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DW
3 days ago
- Climate
- DW
Iraq's private power generators: Savior or climate burden? – DW – 08/13/2025
How do Iraqis cope in fiery summer heat, especially during power outages? They use private generators, which are now essential in Iraq. But the huge machines you see on every city block have plenty of drawbacks too. This week, when Iraq experienced an almost-nationwide power outage, the streets of Baghdad and other major cities went dark, with only lights from passing cars illuminating the sidewalks. The Middle Eastern nation is currently experiencing peak summer temperatures — it was around 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in Baghdad during the blackout, and even hotter elsewhere — and the power outage saw many locals turn to the equipment they always fall back on at times like this: private generators. "Thank you for your service," one poetic Baghdad local addressed those who maintain the city's private generators in a post on Facebook. They are "the heroes of the hour," he enthused. "Unknown soldiers fighting the good fight during national power outages, enduring heat and smell, so that the pulse of life may beat on in Iraqi homes." The private generators he is praising so effusively can be found almost every couple of city blocks in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. It is estimated there are over 4.5 million of them around the country. The ones that power whole suburban streets are industrial-sized, usually about the size of a van, parked between houses, under some sort of corrugated iron roof. The Iraqi national grid is outdated and loses somewhere between 40% and 50% of power produced as it transmits. Additionally, hotter summers, population growth and growing use of equipment like air conditioners makes it impossible for the national grid to keep up with demand. Iraq's Ministry of Electricity says the country needs between 50,000 and 55,000 megawatts during peak hours at the height of summer. The national grid can only supply around 27,000 megawatts. The reason for this week's outage remains unclear, although some officials said it may have been caused by excess demand in southern Iraq, likely due to over 20 million pilgrims flocking there for the religious holiday of Arbaeen. This then caused a chain reaction further north. But even on better days, Iraq's state power plants usually only provide between eight and 12 hours of power a day. Which is why most Iraqis who can afford it, pay a subscription to their local generator owner. "Unreliable supply from the national grid has made private generation a critical, though problematic, part of Iraq's electricity ecosystem," the Baker Institute for Public Policy, based at Rice university in Texas, explained in a July 2025 report on Iraq's electricity woes. "Each household or business has a separate connection — known as al-khat (the line) — to a nearby private generator that supplies electricity to those within a small radius when Iraq's national grid goes down." The generator owners sell power to residents on a subscription basis, based on how many amperes a household wants, rather than the actual amount of power used. Prices differ around the country but the average cost per ampere is around $8.40 (€7.21), a January 2025 report published in the journal "Renewable Energies," found. That means most households end up paying around $100 (€86) a month for generator power. "The household's connection is wired to the generator through a circuit breaker set to that threshold of amperes," Baker Institute experts explained further. "This means that the breaker will trip whenever current drawn exceeds the agreed limit, completely disconnecting the customer." Most Iraqis are used to that. When state power drops out, Khadija al-Ameri, an engineering student living in southern Baghdad, explains how she turns off all unnecessary appliances, like the washing machine, but leaves others, like the fridge, going. "The generator voltage can't have too many things going at once, and it's also more expensive," she explains. "I pay around €40 a month for a private generator subscription," says Fatimah Mahmoud, a 50-year-old teacher from Basra. "But it only covers the fridge, TV, fans, and lights. No air conditioning." Previous studies on the generator business in Iraq, which is unregulated, concluded that locals could be spending over $4 billion on it annually. It's a lucrative business, with documented links to politicians and militia leaders, the so-called "generator mafia." And in the current summer heat, it's also essential. On Tuesday afternoon, shortly after he returned home from work, the power went out, Murtadha Saad, a 35-year-old local of the southern Iraqi city of Basra, told DW. "I had returned home just an hour earlier from my job in the engineering sector under a scorching sun, but the blackout forced me to leave [home] quickly in search of a place to escape the heat," he explains. Saad himself pays around €66 monthly for generator-provided power, but he doesn't have enough amperes to power air conditioning. So he ended up sitting in a cafe that had its own generator. "Exhausted, I decided to go back home, only to find the streets nearly empty, houses in darkness, as if we were in a ghost town," Saad recounts. "I sat in my car, using its air conditioning until 9 p.m., then tried to find another cafe or restaurant, only to discover they were all packed with families." In the inner city, the streets were crowded, he noted, because everyone was searching for a place with working air conditioning. Hotels and restaurants often have their own larger, diesel generators but some individual Iraqi households also use smaller petrol-powered generators. "When the power went