Energy and Natural Resources
Egypt depends on fossil fuels and hydroelectric power for its energy supplies. In the mid-1990s petroleum supplied the majority of the energy and hydroelectric power, 25 percent. Other renewable resources—such as crop residues, animal wastes, and wood—supplied 14 percent of the total energy consumed. Industry used 48 percent of the energy; residential, commercial, and municipal, 32 percent; and transportation, 14 percent. Only 6 percent was for agriculture and irrigation.
Egypt has the capacity to generate 5,610 million kilowatt hours. Two thirds is generated by hydroelectric plants, most at the Aswan High Dam. Power plants that burn petroleum produce most of the rest. These facilities are near Cairo and Alexandria and on the Nile Delta. High-voltage transmission lines link the Aswan hydroelectric plants with Cairo.
Industrialization and a national program of rural electrification have demanded additional generating capacity. A large coal-burning power plant near Cairo supplies three quarters of the city's electricity. Eight nuclear reactors, which will generate 8,000 megawatts, are also planned. The first two units were being built at El Dabaa, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Alexandria. Plans to generate hydroelectricity by flooding the Qattara Depression with water from the Mediterranean are also under way.
Crude oil provided about 50 percent of Egypt's export revenues in the early 1990s, helping the nation to remain financially independent of its Arab neighbors. Petroleum exports have increased since 1976, with crude oil production reaching 910,000 barrels per day in 1993.
The main fields are in the southern Gulf of Suez and adjacent coastal areas of the Arabian Desert and the Sinai. The offshore fields of El Morgan, Ramadan, July, October, and Belayim accounted for about 90 percent of the total crude oil production.
In the Western Desert are the major fields of El ‘Alamein, Razzak, and Abu Gharadiq. Large new reserves were found as the Egyptian government encouraged exploration and made concessions.
Egypt has six petroleum refineries with a total capacity of 369,000 barrels per day. Two are located near Alexandria (47 percent of the total), two are at Suez, and the others are at Tanta and Mostarud near Cairo. They are linked by pipeline to the main producing fields. The largest and most important is the Suez-Mediterranean (Sumed) pipeline, which extends from Ain Sukhna on the Gulf of Suez to Sidi Krer west of Alexandria. It is being expanded. A new refinery planned for Asyut will be linked by pipeline to the Ras Gharib and Ras Shuqair fields in the Arabian Desert.
Natural gas is produced from five fields. Located at the edge of the delta, the Abu Madi field supplies gas to Tanta and Abu Qir, to Alexandria. Cairo (Helwan) is supplied by Abu Gharadiq, which is 124 miles (200 kilometers) to the west. In addition, two offshore fields provide a quarter of total production. Egypt uses all of the natural gas it produces, and demand is growing rapidly.
Manganese, phosphates, iron ore, and coal are in the western Sinai. Iron ore is also mined near Aswan, and large deposits have been found in Bahariya. Phosphates are mined in the Nile Valley and near Safaga in the Arabian Desert. Chromium, lead, asbestos, gypsum, granite, and talc are also mined. Limestone comes from the cliffs along the Nile.
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© 2007 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
2007-01-15 13:51:07
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answer #2
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answered by Carlene W 5
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petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, zinc
2007-01-15 13:32:44
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answer #4
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answered by Dilbert186 2
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PEOPLE, then silicon. Though, most would say oil.
2007-01-15 13:27:57
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answer #5
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answered by Anonymous
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