The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (Satba) does all it can to remain abreast of global trends in reducing greenhouse gases and expand the renewable sector, a deputy energy minister said.
“Clean energy can help sustainable development as one of the effective ways to reduce greenhouse gases and global warming. Studies show that greenhouse gas emissions will exceed 1,920 million tons by 2030 as most countries struggle to find workable solutions,” Mehr News Agency quoted Mohammad Satkin as saying.
“In recent years, Iran's share in greenhouse gas emissions has increased significantly due to the growth of energy consumption. In 2018, Iran along with China, India, the US, Germany, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia was among the top 10 countries that emitted the most CO2,” he said.
Recalling Iran's efforts to control and reduce toxic emissions while using fossil fuel and improving the use of renewables, Satkin, who is the managing director of Satba, said: “A renewable power plant with one megawatt capacity produces at least 2,200 megawatt hours of electricity a year”.
Generating this amount of electricity in a thermal power plant means burning 900,000 cubic meters of natural gas a year. Therefore, a 1-MW renewable power plant can save one million cubic meters of gas annually and prevent the emission of 2,600 tons of environmental pollutants including CO2, SO2 and NOx a year, he noted.
Of the total installed power capacity of 86,000 MW in Iran, the share of renewables is 860 MW.
Fifty-five million dollars was allocated to Satba in this Persian calendar year (March 2020-2021) and will be doubled next year, Satkin said. The increase in funding is to help boost renewable energy and curb use of fossil fuels. More than 80% of the power plants in Iran use natural gas to generate electricity.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration will soar past a scary threshold this year, exceeding 417 parts per million — a 50% increase since the start of widespread industrial activity in the 18th century. The forecast comes from the Met Office, the national meteorological service for the UK.
"Since CO2 stays in the atmosphere for a very long time, each year's emissions add to those from previous years and cause the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere to keep increasing," Richard Betts, head of the climate impacts group at the Met Office and lead researcher for the forecast, said in a statement.