out, I went searching for gasoline to fuel our small home generator," Mohammed Basheer, 21, a university student from Basra, says. "But even finding fuel became difficult as panicked residents rushed to buy up all the supplies." Basheer says he eventually managed to buy two liters, barely enough to run his family's fan for a short time. It's not much of a solution in Basra's increasingly hot summers, he admits. And while private generators may be helpful, potentially even life-saving, in times like this, they also have a dark side. The huge, grimy machines are powered by diesel and emit carbon dioxide, pollutants, dirty wastewater and noise. They also use a lot of water for cooling. They "pose serious risks to public health and the environment, with extreme noise and air pollution," the Baker Institute's report confirms. It's something of a vicious circle: Besides causing local pollution, private generators are likely also adding to environmental degradation and climate change, all of which makes Iraqis need them even more. In Baghdad, student al-Ameri recalls how one family was forced to move out after a generator moved in next door. The family had young children and the house was being shaken apart by the machine's vibrations, al-Ameri explained. "Thank goodness, it [the generator] is about a street away from our house," she told DW. "We can hear it when it's going, but mostly it doesn't disturb us."
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas considers banning products infused with THC derived from hemp, and retailers are worried
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Walk into enough gas stations and they're likely easy to find: gummies, drinks and vapes infused with THC, the compound that gives marijuana its psychoactive properties. That's given lawmakers across the U.S. headaches over how to regulate the booming market, and it's a conflict now taking hold in Texas, where a proposed ban passed by the Legislature poses another major battle for the industry. Texas has some of the nation's most restrictive marijuana laws, but thousands of retailers in the state sell THC consumables, underscoring states' struggle to set rules around the products that generate millions in tax revenue. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has not indicated whether he will sign the ban. Other states, including California, have imposed restrictions in recent years that include banning underage use and limits on the potency of the products, which are often marketed as legal even in states where marijuana is not. 'Governor Abbott will thoughtfully review any legislation sent to his desk,' spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said when asked for comment on the bill. Texas tries to crack down The Texas bill would make it a misdemeanor to sell, possess or manufacture consumable products with tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The proposal shadows several other state efforts to crack down on a market that has exploded since a 2018 federal law allowed states to regulate hemp, which can be synthetically processed to create THC. Hemp is a plant that is grown to make textiles, plastics, food and several other products. It is related to marijuana and must contain less than 0.3% THC to still be classified as hemp under federal law. The proliferating market has given residents in states with strict marijuana laws such as Texas a legal way to access products that can give them a similar high. Nationwide, the substances are often sold through legal loopholes, despite concerns about potential health risks and a lack of oversight of how they're produced. Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick laid out bags of THC snacks on a table in front of a group of reporters last week to reiterate his determination for Texas to ban the products. He said he wasn't worried about Abbott when asked about the possibility of a veto. 'This is serious business,' Patrick said. If enacted into law, Texas would have one of the most restrictive bans in the country, according to Katharine Neil Harris, a researcher in drug policy at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. 'I'm not aware of any other states without recreational marijuana markets that also prohibit consumable hemp products from having any THC,' Harris said. A jumbled legal landscape States that prohibit recreational marijuana have also made efforts to regulate the THC market, including Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill last year that would have put in place age restrictions and banned marketing directed toward children, stating that it would hurt small businesses. 'There's such a variety in how states have responded to this," Harris said. Texas has one of the most restrictive medical marijuana programs in the country, only allowing three licensed dispensaries to operate in the state to sell low-potency marijuana to residents with PTSD, cancer or other conditions. Proposals to expand the state's medical program are a sticking point for some Republican lawmakers. A total of 38 states and the District of Columbia have laws that allow the medical use of marijuana. About 6 in 10 voters across the country said they favor legalizing recreational use nationwide, according to AP VoteCast, in a 2024 survey of more than 120,000 U.S. voters. Retailers push back on ban Kyle Bingham, a farmer in the Texas Panhandle, said he doesn't plan on growing hemp anymore if there's a ban. He has grown the plant on a family farm with his dad for four years and said it is one of many crops they grow, including cotton. 'We've never planted more than 5% of our acres in hemp, and that's part of the business plan," said Bingham, who is also vice president of the National Hemp Growers Association. 