Iraqi Prime Minister to Solve Nation’s Problems With Solar Panels
Iraqi Prime Minister to Solve Nation’s Problems With Solar Panels
I have yet to see a problem that can’t be fixed by putting up solar panels.
By Daniel Greenfield
Hope and change. I have yet to see a problem that can’t be fixed by putting up solar panels.
I believe we can all agree that what Iraq, a miserable war-torn hellhole in a permanent state of civil war (yes, long before we got there) whose only real resource comes out of the ground, needs is a climate policy.
Iraq’s prime minister Sunday promised sweeping measures to tackle climate change — which has affected millions across the country — including plans to meet a third of the country’s electricity demands using renewable energy.
If Iraq can’t change the weather by putting up solar panels and windmills, who can?
Climate change for years has compounded the woes of the troubled country. Droughts and increased water salinity have destroyed crops, animals and farms and dried up entire bodies of water. Hospitals have faced waves of patients with respiratory illnesses caused by rampant sandstorms. Climate change has also played a role in Iraq’s ongoing struggle to combat cholera.
Iraq has had sandstorms, droughts and disease outbreaks long before there was an Iraq.
Iraq also hopes to provide one-third of the country’s electricity demand through renewable energy instead of fossil fuel.
Are suicide bombers a renewable resource?
Fossil fuels are about the only thing Iraq has going for it. So time for some solar panels.
Iraq’s Central Bank has approved a ID1 trillion ($680m) fund for renewable energy projects in the country.
Also in October 2021, a consortium of Norway’s Scatec, Egypt’s Orascom Construction and local company Bilal signed agreements to develop 525MW of solar capacity in Iraq.
The 525MW of PV solar capacity will be developed in the provinces of Babel and Karbala in southern Iraq. The value of the project will be about $500m.
Definitely a priority for a nation with a poverty rate of 25% in the middle of a permanent war.