is scheduled to become fully operational in the fall.

As reported in the Solar Thermal  magazine, the technology for the solar field comes from Flagsol GmbH in Cologne, a joint venture of Solar Millennium AG and Ferrostaal AG, with construction work provided by the Egyptian company Orascom Construction Industries.

The 150 MW power plant features a hybrid design, utilizing both natural gas and solar energy to generate electricity. It was commissioned via an international tender by the Egyptian New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) and is expected to cost over € 250 million; the solar field accounts for about 30% of this cost. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) awarded a $50 million subsidy for the solar field.

Flagsol’s managing director, Dr. Thomas Thaufelder, notes: “An important goal of the international DESERTEC Industrial Initiative [DII] is to generate solar power for use in the North African states before it is exported to Europe. This initial project can soon demonstrate the successful implementation of this goal.”

Egypt is also seeking funding and technical assistance to build a $1 billion solar power plant along its Red Sea coast. According to a report in ArabianBusiness.com, the Egyptian government is conducting talks with Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Masdar clean energy company, as well as with three unnamed European firms.

In February, Egypt signed a deal with Masdar to construct a 200 MW wind farm near Suez, as part of the country’s plan to generate 20% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.

Read more about solar energy in Egypt:

‘Cold Peace’ May Keep Proposed Egyptian-Israeli Solar Project on Ice

Tap into North Africa and Middle East Solar Opportunities at MENASOL

:: Solar Thermal  magazine
:: ArabianBusiness.com

Israel holds Earth Hour a little later than the rest of the world, but just in time for Earth Day.

Stubborn as always, Israel insists on doing things a little differently.  The official international date for Earth Day, the worldwide energy saving campaign, was on March 27th and many other Middle Eastern countries – such as Egypt and Dubai – observed it already.  But Israel thought it would be better to observe Earth Hour a little later, on Earth Day, with a 14-city energy saving salute.

Today Israel will be observing Earth Hour for the third year in a row, with each city celebrating and saving energy in its own special way.  Check out what the following cities are doing, in synchronized order:

Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv already has its own Earth Hour tradition, in the form of a concert in Rabin Square that is powered by a team of cyclists and renewable energy (which sometimes comes in the form of upcycled falafel oil).  Lights out at 8pm.  Check out the details on the left.

Nes Ziona: Like the other cities observing Earth Hour, it’ll be lights out for Nes Ziona at 8pm.

Jerusalem: A few events will be going on in Jerusalem, including a family-oriented event on Sderot Mamila, a concert on the Old City walls after lights out at 8:10pm, and a street party on Shushan Street. Check out the poster below for more information.

Dimona: Like the other cities observing Earth Hour, it’ll be lights out for Dimona at 8:10pm.

Yavne: Yavne is turning Earth Hour into a day-long event, starting at 8am with a school-wide environmental education hour and ending with a lights-out hour starting at 8:10pm.

Haifa: Like the other cities observing Earth Hour, it’ll be lights out for Haifa at 8:10pm.

Kfar Saba: Kfar Saba will turn it’s lights off at 8:20pm, but before that a light-and-dark circus cabaret will be starting at 8pm.

Modi’in Makabim-Reut: Like the other cities observing Earth Hour, it’ll be lights out for Modi’in Makabim-Reut at 8:20pm.

Beer Sheva: Like the other cities observing Earth Hour, it’ll be lights out for Beer Sheva at 8:30pm.

Eilat: Like the other cities observing Earth Hour, it’ll be lights out for Eilat at 8:30pm.

Rishon Lezion: Like the other cities observing Earth Hour, it’ll be lights out for Rishon Lezion at 8:30pm.

Ashkelon: Like the other cities observing Earth Hour, it’ll be lights out for Ashkelon at 8:40pm.

Petach Tikva: Like the other cities observing Earth Hour, it’ll be lights out for Petach Tikva at 8:40pm.

Raanana: Like the other cities observing Earth Hour, it’ll be lights out for Raanana at 8:40pm.

For more information about Israel Earth Day 2010 events click here.

Read more about Earth Hour in Israel::

Earth Hour Competes With Football in Israel, Jordanians March With Candles

Tell Me It’s Hot, Tell Me It’s Cold: Tel Aviv Earth Hour Concert 2008

VIDEO: Shimon Peres Unplugs Jerusalem for Earth Day 2009

Free Concert Powered by Falafel Oil Brings Earth Hour and Earth Day to the Tel Aviv Masses

It may be an attempt to maintain stability while the ailing president was abroad, or a pre-election clampdown on crime. But whatever the conspirators say, more and more Egyptians are asking: “Where has all the hashish gone?”

Hashish, the once ubiquitous yet illegal substance in Egypt, is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain in the country and it’s fueling conspiracy theories and general anxiety. The issue is especially pertinent to the younger generation, the main consumers of the illegal drug derived from marijuana, who resort to the “remedy” as a retreat from their daily troubles.

