BASE-LINE ENERGY AND ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTIONS IN LEBANON AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONSERVATION

Energy production and consumption statistics that are periodically pub lished by different organizations play a significant role in assessing energy trends and patterns. These reports provide information about e nergy consumption breakdown among different sectors, mainly residentia l, transportation, and industrial. State and private organizations and agencies make use of these reports to identify cost-effective opportu nities for energy conservation, and consequently pollution reduction, Lebanon has gone through a long period of civil unrest and wars, As a result, local and international organizations were not able to keep up dated records of various social and economic changes, including energy consumption trends, that took place during this period. Scarce report s that were published during this period were based only on the extrap olation of old historic characteristics without taking into considerat ion the demographic and social changes, This paper provides informatio n concerning energy consumption taking into account the alignment of t he post-war population realities and their energy consumption patterns . The aim is to establish a baseline on energy consumption at the hous ehold level in Lebanon in the post-mar era. Analysis is also conducted to examine the influence of various social, economic, and even geogra phic factors on energy consumption trends. Cost-effective opportunitie s and means for achieving energy conservation taking into account all these factors are also highlighted, (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.