'So for us, it's definitely hard to walk away from as an investment.' Because of a lack of federal oversight into manufacturing processes and a lack of uniform labeling requirements, it's hard to know what exactly is in THC products sold in stores. Many dispensaries, worried about their future, have urged the governor to veto the legislation. They have defended their industry as providing medical relief to people who cannot access medical marijuana through the state's restrictive program. 'It's absurd they think they can sign away 50,000 jobs,' Savannah Gavlik, an employee at Austin-based dispensary Dope Daughters, said. The store will likely have to close if the ban takes place, but the anxiety has not yet set in, she said. 'One of the biggest things we provide is self care,' Gavlik said. 'It's people genuinely wanting medical relief.' ___ Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Nadia Lathan, The Associated Press
Boston Globe
03-06-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Texas considers banning products infused with THC derived from hemp, and retailers are worried
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has not indicated whether he will sign the ban. Other states, including California, have imposed restrictions in recent years that include banning underage use and limits on the potency of the products, which are often marketed as legal even in states where marijuana is not. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Governor Abbott will thoughtfully review any legislation sent to his desk,' spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said when asked for comment on the bill. Advertisement Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick shows products containing THC while calling for a ban on the consumables on at the state Capitol in Austin, Texas. Jim Vertuno/Associated Press Texas tries to crack down The Texas bill would make it a misdemeanor to sell, possess or manufacture consumable products with tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The proposal shadows several other state efforts to crack down on a market that has exploded since a 2018 federal law allowed states to regulate hemp, which can be synthetically processed to create THC. Hemp is a plant that is grown to make textiles, plastics, food and several other products. It is related to marijuana and must contain less than 0.3% THC to still be classified as hemp under federal law. Advertisement The proliferating market has given residents in states with strict marijuana laws such as Texas a legal way to access products that can give them a similar high. Nationwide, the substances are often sold through legal loopholes, despite concerns about potential health risks and a lack of oversight of how they're produced. Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick laid out bags of THC snacks on a table in front of a group of reporters last week to reiterate his determination for Texas to ban the products. He said he wasn't worried about Abbott when asked about the possibility of a veto. 'This is serious business,' Patrick said. If enacted into law, Texas would have one of the most restrictive bans in the country, according to Katharine Neil Harris, a researcher in drug policy at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. 'I'm not aware of any other states without recreational marijuana markets that also prohibit consumable hemp products from having any THC,' Harris said. A jumbled legal landscape States that prohibit recreational marijuana have also made efforts to regulate the THC market, including Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill last year that would have put in place age restrictions and banned marketing directed toward children, stating that it would hurt small businesses. 'There's such a variety in how states have responded to this,' Harris said. Texas has one of the most restrictive medical marijuana programs in the country, only allowing three licensed dispensaries to operate in the state to sell low-potency marijuana to residents with PTSD, cancer or other conditions. Proposals to expand the state's medical program are a sticking point for some Republican lawmakers. Advertisement A total of 38 states and the District of Columbia have laws that allow the medical use of marijuana. About 6 in 10 voters across the country said they favor legalizing recreational use nationwide, according to AP VoteCast, in a 2024 survey of more than 120,000 U.S. voters. Retailers push back on ban Kyle Bingham, a farmer in the Texas Panhandle, said he doesn't plan on growing hemp anymore if there's a ban. He has grown the plant on a family farm with his dad for four years and said it is one of many crops they grow, including cotton. 'We've never planted more than 5% of our acres in hemp, and that's part of the business plan,' said Bingham, who is also vice president of the National Hemp Growers Association. 'So for us, it's definitely hard to walk away from as an investment.' Because of a lack of federal oversight into manufacturing processes and a lack of uniform labeling requirements, it's hard to know what exactly is in THC products sold in stores. Many dispensaries, worried about their future, have urged the governor to veto the legislation. They have defended their industry as providing medical relief to people who cannot access medical marijuana through the state's restrictive program. 'It's absurd they think they can sign away 50,000 jobs,' Savannah Gavlik, an employee at Austin-based dispensary Dope Daughters, said. The store will likely have to close if the ban takes place, but the anxiety has not yet set in, she said. 'One of the biggest things we provide is self care,' Gavlik said. 'It's people genuinely wanting medical relief.'
