Generator Man
NYT – Grassroots response to the dismal Iraqi electricity grid –
Iraq has three sources of electrical power. At the low end is the frail national grid, which provides only about one hour of electricity every four hours — a total of six hours a day — and sometimes less.
At the top is the small, personal-size generator, a feature in many homes, though the steadily rising cost of fuel now makes it a luxury for most families.
Filling the gap, and carrying the load for much of urban Iraq, is the generator man, owner and operator of the neighborhood power plant. Throughout Baghdad, for example, there is at least one generator every few blocks to help power nearby homes and businesses.
They’re onto an important idea for resiliency – a decentralized electricity grid – but they’re limited by faulty technology and reliance upon rationed fuel. With some better tech and real support this could really take off. The more likely course of action, however, is that this opportunity will never be exploited and will probably be reduced to serving as an interesting case study .
-Shlok
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