The energy sector in Jordan - current trends and the potential for renewable energy

Jordan has a substantial dependence on foreign energy sources with 96% of its needs served by imports of oil products, natural gas and electricity. The US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 exposed the oil supply vulnerability of Jordan and provoked official efforts to diversify energy imports and develop domestic energy resources. Political support for investment in renewable energy in Jordan was boosted by the 2007 findings of a Royal Committee on the National Energy Strategy, and there is a government target that renewable sources meet 10% of national energy needs by 2020. The positive environmental outcomes of this commitment to clean energy are diluted by a plan also to invest significantly in the extraction and processing of Jordan's large oil shale reserves.