The status and prospectus of renewable energy in Palestine

Abstract

The people in Palestine are facing critical situation concerning the achievement of reliable and sustainable energy. The absence of fossil fuel, the scarcity of conventional energy resources and lack of a Palestinian infrastructure for about four decades due to the continuous Israeli occupation had resulted in hindering the development of the country. Palestine has to import all its needs of petroleum products and about 92% of its needs of electrical energy from the Israeli Occupier. This resulted in continuous deterioration of the development plans and also hindered the development initiatives. Recent exploration of natural gas in Gaza Strip gives hopes and new opportunities for gas industry in Palestine; these hopes are constrained by the Occupation. In spite of all these challenges, Palestine has gone forward to utilize its natural resources for rehabilitation and construction. In this study the possibility of utilizing the available renewable energies in Palestine is taken into consideration, these include: wind, solar, geothermal and biomass energies. Obstacles facing renewable energy development were discussed in terms of Policy and politics obstacles, technical obstacles and social obstacles. Suggested policies were proposed to overcome those obstacles, such as the creation of a national fund, the development of governmental policies, regulations, provisions and incentives to encourage use and investment in renewable technologies, experience exchange and giving attention to small scale projects which when accumulated can produce a value.