It’s common knowledge that the effects of war have oftentimes been and continue to be always negative. However, that is not entirely the case in rebel-held Syria. On the contrary, citizens are finding resilience through renewable energy.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has put the number of Syrians without access to electricity at 90 per cent. There is practically no state-owned electricity supplied to rebel-held areas. For this reason, citizens have no other choice but to find alternative energy sources to run their daily activities.
With the global hike in fuel prices coupled with fuel shortages, solar energy is now the cheapest and most reliable source to citizens in the country. It is common to see solar panels on hospital and home roofs. Even in displacement camps across the country, solar panels are an occurrence between tents, almost like the citizens are finding their resilience through renewable energy.
It is estimated that about 8 per cent of citizens in rebel-held areas use solar panels as their sole energy source. 10 per cent of this statistic use the energy source to heat water, while 33 per cent use it for other secondary functions such as charging devices.
Although citizens in the country are turning to solar because it is readily available and cheaper than other energy sources, it counts as a step for the global renewables transition. The situation in Syria adds to the credibility of renewable energy, being that it is currently helping displaced citizens find energy security.
The employment of solar panels in Syria contributes to giving citizens some sort of normalcy. A solar salesman said that sales had increased by 300 per cent in two years, with a majority being from farmers. So, the global energy transition does not only reduce carbon emissions and protect the environment, but also contributes to citizens finding resilience through renewable energy,