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas considers banning products infused with THC derived from hemp, and retailers are worried
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Walk into enough gas stations and they're likely easy to find: gummies, drinks and vapes infused with THC, the compound that gives marijuana its psychoactive properties. That's given lawmakers across the U.S. headaches over how to regulate the booming market, and it's a conflict now taking hold in Texas, where a proposed ban passed by the Legislature poses another major battle for the industry. Texas has some of the nation's most restrictive marijuana laws, but thousands of retailers in the state sell THC consumables, underscoring states' struggle to set rules around the products that generate millions in tax revenue. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has not indicated whether he will sign the ban. Other states, including California, have imposed restrictions in recent years that include banning underage use and limits on the potency of the products, which are often marketed as legal even in states where marijuana is not. 'Governor Abbott will thoughtfully review any legislation sent to his desk,' spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said when asked for comment on the bill. Texas tries to crack down The Texas bill would make it a misdemeanor to sell, possess or manufacture consumable products with tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The proposal shadows several other state efforts to crack down on a market that has exploded since a 2018 federal law allowed states to regulate hemp, which can be synthetically processed to create THC. Hemp is a plant that is grown to make textiles, plastics, food and several other products. It is related to marijuana and must contain less than 0.3% THC to still be classified as hemp under federal law. The proliferating market has given residents in states with strict marijuana laws such as Texas a legal way to access products that can give them a similar high. Nationwide, the substances are often sold through legal loopholes, despite concerns about potential health risks and a lack of oversight of how they're produced. Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick laid out bags of THC snacks on a table in front of a group of reporters last week to reiterate his determination for Texas to ban the products. He said he wasn't worried about Abbott when asked about the possibility of a veto. 'This is serious business,' Patrick said. If enacted into law, Texas would have one of the most restrictive bans in the country, according to Katharine Neil Harris, a researcher in drug policy at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. 'I'm not aware of any other states without recreational marijuana markets that also prohibit consumable hemp products from having any THC,' Harris said. A jumbled legal landscape States that prohibit recreational marijuana have also made efforts to regulate the THC market, including Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill last year that would have put in place age restrictions and banned marketing directed toward children, stating that it would hurt small businesses. 'There's such a variety in how states have responded to this," Harris said. Texas has one of the most restrictive medical marijuana programs in the country, only allowing three licensed dispensaries to operate in the state to sell low-potency marijuana to residents with PTSD, cancer or other conditions. Proposals to expand the state's medical program are a sticking point for some Republican lawmakers. A total of 38 states and the District of Columbia have laws that allow the medical use of marijuana. About 6 in 10 voters across the country said they favor legalizing recreational use nationwide, according to AP VoteCast, in a 2024 survey of more than 120,000 U.S. voters. Retailers push back on ban Kyle Bingham, a farmer in the Texas Panhandle, said he doesn't plan on growing hemp anymore if there's a ban. He has grown the plant on a family farm with his dad for four years and said it is one of many crops they grow, including cotton. 'We've never planted more than 5% of our acres in hemp, and that's part of the business plan," said Bingham, who is also vice president of the National Hemp Growers Association. 'So for us, it's definitely hard to walk away from as an investment.' Because of a lack of federal oversight into manufacturing processes and a lack of uniform labeling requirements, it's hard to know what exactly is in THC products sold in stores. Many dispensaries, worried about their future, have urged the governor to veto the legislation. They have defended their industry as providing medical relief to people who cannot access medical marijuana through the state's restrictive program. 'It's absurd they think they can sign away 50,000 jobs,' Savannah Gavlik, an employee at Austin-based dispensary Dope Daughters, said. The store will likely have to close if the ban takes place, but the anxiety has not yet set in, she said. 'One of the biggest things we provide is self care,' Gavlik said. 'It's people genuinely wanting medical relief.' ___ Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Winnipeg Free Press
