“90% of cement factories have agreed to use coal in their production, the Industrial Development Authority is facilitating the rehabilitation of factories in that regard and in quantifying the necessary amounts,” said head of the Industrial Development Authority, Ismail Gaber, reported Daily news Egypt.

He was speaking at the first Coal Conference in Egypt, entitled “The safe use of coal as alternative energy and its role in supporting the Egyptian economy”, launched on Monday.

He added that Egypt needs more than 32m tons of cement to meet the needs of the domestic market.

The conference, taking place 11-12 May, aims to raise awareness on the importance of sustainable development to support the Egyptian economy and to push industrial production, especially in light of the Egyptian government’s decision to use coal within the energy mix, which will be based in the industrial sector.

Furthermore, the conference discusses the ways to gain approvals and follow the latest technology that minimizes harmful emissions and the negative effects on the environment, in accordance with European standards and requirements. The conference also discusses expanding the use of the waste in the energy needed in cement factories to the maximum degree possible, and increasing the use of renewable energy.

Egypt Oil & Gas Analysis:

Egypt has been pushing the coal message for sometime now. Coal is simply cheaper, generates more energy, and will help the government significantly reduce its energy gap; however, the environmental costs will pose a significantly high cost not that far in the future.

By definition the term ‘clean coal’ is used to refer to reducing or neutralizing greenhouse gas emissions at the burn point. It doesn’t address any of the other issues posed by coal, including highly destructive extraction, toxic processing chemicals, transportation impacts, ash disposal impacts, among others.

This means that the technology that can make coal unharmful for humans, plants and future generations is yet to be invented.