Solar power to decrease the influence of pollution on
human health: Scientist
Jun 5 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Nisreen Zahreddine Kuwait
Times
Kuwait's potential to benefit from the use of alternative energy was the
subject of a workshop held at the Ministry of Electricity and Water
(MEW) on Thursday. The workshop included a presentation by the professor
of vital chemistry at Kuwait University, Lamia Jawhar, and a speech by
Ahmad Al-Jassar, the Ministry's Undersecretary.
In his address at the event Ahmad Al-Jassar stressed that all of the
ministry's projects must first pass environmental approval before being
taken into consideration. All projects must first pass several
environmental standards, which are followed up by the ministry.
Al-Jassar's comments came in response to Lamia Jawhar's presentation on
the use of solar power to decrease the influence of pollution on human
health. Al-Jassar said that the special techniques mentioned in the
presentation will be the subject of an alternative study if proved to be
beneficial. He pointed out that the ministry is interested in
alternative energy and that it considers solar energy a promising source
of energy in the future.
Dr Lamia Jawhar also discussed the materials that have affected the
environment due to the use of oil for generating power. She added that
all the food, water and air we consume contains cancer causing
materials. She added that its percentage has increased since the Iraqi
Invasion of 1990.
She said that moving towards renewable energy instead of
depending solely on oil generated energy is an important step because
oil resources are destroying Kuwait's only source of food, the ocean.
She pointed out that Kuwaiti shores, especially those in the north, are
100 percent more polluted than other Gulf shores.
According to the seminar's participants Kuwait's beaches are 100 percent
polluted compared to the beaches in other Gulf states, according to
Jawhar who explained that no signs of biological presence can be
detected in sea waters near power plants and two kilometers into the
sea, due to the high temperature of waters dumped from these plants.
Temperature of waters dumped into the sea from power plants reach 44
degrees, while the maximum limit is 28 degrees", she said. When speaking
on the affects of such pollution on people, Jawhar said that it can
contribute to a high rate of miscarriages amongst pregnant women, cause
sterility, brain cancer and several other diseases. This is caused, she
explained, by the presence of uranium and phosphate in ships carrying
oil off the coast of Kuwait during the Iraqi Invasion of 1990.
Jawhar said that every power station in Kuwait contributes about 750 to
900 thousand tons of polluted material to the environment. While she did
not call for the closing of the current power stations she did point out
several cases of how the United Arab Emirates was able to use more
environmentally friendly ways to generate electricity.
Furthermore, Jawhar warned from the negative effects that the Subbiya
Bridge project has on the environment, stating that contractors ignored
environmental studies necessary to be made before going ahead with any
similar projects.
(c) 2010,
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services To subscribe or visit go to:
www.mcclatchy.com/
|