Environment Minister Nasser Yassin, in a statement, indicated that the Ministry of Environment issued a circular in September outlining updated and stricter guidelines for the installation of filters on electric generators. The ministry requested governors and local administrations to apply these guidelines to large and medium-sized generators operating within their jurisdictions and to require generator owners to immediately and mandatorily equip emissions with an effective system to treat air pollutants, adhering to the minimum exhaust height, under penalty of shutting down non-compliant generators. Some governors, particularly in Beirut, have circulated these guidelines for compliance, while the Ministry of Environment is conducting workshops with all stakeholders in the Ministries of Energy and Water, Interior, and public prosecutors to ensure proper implementation.
Yassin mentioned that the ministry had issued decision 16/1 in February 2022, which establishes new and updated limit values to reduce emissions from the industrial and energy sectors, including electric generators, to be implemented in two phases starting from February 2023, considering global standards and guidelines. Additionally, the Ministry of Environment is gradually rehabilitating and operating air monitoring stations that had ceased functioning since mid-2019, after obtaining a grant from the Global Environment Facility in collaboration with the World Bank. Simultaneously, the ministry has introduced customs exemptions and reduced fees for electric and hybrid vehicles in the 2024 budget to mitigate air pollution from the transport sector.
Nasser Yassin clarified that the main problem of air pollution lies in the significant increase in the use of generators as a primary electricity source instead of feeding Lebanon's electricity grid. The presence of such a large number of electric generators among homes, institutions, and commercial centers, and their use most of the time poses a serious threat to the environment and public health. The solution lies in improving the power supply from the Electricité du Liban and working on generating electricity through alternative, clean methods and renewable energy sources.