Egypt amended laws in 1989 making the possession and trade of drugs punishable by life in prison or even death, but this has apparently not reduced the popularity of hashish.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a young Egyptian told The Media Line that its use is “very tolerated,” adding that his police officer friends had even asked him to store hash for them.

With a waning economy, an unclear political future and frequent reports of politically-motivated clampdowns against opposition activists, hashish has become a popular pastime for young people and a way to take a break from the daily rat race.

“It’s very prevalent,” Sam, author of the Egyptian blog Sand Monkey, told The Media Line. “It’s equal to beer use in the U.S.”

The shortage has caused the street prices to soar. Conspiracy theories abound. The talk of the coffee shops is “Where has it all gone?”

“It’s all half jokes and half conspiracy theories,” said the blogger Sam. “But no one really knows anything.”

A recently formed Facebook group in Arabic entitled “Together against the hashish crisis in Egypt” has so far garnered a modest following of 30 members.

“A large number of Egyptians appreciate hashish and these include decision makers, journalists and artists,” according to the group’s manifesto.

Some Egyptians are reportedly tying the mysterious disappearance of the drug to the recent illness of President Hosni Mubarak and his trip abroad. Government officials, according to this theory, wanted to ensure country remained stable until the president’s return and beefed up security along the borders, which in turn has stemmed the flow of drugs into the country, according to the Egyptian daily Al-Youm A-Sabi.

However, Egyptians are skeptical that the authorities will be able to eradicate hashish altogether, the paper reported. This was because too many people in high places have vested interests in the drug trade and have cohorts in the official positions who will help them preserve their interests.

The matter was even discussed on the popular talk show Cairo Today, in which host Amru Adeeb said the word on the street was that a new official in the anti-drug authority was behind the dramatic decline in hashish.

Many estimate that the current shortage will not last for long.

“Word on the street is that the 2010 hash crisis is almost over,” Sam said. “It will fuel animosity among the population only if the hash does not surface.”

He added, cautiously, that signs of a return were imminent, but did not elaborate.

Sharif Hafez, an Egyptian independent liberal activist said the attempts to eradicate hashish were likely linked to the pending legislative elections coming up at the end of this year, and presidential elections next year.

“The state is fighting corruption because it’s entering an election period,” Hafez told The Media Line. “It’s not just hash. They’re also fighting religious corruption. The government is trying to show they’re doing their job.”

Although he supports the efforts to wipe hashish off the market, Hafez said he believed the government was going about it too radically, instead of instituting a gradual clamp down on it.

“They’re fighting hashish to make a society better off, but at the same time this is creating chaos on the street among young people” he said. “However, it’s good to create this chaos because changes aren’t easy, so I support this.”

“But taking it off all at once is not good. It’s too dramatic, especially when you’re not offering them alternatives in terms of better housing, more money and a better economy,” Hafez said.

According to a survey conducted by the Egypt’s National Council for Combating Drugs, the number of drug addicts in Egypt is around 9%, whereas a report conducted by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood suggested that some 16% of university students take drugs.

The quantities of drugs seized in Egypt have risen over the last three years, with 25.5 tons of hashish being seized in 2008 – 40% more than the amount seized the previous year. In 2009, the numbers were on a steady rise, and seizures amounted to approximately 27 tons.

(This story is published, with permission from The Media Line.)

Read more on drugs in the Middle East:
Yemen’s Environmental Problems Blamed on Chewing Gat
Afghan Opium Growers Get the Burn Out
Stop Smoking Stupid!

While high-end, luxury travel continues to suffer somewhat, not all segments of Egypt’s tourism sector are declining. Eco-friendly destinations are continuing to burgeon. On the Red Sea coast are dozens of small environmentally sound “off-the-beaten-track” camps that house scores of Egyptian and foreign visitors daily.

One of those places is Basata, arguably the first such eco-lodge in the country. Lining the pristine sandy beaches are small huts, capable of housing two, three, four and more campers nightly. One of the draws to the camp is their low waste production. According to Maria Wuersel, co-owner of the camp, they produce their own water. She said that each guest receives an introductory course in water management, which includes what the waste water is used for: flushing the few toilets, pre-washing dishes, and more.

“We use much less water and expel less waste than your typical hotels elsewhere,” she said in a phone interview.

Although many destinations across the country expect a fall in clientele this year, Wuersel argued that because Basata is so different from the average high-end locations in Egypt, their profits are not expected to drop.

“We expect things to stay about the same. Everything thus far is the same and we are already fully-booked for all the major holidays,” she said.

Because most of Basata’s visitors are not the typical “mass tourism” common in Egypt through tour operators like Hassan’s Alexandria-based agency, the fear that the global recession will affect the camp is unlikely.

“Our clients are going to come, we are confident because they want to have this experience. We are not in fear at this time of losses, but we will see by the end of the year,” she added.

