Dr. Kamel Esseghairi is Medical Doctor, Epidemiologist, Population expert and Health Economist, Chairman of Arab Platform for Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency, adviser of Scientific Societies ESPRIT Prv School Engineering-Technology and Coordinator of Africa Activities development SIMAC Société ICT Management. He did his master in economy in UK, London. He did almost 37 years of professional assignment. 20 of them is international assignment in North Africa and Middle East.
Dr. Kamel talks with the Eurasia Diary in an exclusive interview on 7th International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development.
Eurasia Diary: How do you see this 7th international energy forum here in Baku?
Kamel Esseghair: First of all, I discovered energy issue role and contribution to the development when I worked in Africa as Director General of social affairs. From this time I see that energy issue especially well managed energy and producer locally will make a difference and will give this agenda reality which means contrary to MDG which were a failure in sub Saharan Africa and some poor countries. In general we hope that all together with impute from international donor organizations like these can gather and put afford and then we can make this agenda realistic, feasible and implementable. Energy locally produced and at low cost managed will serve all the other utility such as health utility, finance utility, social, entertainment and so on. It will prevent internal migration to the big cities and from there it will give us human resources that we need. This doesn't work as privately. 30-40 or more countries should join but it starts at the low level and then we need people who just believe in what they do.
Eurasia Diary: What take you from the medical doctor to renewable energy?
Kamel Esseghairi: I think it is related to my personality. I was not boring medical doctor. Nothing prevent me from the same spirit and the same brain to pursue my request to do humanitarian things. But what took me to Africa, I am not a diplomat at that time they needed top epidemiologists to fight Aids. Fifteen years ago, when I was recruited aids was around 40 percent in country. 40 percent it means 2 out of 4 populations. I move it from clinic practice to health, to public health, to community health, to social epidemiology.
While talking about finance, you talked about energy, locally produced energy these are the key of local development. If you look to the big development of big cities we will kill thousand million of hectares of rural area, then we will be really in trouble. What makes me is good sense, logical sense that what took me all the way from medical practice to this.
Eurasia Diary: How do you see the renewable energy potential in Central Asia, South Caucuses and CIS countries?
Kamel Esseghairi: This is a very good question. We have here a lobby of industrial people and just think about big project, but we need small projects of renewable energy multiplied by thousands as well and renewable energy then make a sense. If you ask anyone here this country is very rich in oil and for them renewable energy does not make a sense in economy. They have 60 year strategy for boosting economy. People are extracting oil centuries ago in a very primitive way. Renewable energy makes a good sense now .It is like if you talk about transportation sometimes you need to walk and sometimes you needed to take buses it is much more efficient than to take your car , sometimes you use underground and it is the same thing with energy . Some parts of them require oil or gas without carbon, some parts do not require. I am talking about small scale solar energy for small farms, from small community that governs all utility and needs whether it is schooling or health or other social services. Like Sterilization of water, through sterilization of the sea you sterilize the water.
Eurasia Diary: Do you think that there is a conflict regarding new matters of renewable energy between developed countries after Paris summit?
Kamel Esseghairi: In the absolute terms renewable energy is the cleanest energy. It’s exactly what Paris summit has advocated and recommended. But it is not point. Point is that some people who have been setting money for the fossil energy, oil and gas would never give up this fortune. They say İ will keep my oil until the oil prices go up again. In the main time, I will invest in nuclear energy. Let’s talk about nuclear energy. People do not talk about nuclear energy. France has for almost 60 years they invested in nuclear energy and it’s up to 80 percent of electricity comes from nuclear. Switzerland Ukraine Spain Canada Russia includes this as well.
Eurasia Diary: Do you think that nuclear energy comes under the definition of renewable energy?
Kamel Esseghairi: Bringing nuclear when you talk about renewable energy you are talking in comparison to fossil. Nuclear energy is clean in terms of emissions it has other side of consciousness and sometimes you have to pay twice price for installation, twice for this prevention of all accidents. Nuclear continuously produces for thousand of the year electricity at low cost. Renewable energy is good news, sounds good but economically it does not make a sense in big cities. City like Cairo there are 12 million people. Are you going to stop all the business because your machine, your wind business doesn’t work? How are you going to stock the storage?
Eurasia Diary: When we talk about nuclear energy then we should get ready for the disaster like Fukushima and Metsamor?
Kamel Esseghairi: Have you ever heard disaster in France. France has been using electricity in Paris. I am not giving my opinion about nuclear energy I am just reporting to you the state of affairs now. Saudi Arabia, Kuwaiti, Bahrain, Emirates, Qatar are getting ready for the nuclear electricity. It produces for long time without stopping. When you talk about the city of the 10 million people can you gamble with the utility? We are saying the energy is like transport they are the same. I can say Hiroshima, Nagasaki killed 2 million people on purpose and now no one killed because people learn. There are 8 billion people with geometric increase. We need to face it instead to get afraid it. Renewable energy is very good and effective in area that electricity cannot be transported .Sometimes you pay 2000 time more to transport produce electricity then to produce locally. That is why renewable energy important for rural areas .If we talk about big cities the decision makers said okay that if they do not have gas which produces electricity in continuous way for ages and they are looking for another way to fix it.
Eurasia Diary: How do you see the perspectives of south caucuses in cooperation with renewable energy in future?
Kamel Esseghairi: I can say that I observed Azerbaijani people and authority are smart. Even the finance people do in rural area in small community area to renewable energy it is solar or it is wind. Any countries such as Azerbaijan, Kuwait and so on, those people have already big assets, big endorsement of this fossil they will surely to find out way to clean the fossil in order to decarbonizes. That is Paris agreement’s recommendation .When this fossil ultimately will go? -In certain years like 30 or 40 years. This is logic instead of giving up the emotions we have to afford; we know the entire fossil will be gone in certain times.
Eurasia Diary: How do you think the renewable energy is affiliation for conflicts resolution as well?
Kamel Esseghair: If we see other aspects sometimes we don’t need to give microcredit or microfinance in the business interests .Sometimes you give microcredit with 0 interests. Why? Because we need them to sit not to move, but in the same time we cannot afford to give money they get to use money without returning it. It became without any drive to work. Now we are talking about renewable energy as element since its easily manageable, it is very easily manageable you can install very good small things. Then you can decrease the competition for resource between in sub Saharan Africa, Asia or Latin America. People must believe in this but if they want to create conflicts they close the tap for energy now we don’t need conflicts we need to four, five or much more ways of living or governing our life.
