Well, it seems I’ve spent the last couple of weeks writing so much about the emirate down the road that I have been dubbed the resident ‘Sharjah expert’.
This isn’t true – I’ve never lived there, and I can still guarantee getting lost and stuck in endless traffic within ten minutes of crossing the border.
However, there has been no shortage of things to write about in that beleaguered place just recently. A string of fires, really big ones, followed by a number of horrendous industrial accidents, plus hauls of a few of the fake goods coming into the area make good copy.
And this is before we get onto the subject of the annual power cuts and the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ attitude of the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA).
In fact these problems, coupled with pettifogging rules for daily life – which stand in contrast with the anarchic roads – which almost seem to get worse as the temperature rises, compelled one wag to brand these sadly all-too predictable calamities as ‘Sharjah’s summer surprises’.
Others are less amused, with more than one suggesting that there will be widespread migration to other emirates, if the current situation continues. Falling rents in neighbouring Dubai have already prompted some to make the move. Businesses too will be concerned by long power-related shut downs.
Let’s take a step back. What if the power generation gap could have been resolved with better conservation? Admittedly, this event happens every year, and the handling of the event by SEWA is at best dismal (the vitriol it produces from our readers is proof of SEWA’s popularity).
However, you don’t have to go very far to discover the amount of places gobbling juice by running open-front fridges and freezers, as well as various types of external air conditioners, which ought to be in one of the emirate’s many museums.
The issues with freezers and the like could be easily dealt with – the authorities could simply issue those clear plastic strips to shops and mandate the sale of only super efficient types in future.
Similarly, it would be quite straightforward to replace lightbulbs, simply by banning the sale of old-fashioned ones and introducing those funny shaped modern types. An organisation called Bee’ah has already had some success in this regard.
However, it is the air-conditioning which is the construction issue here. Using external AC units wastes a load of energy, particularly when the temperature rises. This type of unit never seems to work properly, either.
Â
When compared with, say, a modern district cooling plant the amount of power needed to chill each cubic meter is enormous, and with the heat as stifling as it is, there seems no point in ever switching such a unit off. Until, of course, it is too late.
Now, anybody reading who is involved in building services will know that you can’t just construct district cooling plants and connect them to an existing network of buildings, at the drop of a hat.
It would take months of planning, research and oodles of consultants to network the industrial sprawl that makes up most of the city. The amount of cash it would take would be phenomenal, and there would be many chances for it to go astray. So are there any other options?
Well, luckily yes. Sharjah has an abundance of natural gas, which can also be used to power AC units – something the powers that be are experimenting with at the moment. It would be quite expensive to connect every building to the supply – but a fraction of the cost of losing power.
It would also, surely, give specialists in the construction industry an opportunity to take part in the modernisation and improvement of the emirate.
Of course, all this is to dodge the real issue of metered supplies. Apparently, a high number of households and businesses don’t have the supply monitored at all, so there is no incentive to ever switch anything off. Until this is resolved, you should expect to be sitting in the dark for a little while yet.
Sharjah’s summer surprises
Greg Whitaker believes gas is the way to prevent blackouts
Well, it seems I’ve spent the last couple of weeks writing so much about the emirate down the road that I have been dubbed the resident ‘Sharjah expert’.
This isn’t true – I’ve never lived there, and I can still guarantee getting lost and stuck in endless traffic within ten minutes of crossing the border.
However, there has been no shortage of things to write about in that beleaguered place just recently. A string of fires, really big ones, followed by a number of horrendous industrial accidents, plus hauls of a few of the fake goods coming into the area make good copy.
And this is before we get onto the subject of the annual power cuts and the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ attitude of the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA).
In fact these problems, coupled with pettifogging rules for daily life – which stand in contrast with the anarchic roads – which almost seem to get worse as the temperature rises, compelled one wag to brand these sadly all-too predictable calamities as ‘Sharjah’s summer surprises’.
Others are less amused, with more than one suggesting that there will be widespread migration to other emirates, if the current situation continues. Falling rents in neighbouring Dubai have already prompted some to make the move. Businesses too will be concerned by long power-related shut downs.
Let’s take a step back. What if the power generation gap could have been resolved with better conservation? Admittedly, this event happens every year, and the handling of the event by SEWA is at best dismal (the vitriol it produces from our readers is proof of SEWA’s popularity).
However, you don’t have to go very far to discover the amount of places gobbling juice by running open-front fridges and freezers, as well as various types of external air conditioners, which ought to be in one of the emirate’s many museums.
The issues with freezers and the like could be easily dealt with – the authorities could simply issue those clear plastic strips to shops and mandate the sale of only super efficient types in future.
Similarly, it would be quite straightforward to replace lightbulbs, simply by banning the sale of old-fashioned ones and introducing those funny shaped modern types. An organisation called Bee’ah has already had some success in this regard.
However, it is the air-conditioning which is the construction issue here. Using external AC units wastes a load of energy, particularly when the temperature rises. This type of unit never seems to work properly, either.
Â
When compared with, say, a modern district cooling plant the amount of power needed to chill each cubic meter is enormous, and with the heat as stifling as it is, there seems no point in ever switching such a unit off. Until, of course, it is too late.
Now, anybody reading who is involved in building services will know that you can’t just construct district cooling plants and connect them to an existing network of buildings, at the drop of a hat.
It would take months of planning, research and oodles of consultants to network the industrial sprawl that makes up most of the city. The amount of cash it would take would be phenomenal, and there would be many chances for it to go astray. So are there any other options?
Well, luckily yes. Sharjah has an abundance of natural gas, which can also be used to power AC units – something the powers that be are experimenting with at the moment. It would be quite expensive to connect every building to the supply – but a fraction of the cost of losing power.
It would also, surely, give specialists in the construction industry an opportunity to take part in the modernisation and improvement of the emirate.
Of course, all this is to dodge the real issue of metered supplies. Apparently, a high number of households and businesses don’t have the supply monitored at all, so there is no incentive to ever switch anything off. Until this is resolved, you should expect to be sitting in the dark for a little while yet.
Greg Whitaker is editor of PMV Middle East.
Cause of Sharjah tower blaze revealed
Natural gas-powered AC experiments in Sharjah