Amory B. Lovins, a physicist and ex-Oxford don, is co-founder and chief scientist of the USA’s Rocky Mountain Institute, an independent, entrepreneurial, nonprofit think-and-do institution. Lovins has written a worthy if rather long article titled: “Iran’s invisible opportunity”, here we present selected extracts and give the link for readers to peruse the original.
“Iran enjoys Arizona-like sun, vast empty lands, high geothermal potential, and significant opportunities for small hydro projects and waste-to-energy facilities, among other renewable assets. Iran’s average windspeed is also equivalent to that of the so-called “wind belt” of the Midwestern United States, and Iran’s exceptional wind power sites can economically provide more than 30 gigawatts. Consequently, Iran’s New England-sized, 70-gigawatt grid could quickly shift from three-quarter gas- and one-quarter oil-fired generation (plus 10 gigawatts of less reliable hydropower) to modern renew-ables….
…“Renewables are already a modest but vibrant and fast-growing part of Iran’s policy to free up gas and oil for export. Urban air pollution, growing civil-society and small-business pressures, energy security, price stability, climate pro-tec–tion, and drought (favoring renewables over traditional power plants that need water) add urgency. As Iran’s Energy Minister Rostam Qasemisaid in 2012, “Gradual reduction of oil consumption on the one hand, and a revolution-ary and swift move toward using renewable energies on the other hand, are the only appropriate mechanisms which can help the country…
…”This new energy reality—in which nuclear power is in slow-motion collapse while cheaper alterna-tives take over the world market—is shifting Gulf policies. Both Iran and the Arab Gulf states are having second thoughts about nuclear energy at the same time that all sides have floated deliberately fuzzy, unofficial statements about (and taken ambiguous actions regarding) their nuclear-weapons ambitions. On both sides of the Gulf, forces wanting bomb options oppose forces wanting a cost-effective energy strategy. Whatever outside powers do about regional electricity choices will strengthen one side of those arguments and weaken the other. With Iranian pride firmly engaged around nuclear matters, pragmatic electricity priorities are far easier to discuss than bombs. Strong Iranian emphasis on peaceful and competitive energy for national development would en-courage reciprocity and transparency, and thus discourage regional suspicion and hedging, helping to defuse the emerging Sunni/Shia nuclear arms race before it gains momentum.”
Here at Pressenza we applaud Mr Lovins applying his time and talents to seeking a way forward that immediately bypasses the complexities of war, nuclear weapons and nuclear power.
See the full article here:
http://www.rmi.org/Knowledge-Center/Library/IransInvisibleOpportunity
