Iran is most known in global news for its nuclear ambitions. But the country has resources for wind energy, the international renewable energy organization IRENA has announced. The NGO which is headquartered in Abu Dhabi has just released wind maps which show where Iranian winds blow.
Wind maps can help potential energy projects get off the ground. The maps explore different regions and their average wind velocity, elevation and closeness to populations and population density. The dataset was provided by the Renewable Energy Organization of Iran.
Iran has a plan to grow its wind energy generation power. It is the only region in the Middle East that produces wind turbines, according to Wikipedia.
By last estimates in 2009, Iran was generating 130 MW of energy via wind power. This energy is produced mainly in Manjil (in the Gilan province) and Binaloud (in the Razavi Khorasan province) which produces 128 megawatts of electricity.
And Iran is a member of the Global Wind Energy Council.
Iran’s urban areas are suffocating from air pollution. Our contact on the ground, Issa (last name withheld for security reasons) says that the country suffers from some major regional and local environmental problems, some that could be solved with renewable energy.
“In major cities specially Tehran, the air pollution is killing people,” says Issa: “There are no sewage system in most cities so the underground waters are polluted. In some parts of Tehran we have sewage systems but not everywhere. Overpopulation in major cities, mostly Tehran, is threatening the environment, cutting trees and destroying gardens to build skyscrapers.”
He also says that large rivers like the Zaayanderood river in Isfaham and Lake Urmia are drying up.
Wild animals like the Iranian cheetah border on extinction.
(Read: Cheetahs on the border of extinction in Iran)
(Read: Ancient Persian leopard roams this park alone)
Issa tells Green Prophet: “In Iran, as far as I know worrying about the environment is still a fancy thing, and few people are interested to do activities to protect the environment.”
This Green Prophet says that pushing for renewable energy in Iran could increase the quality of life for people and the planet.
To learn more about the wind maps of Iran see IRENA’s map here.
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