Toward a Sustainable Energy Model in Algeria: Biomass Energy, Waste Valorization, and the Energy Transition

Abstract

This study aims to examine the relationship between energy and the environmental dimensions of sustainable development, particularly in light of the attention devoted by Agenda 21 to achieving a set of objectives related to protecting the atmosphere and reducing the negative impacts of the energy sector through the development of sustainable energy policies and programs. Algeria is among the countries that have increasingly focused on renewable energy as a means of reducing the vulnerability associated with fluctuations in oil prices. It is therefore more necessary than ever for Algeria to identify development alternatives beyond the hydrocarbon sector by promoting investment in renewable energy. In this context, Algeria has attached considerable importance to renewable energy, as reflected in the launch of ambitious programs aimed at developing this sector.

This orientation was further reinforced within the framework of the 2020–2024 Economic Recovery Program, which proposed an alternative development approach to Algeria’s oil-rentier model based on three major principles: sustainable and equitable human development; energy and digital transition; and the protection of environmental resources. With regard to energy transition, particular emphasis was placed on renewable energy and its integration into Algeria’s energy system in order to build a diversified energy-consumption model capable of mobilizing national capacities across different energy sources. One of the initiatives in this context is the waste-to-energy project, which entered into operation in 2023 as an alternative option for reducing reliance on fossil fuels.