Pakistan is the world’s leading importer of solar panels, and that has changed the way the grid works, and how people are paying for it. The Closure of the Strait of Hormuz has accentuated some of the class divisions in the energy transition. Pakistan will be a forerunner of the developing world’s accelerating move to clean energy, so this DW report is worth a look.
One thought on “War Opens Pakistan’s Solar Divide”
Pakistan produces just 15-20% of the oil it uses, so it had a huge trade deficit before. An oil trade deficit is permanent; a solar panel trade deficit is temporary, diminishing as foreign oil is replaced by the brightness of local apparent noon. The government’s policies don’t seem to be about trade deficit, security (also obviously enhanced by domestic renewable production) or anything but corruption.
Pakistan produces just 15-20% of the oil it uses, so it had a huge trade deficit before. An oil trade deficit is permanent; a solar panel trade deficit is temporary, diminishing as foreign oil is replaced by the brightness of local apparent noon. The government’s policies don’t seem to be about trade deficit, security (also obviously enhanced by domestic renewable production) or anything but corruption.