Becoming even more popular than the Red Sea eco-lodges is the Western Oasis of Siwa. It is here where legend tells that Alexander the Great received his divine mission to conquer the world from Athena at Siwa’s Oracle. It is here, in the midst of Egypt’s barren Western desert that the plush town opens to the visitor. Its green landscape filled with trees, palm trees and farming that betrays the area, reminding even the most knowledgeable visitor that from the sandy desert life somehow manages to surface.

Unlike the hundreds of high-end luxury resorts on the Red Sea and northern coasts of Egypt, Siwa boasts its “traditional” experience. There are no five-star monster hotels, at least not yet and no airport. Getting to Siwa requires a 10-hour bus ride from Cairo across the desert towards Libya.

People come from all over the globe to experience the pristine calm that Siwa’s over 230 natural freshwater springs offer; a far cry from the bustling cities and markets that line much of Egypt’s streets. Locals in Siwa offer some of the most exquisite organic materials that are inaccessible anywhere else in the world.

Entirely free of chemical fertilizers, the residents sell their trinkets to tourists and ship them to Egypt’s Crafts – a Cairo-based shop selling the high quality organic materials and souvenirs – for those unfortunate few who don’t make it to the oasis.

There are worries, however, that the current economic crisis will deal Siwa a major blow. With no airport – one is scheduled to open sometime this year or early 2010 – Siwans wonder if tourists will stop coming.

Hassan said he has already booked a number of tours of the oasis for the spring – it is too cold for most tourists to venture into the desert in the winter months.

“I think Siwa and the Red Sea environment places will do just fine this year because the types of people going to these places are going to go there anyway,” he argued. The reason is because eco-tourists are not as worried about financial considerations. The prices are already measurably cheaper than the five-star resorts and hotels in the country.

The only question for Wuersel and Siwa to ask is whether people will venture to Egypt in the first place. At least the draw of such “untouched” landscapes will keep tourists whetting their appetite when searching for that new destination.

Despite government worries that tourism will dwindle in light of the global economic crisis, and ministry of trade said that overall growth dropped into the negatives (3 percent) in 2009, Minister of Tourism Zoheir Garranah is confident that now is the time to invest.

“I am an astute believer in investing even more heavily when things are bad,” he began, “because when they start to rebound the investment pays back dramatically.”

With eco-tourism still booming, one wonders where the government will invest in and if the future projects will be beneficial.

(This post was first published on the Egypt-based Bikya Masr.)

This was the second consecutive year that Egypt participated in the international event. Amal Habib, a 28-year-old photographer based in Cairo, visited the Cairo Tower at the assigned time. She was skeptical of promises by the Egyptian government to turn off the lights of the tower, but was gladly surprised to see the darkness.

“I was kind of shocked, but in a good way when I went to the tower expecting to show the lies of the government toward climate change initiatives, but I was wrong. The lights were off,” she said.

Minister of Environmental Affairs Maged George had announced earlier in the week Egypt’s official participation in the event, which included a number of governmental offices, institutions and major archaeological sits. The blackout was a shock to tourists, including Peter Howard, an American tourist who had thought about going to the Pyramids on Saturday night to view them in the spotlights that usually accompany them.

“When I asked my hotel concierge they said that for an hour they would be off, so I decided to relax and not go,” he said, adding that the move by Egypt to turn off the major sites was “a good move to show people that just a little action can go a long way.”

Other Arab nations participating in the event were Qatar, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Europe’s best known landmarks — including the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and Rome’s Colosseum — fell dark Saturday along with Egypt’s fabled sites. Following Sydney’s Opera House and Beijing’s Forbidden City switching off, the rest of the world quickly followed suit, creating the largest global protest in the name of climate change to date.

Four thousand cities in more than 120 countries — starting with the remote Chatham Islands off the coast of New Zealand — voluntarily switched off Saturday to reduce energy consumption, though traffic lights and other safety features were unaffected, organizers said.

“Tackling climate change is urgent and vital to both safeguard our environment and our children’s future. We can make a difference if we act now and act together,” said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who switched off lights at his Downing Street residence in London.

But, the question arose in Egypt and across the Middle East, what impact will it have on climate change education? For Omar bin Taleb, an environmental consultant in Oman, who spoke to Bikya Masr via telephone on Sunday morning, he said that it will at least “get people thinking about” climate change and wondering why the lights went off.

“If we can reach a handful of people in convincing them of the importance of this kind of event, we will have succeeded,” he began. “It is important and the world must not stop. We, as humans, have to deal with climate change on a grassroots basis and learn how the power we consume affects the climate change and the planet.”

More on Earth Hour in the Middle East:

Dubai’s Burj Khalifa Will Tower in Darkness

Earth Hour 2009 Sweeps Across the Middle East

(Image via AP/Nasser Nouri, 2009)

(This post was first published on Bikya Masr)