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Abstract: This paper is concerned with modeling possible future paths for Lebanon’s electricity future and evaluating them. The baseline scenario (BS) reflects the business-as-usual state of affairs and thus describes the most likely evolution of the power sector in the absence of any climate change-related or other policies. Two alternative scenarios are examined in contrast to the BS; the renewable energy scenario (RES) and the natural gas scenario (NGS). Using the Long range Energy Alternatives Planning System (LEAP) software we conduct a full-fledged scenario analysis and examine the technical, economic, and environmental implications of all scenarios. From an economic standpoint as well as from an environmental perspective both alternative scenarios are superior to the baseline. Hence, the results of the simulation show that the alternative scenarios are more environmentally and economically attractive than the BS. They would help Lebanon meet its social, environmental, and economic development goals, while at the same time providing other unquantifiable benefits that are discussed further in the paper. Anticipated barriers to the shift in energy mix from conventional sources to renewable energy sources are also presented and discussed [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An inventory of greenhouse gas emissions from various economic sectors in Lebanon was conducted following the guidelines set by the World Meteorological Organization and United Nations Environment Programme Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The inventory indicated that the energy sector is the major contributor (74%) to greenhouse gas emissions. This paper describes the inventory of energy related GHG emissions and assesses mitigation options to reduce emissions from electricity generation with emphasis on the usage of renewable energy including biomass, hydropower, solar and wind resources. Policy options for overcoming barriers hindering the exploitation of renewable energy resources are discussed in the context of country-specific characteristics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The bioenergy sector is showing a recent development in Lebanon, a Mediterranean country, where the valorization of forestry and agricultural waste through briquetting consists one of the mostly applied and targeted applications. This study aims at analyzing the life cycle environmental impacts of biomass briquettes produced from olive pruning residues and used for heating purposes in traditional Lebanese stoves. The biomass briquettes are mainly introduced as a replacement for the light fossil fuels widespread used in similar stoves for the same purpose. Consequently, this paper also extends the literature-found comparison of the consumption phases between biomass briquettes and light fossil fuels to a comparative gate-to-gate LCA of these products. For the briquette itself, the results indicate that the "consumption" life cycle stage is the one that contributes to the most to all damage categories. Its contribution is 61%, 94%, 80% and 79% of the total contribution to "Human Health", "Ecosystem quality", "Climate change", and "Resources" damage categories respectively. When compared to light fossil fuels, biomass briquettes present overall better environmental results with exceptions for "Non-carcinogens" (6.28E-04 kg C 2 H 3 Cl eq), "Aquatic ecotoxicity" (1.01E-02 kg TEG water), "Terrestrial ecotoxicity" (5.04E-02 kg TEG soil), and "Land occupation" (9.37E-03 m2org.able) impact categories. This overall outcome is mainly linked to the fact that biomass briquettes are used as a replacement to traditionally adopted energy sources while reducing burning activities in the field. Moreover, sensitivity and uncertainty analyses are also conducted to verify the robustness of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]