A U.S. army base in Kuwait has ordered 39 of From what I have read in the news this week, I think we might as well be living in Middle Ages. First its being planned for power cuts in various suburbs,institutions, government buildings to save on electricity. Come on KISR, you guys know Kuwait is blessed with dual power sources of Oil and natural Sunlight.You guys can recommend usage of Solar powered installations for various locations to conserve electricity.For example solar powered street lighting.
Then there is news of not allowing women to work during night hours between 8pm till 7am. What is going on over here? Is this Femalophobia running down the spines? The reason given is that if women who are not working in essential services like hospitals are basically engaged in immoral activities or are engaged in undue hard labour conditions. My question is can these lawmakers please pass this law so it also applies to Maids working in homes. I believe they are exposed to both hard labour and unnatural working hours.
Come to think of it if these laws were passed all the ladies can say goodbye to parlors or beauticians after 8pm. And the eateries like McDonalds, Burger King etc would have to seriously implement new HR policies when it comes to hiring women and their compensation. Simply put there would be more discrimination in hiring women, because they wont be hired where work involves shifts.
Then lets talk about rent laws, its being proposed that as per new laws, landlords would have new powers [as if they lacked any!] to increase the rents for both commercial and residential units at the expiry of the contract. The new law states that the contract for residential will be 1 year and commercial 10 years. Welcome to the age of 5-10% increase in rents every year! Who will get the worst kicks on their backside? Expatriates. Already the rents are astronomical in Kuwait, with people shelling out as much as 30-40% of their paychecks in rents. How are we going to survive with more rent increase. And the worst part the salaries remain stagnant in Kuwait. And the prices of day to day commodities are sky rocketing. Where is the consumer protection law here?
If this continues, the day is not far away when Kuwait will turn into a disaster we all call Dubai ?a glowing hollow pit? where things look glamorous from outside but deep inside the society is crumbling under the economic pressure getting sucked within its confines. Where people earn to spend and spend to earn, but at the end save zero.
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Kuwait, being a rich country, there are few things i would like Kuwait invest into. So next time, when there is Excess of Money in the country. The Parliament , should pick up this list up. Some of my ideas could be crazy.
Solar Power Farms : Kuwait has huge unused Desert lands up in north and south kuwait. Kuwait has abundant SunShine and having huge Solar Farms, could generate about 40% of the actual power utilization(as of today) in Kuwait.
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FEN7: Kuwait expected to export electricity generated by solar power
Kuwait is expected to be one of the world's exporters of electricity generated from solar power by 2050, a professor at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) said yesterday. German studies have proven that using 10 percent of Kuwait's total area for generating electricity from solar power can produce power equal to 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily, according to Professor Adel Hussein, director of construction and water techniques. Prompted by these results, the German scientific research centres are conducting wide scale studies that will be the basic of a plan to link the power production in Europe and Asia to the Arabian Peninsula, he added. The KISR official noted that the study prepared by Germany's DLR centre pointed to plenty of power resources for renewable energy in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa that could help fulfill the needs of the countries in the region and also export purposes.
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Thursday, July 12, 2007
Say You Care With..........SOLAR PANELS !!
The 'Tarsheed' plight goes on in the local newspapers and via SMS. There is even a hotline where you can report violaters of overconsumption. Yesterday I received an SMS that the power supply was overburdened and there was only 4% of electricity left. Of course, it's scary given the exceptionally hot weather and I have small kids at home. But how come the government isn't taking additional measures to ensure the power supply in Kuwait?
All you have to do is look into the sky to see the biggest source of power that we could possibly utilize...the SUN! We have loads and loads of sunlight in Kuwait for at least 7 months of the year. Solar panels would be so beneficial to Kuwait and take the burden of overconsumption away.
I wonder if the government is exploring solar technology as a viable energy source or are they too busy warning us to switch the AC off before we leave home???????
Kuwait to export electricity from solar power by 2050 - studies
24 July 2007 - Kuwait, a top world oil producer and exporter, is expected to be one of the world's exporters of electricity generated from solar power by 2050, a professor at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) has said.
German studies have proven that using 10 percent of Kuwait's total area for generating electricity from solar power can produce power equal to 500 000 barrels of oil equivalent daily, Professor Adel Hussein, director of construction and water techniques, told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
Prompted by these results, the German scientific research centres are conducting wide scale studies that will be the basic of a plan to link the power production in Europe and Asia to the Arabian Peninsula, he added.
The KISR official noted that the study prepared by Germany's DLR centre pointed to plenty of power resources for renewable energy in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa that could help fulfill the needs of the countries in the region and also export purposes.
Kuwait has been paying great attention to investing in the vital sector of renewable energy through the KISR whose members are working hard on plans and studies for setting up a research centre on the alternative and renewable energy sources in Kuwait. This goes back to the 1990s.
Professor Hussein referred to the visit by the KISR Acting Chairman Dr. Nader Al-Awadhi to some German centres specialized in the alternative and renewable energy last March.
Dr. Ali Ibrahim Hajeh, a member of the delegation that accompanied Al-Awadhi during the Germany visit said that they had discussed means of boosting cooperation between the Kuwait institute and the German centres.
The KISR is seeking making use of the technical expertise of these centres and there is a proposed joint project for generating electricity form wind power with the capacity of 15 MW.
Hussein noted that there was also a project for setting up an electricity-generating station from the solar power with the capacity of five to 10 MW.