03-06-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Texas considers banning products infused with THC derived from hemp, and retailers are worried
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Walk into enough gas stations and they're likely easy to find: gummies, drinks and vapes infused with THC, the compound that gives marijuana its psychoactive properties. That's given lawmakers across the U.S. headaches over how to regulate the booming market, and it's a conflict now taking hold in Texas, where a proposed ban passed by the Legislature poses another major battle for the industry. Texas has some of the nation's most restrictive marijuana laws, but thousands of retailers in the state sell THC consumables, underscoring states' struggle to set rules around the products that generate millions in tax revenue. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has not indicated whether he will sign the ban. Other states, including California, have imposed restrictions in recent years that include banning underage use and limits on the potency of the products, which are often marketed as legal even in states where marijuana is not. 'Governor Abbott will thoughtfully review any legislation sent to his desk,' spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said when asked for comment on the bill. Texas tries to crack down The Texas bill would make it a misdemeanor to sell, possess or manufacture consumable products with tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The proposal shadows several other state efforts to crack down on a market that has exploded since a 2018 federal law allowed states to regulate hemp, which can be synthetically processed to create THC. Hemp is a plant that is grown to make textiles, plastics, food and several other products. It is related to marijuana and must contain less than 0.3% THC to still be classified as hemp under federal law. The proliferating market has given residents in states with strict marijuana laws such as Texas a legal way to access products that can give them a similar high. Nationwide, the substances are often sold through legal loopholes, despite concerns about potential health risks and a lack of oversight of how they're produced. Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick laid out bags of THC snacks on a table in front of a group of reporters last week to reiterate his determination for Texas to ban the products. He said he wasn't worried about Abbott when asked about the possibility of a veto. 'This is serious business,' Patrick said. If enacted into law, Texas would have one of the most restrictive bans in the country, according to Katharine Neil Harris, a researcher in drug policy at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. 'I'm not aware of any other states without recreational marijuana markets that also prohibit consumable hemp products from having any THC,' Harris said. A jumbled legal landscape States that prohibit recreational marijuana have also made efforts to regulate the THC market, including Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill last year that would have put in place age restrictions and banned marketing directed toward children, stating that it would hurt small businesses. 'There's such a variety in how states have responded to this,' Harris said. Texas has one of the most restrictive medical marijuana programs in the country, only allowing three licensed dispensaries to operate in the state to sell low-potency marijuana to residents with PTSD, cancer or other conditions. Proposals to expand the state's medical program are a sticking point for some Republican lawmakers. A total of 38 states and the District of Columbia have laws that allow the medical use of marijuana. About 6 in 10 voters across the country said they favor legalizing recreational use nationwide, according to AP VoteCast, in a 2024 survey of more than 120,000 U.S. voters. Retailers push back on ban Kyle Bingham, a farmer in the Texas Panhandle, said he doesn't plan on growing hemp anymore if there's a ban. He has grown the plant on a family farm with his dad for four years and said it is one of many crops they grow, including cotton. 'We've never planted more than 5% of our acres in hemp, and that's part of the business plan,' said Bingham, who is also vice president of the National Hemp Growers Association. 'So for us, it's definitely hard to walk away from as an investment.' Because of a lack of federal oversight into manufacturing processes and a lack of uniform labeling requirements, it's hard to know what exactly is in THC products sold in stores. Many dispensaries, worried about their future, have urged the governor to veto the legislation. They have defended their industry as providing medical relief to people who cannot access medical marijuana through the state's restrictive program. 'It's absurd they think they can sign away 50,000 jobs,' Savannah Gavlik, an employee at Austin-based dispensary Dope Daughters, said. The store will likely have to close if the ban takes place, but the anxiety has not yet set in, she said. 'One of the biggest things we provide is self care,' Gavlik said. 'It's people genuinely wanting medical relief.' ___ Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
