I keep hearing about how few people have power in Iraq, and how hot it gets there this time of year. If you think about it, 25 million people in 120 degree heat without AC might be a little touchy and prone to violence. I know I'd be.
Of greater concern is the vulnerability of Iraq's energy infrastructure to sabotage. When that infrastructure consists of large centralized generation facilities and long, fragile transmission lines, it presents itself as an ideal target for those who would aim to destabilize the country.
So let's see- we've got peak energy demand at midday, we've got a region that is sunny pretty much always, and we've got a need for an alterntive to centralized power generation.
I'd like to see some smart elected official propose a plan to install solar roofs on a mass scale on buildings across Iraq (I live in CA, so I'm thinking long the lines of the recently passed the Million Solar Roofs Initiative). Apart from its obvious environmental benefits, solar roofs in Iraq would prevent sabotuers from affecting thousands of power consumers with a single attack, and would guarantee power for air conditioning and other basic electricity needs at peak need. For us here in the US, it would accelerate investment into solar power development, bringing jobs and innovation to the sector.