Analysis Of Jordan’s Progress In Developing Renewable Energy Resources

In recent years, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan’s potential for and progress in developing renewable energy resources has grown substantially. This is incredibly important for the country’s long-term stability, as Jordan currently imports nearly 95% of all its energy sources from neighboring countries. As the world enters a period of increased sense of environmental awareness, it is important to evaluate the attitude towards adopting these new policies. Certainly, the transition to renewables has many political, social, environmental, and economic effects and factors.

However, as I thought about my experiences in Jordan, I narrowed my focus to the two most prominent factors, the environment and the economy. I wondered: is the mass adoption of renewable energy seen as a move towards bettering the environment, or out of necessity to provide electricity at a cheaper cost in a wavering economy? Thus, the question I seek to answer is: How is renewable energy used as both an economic solution to the energy crisis and a green solution for protecting the environment in Jordan, and does one aspect hold more weight than the other?

Framework

This paper will first require an analysis of the energy crisis in Jordan itself. Demand for and prices of energy have increased rapidly, and a majority of the literature attributes this increase to four components: rapid population growth, a lack of natural resources, decreased natural gas imports from Egypt, and the refugee crisis. Adam Smith International & Vivid Economics’ analysis of Jordan’s green sector makes an additional connection between water scarcity and the energy crisis, which has a very strong relationship but is typically not mentioned in most literatures. Next, I will review the implications that make Jordan’s energy crisis such an important issue from both primary and secondary sources. Edenhofer et. al, Jaber et. al, and Adam Smith Int’l. describe the economic benefits of using renewable energy (RE) using the four main theories of environmental economics: energy security, green job production, green growth, and poverty reduction. Speeches from King Abdallah II and the Ministry of Environment’s website emphasize the global responsibility of protecting the environment, and advocate for RE as a main solution.

Finally, I will begin to answer my question: how is RE used as both an economic solution to the energy crisis and a green solution for protecting the environment in Jordan, and does one aspect hold more weight than the other? Adam Smith International’s analysis, which focuses on how to increase financing, will serve as a foundational framework for the economic portion of the paper. They reference several primary sources, which I will analyze separately. These important sources include the Master Strategy of Energy Sector in Jordan 2007-2020, The Organization of Natural Resources Affairs Law #12 of 1968, The Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Law #13 of 2012, and The National Climate Change Policy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 2013-2020. All of these documents set a legal and legislative framework for the implementation of RE in Jordan. The environmental aspect of my question will be addressed through Jaber et. al’s “Employment of renewable energy in Jordan: Current statue, SWOT, and problem analysis,” which highlights impediments in installing RE projects in the country. I will also look at speeches from King Abdallah II from the Paris Climate talks and compare publications from the Ministry of Environment and local environmental and climate change NGOs. This step is taken to evaluate the importance of environmentalism on a more local level and determine if environmental responsibility has been realized by the broader population. These sources will provide excellent information and can help answer the broader question of the success or failure of the environmental conservation movement in Jordan.

Methodology

This question will be addressed from several angles and methodologies. Analysis of primary sources like the Master Strategy, the Climate Change Policy, and Laws 12 and 13 will be an integral part of the study, as they outline the progress, boundaries, and importance of RE to the Government of Jordan. In addressing the economic side of the thesis, further research must be conducted on BOO and EPC methods of investment, which the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources claims to be the biggest impediment to RE in the country. An in-depth study of Jordanian banks is also needed, as it is cited as the main barrier to RE by academic sources such as Jaber et. al and Adam Smith International. The functions of the recently founded but inactive Jordan Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund (JREEEF) will also be considered, as its failure to carry out its duties has also been listed as a main issue in the literature.

The environmental question will be addressed through videos of King Abdallah II discussing issues on climate change and RE, the Ministry of Environment’s (MoE) awareness campaigns, local climate change NGOs’ inputs, and commitments made by the Jordanian government to the Open Government Partnership (OGP). It is important to compare findings from both government entities like MoE and local NGOs to evaluate the differences in commitment to environmental protection on a national scale and on a much smaller, local level. Speeches from the King and commitments to democratic programs like OGP emphasize the importance the Hashemite Kingdom places on the environment. Preliminary Findings My research thus far finds some conflicting elements in both the economic and environmental elements of the study. Academic sources consistently cite national banking systems and failure of JREEEF as the main issues in financing RE, while government publications from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) place the blame on a shift from EPC to BOO international investment processes. Adam Smith International presents the estimated economic savings for the switch to a RE-heavy energy mix and introduces the water scarcity crisis into the economics of RE. Jaber et. al and Edenhofer et. al describe the dominant theories of environmental economics and help make the case that RE is the solution for both the energy and economic crisis in Jordan. In terms of environmental preservation, there is lots of rhetoric and few results. Conservation and protection is constantly alluded to by MEMR and MoE, but on a smaller, individual scale, environmental awareness is not an integral aspect of life to Jordanian citizens, according to a climate change NGO I met with in early 2018, Jordanian Climate Change & Environmental Protection Society (JOCCEPS).

Based on my early findings, I find it would be useful to further elaborate the question of environmental protection to address the successes and failures of environmentalism in Jordan. This would strengthen (or weaken) the claim that environmentalism has a strong impact on the decision of Jordan to implement RE projects around the country.