Maldives To Get Greener

There is a lot of persuasion or even pressure for countries to adopt greener energies like solar power. Most of these so called ‘green energy’ is very inefficient. It will take a lot of solar panels to power a Maldivian home which typically have air conditioners, washing machines, microwave/electric ovens, fans, TVs and computers at the least. There are also some kitchen appliances which are not used regularly like grinders that need a lot of power. To meet this power demand using solar or wind power will be difficult and might not even be feasible. 

Therefore in order to manage a house with these green energies we would have to change our lifestyles to consume less energy. We will have to learn to live without these luxuries that we have gotten used to. No more air conditionars for sure. No using the computer while someone else is watching TV. Want to use the waching machine or the microwave? Then swith off all the fans and lights in the house. 

Are we seriously to believe that Maldives as a country is prepared to make these sacrifices? Did the President even ask around if such a move will be generally accepted and adopted? Or are these sacrifices to be made just by people in the distant atolls and the capital Male’ going to be an exception as usual? Just like how he made big plans of making Maldivian schools teach in one session and then found out it’s not actually feasible so decided to do it in the other atolls and make Male’ an exception. When is Nasheed going to start thinking things through and doing some feasibility studies before opening his mouth.

Why is it that it’s the smaller or poorer countries that have to adopt these expensive and inefficient technologies to save the world while the bigger and richer countries who are actually doing the polluting can continue to use the old technologies? Shouldn’t it be them setting an example to us rather than the other way around?

Speaking of expense, I wonder if Nasheed has actually tried to balance the budget while spending an estimated $110 million a year on making this transition. And keep in mind that even while building the new infrastructure Maldives will still have to be powered using the current systems. I suppose he’s imagening that western countries are going to pour aid money into the project since it’s going to ‘save the world’. But in todays economic crisis when Maldives is having to cut down salaries of doctors to balance the budget, I wonder if we will get that aid. And if Nasheed isn’t even sure where he’s going to get the money, doesn’t this amount to making empty promises to win the upcoming parliamentary elections? Gasp! Isn’t that the same thing Maumoon used to do? Gasp! So what the hell is different in this New Maldives? It’s the same shit. Just different people.