Iran faces severe energy shortages during winter, despite having the world's second-largest natural gas reserves. A recent cold snap has further exacerbated the situation, forcing school closures and government offices to shut down to conserve energy. President Pezeshkian has appealed to the public to conserve energy by lowering thermostats.
Despite sitting atop the world's second-largest natural gas reserves, energy shortages have become a feature of winters in Iran . Iran grapples with air pollution all year, but air quality significantly worsens during winter when power plants are forced to burn low-quality heavy fuel oil -- mazut -- to compensate for the lack of gas.
A rare cold snap in recent weeks has exposed the extent of Iran's struggles to meet the rising demand for gas, with school classes forced to go online and government offices ordered shut to conserve energy. Highlighting the severity of the crisis, President Masud Pezeshkian last week appealed to the public to turn their thermostats down by 2 degrees Celsius to help address the energy deficit. Other government officials have followed suit with similar pleas, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi telling his staff to wear warmer clothes at work. Temperatures have plunged as low as -20 degrees Celsius -4 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of Iran in recent days. 'The situation is bad due to very cold weather, especially in Tehran and the northern provinces, but it's exacerbated by the structural trend toward runaway consumption over the last two to three years without an accompanying increase in production,' said Gregory Brew, an Iran and energy analyst at the U.S.-based Eurasia Group. Old Infrastructure, Poor Management Energy subsidies in Iran mean energy bills are generally low, which has promoted overconsumption. But making matters worse is a devastating combination of mismanagement and outdated infrastructure that has significantly contributed to Iran's inability to meet the rising demand for gas. Gas flaring -- the burning of gas that comes out of the ground when drilling for oil -- is a major problem. Iran does not have the technology to collect it, so it is wastefully burned. World Bank data shows that Iran ranked second globally in 2023 in terms of the volume of gas flaring, burning around 21 billion cubic meter
ENERGY CRISIS GAS SHORTAGE IRAN WINTER POLLUTION
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