Pollution and health damage.. Iraqis compensate for the state’s deficit with thousands of electric generators

Mohammed Hussein (54 years old) was forced to sell his house located in the Al-Ra’isah neighborhood east of the capital, Baghdad, in the summer of 2023, due to the noise and smoke from the diesel generator next to the wall his house, which collapsed due to the vibrations resulting from its continuous operation while supplying the neighborhood with electricity in exchange for monthly wages.

Mohammed moved to another new house that he bought in the Al-Dora area south of the capital, without filing a complaint against the owner of the generator, because, as he says, he is confident that tribal parties will intervene as happens in similar cases, or the defendant will take steps against him relying on his relations with the security forces or the Popular Mobilization Forces, and he will not get anything.

He adds: “They may even hold me responsible for the collapse of my house’s wall and affecting the path of the electricity lines, so I will have to pay them an amount of money.”

Iraqis have resorted to electric generators for about three decades to secure additional hours of electricity, as the only alternative to cover the growing deficit in the national grid, which was destroyed during wars and decades of neglect and halted development projects, especially with the population growth and the expansion in the use of electrical appliances. However, this has created multiple problems, including health and psychological problems related to the dangerous pollutants they emit and the noise pollution they cause.

For three years, Mohammed suffered from the noise pollution caused by the generator and the effects of its emissions on the family’s health, not to mention the puddles of water mixed with diesel that its engine cools in the alley, all of which were reasons for him to look for another place to live in the capital, where national electricity is cut off from its neighborhoods for about 12 hours a day, despite the fact that successive governments spent $80 billion to secure it over two decades, according to experts. Mohammed’s suffering is the same as that of tens of thousands of residents of homes adjacent to 14,000 private diesel generators in Baghdad, and 49,000 generators that run on fossil fuels in all of Iraq’s governorates. Successive governments have failed to address the problem despite the establishment of new production stations.

The deficit has continued as a result of the doubling of consumption, the failure of some projects, and the deterioration of transportation networks, forcing residents and business owners to use private generators to fill the gap. However, the exhaust fumes of these generators contribute significantly to environmental pollution and threaten the health of residents in nearby locations, according to specialists, especially since the high prices of diesel (gasoline) push some generator owners to use black oil, which doubles the pollution rate and thus health risks. In addition to the consumption of large quantities of water to cool the generator engines, not to mention the oils they emit, in addition to the dangers resulting from millions of meters of random electrical connections between generating stations, homes and shops.

Active Market

A 2019 report by the International Energy Agency indicates that Iraq needs 40,000 megawatts of electricity to meet its non-industrial needs, while its production capacity is estimated at about 32,000 megawatts, and it is only able to generate half of it, due to its inefficient transmission networks.

This deficit has led to the private generator market remaining active, although most of them are old and their worn-out engines emit black smoke (carbon particles) in addition to loud noise, due to the failure of many of their owners to use what is known as an engine silencer.

According to a survey conducted by the Central Statistical Organization of the Ministry of Planning, the results of which were announced in March 2023, the total number of private generators throughout the country amounted to 48,533 generators, and “the total revenues achieved amounted to (3,479) billion Iraqi dinars per month (equivalent to 2.300 million US dollars), distributed during the peak period by (2,105) billion dinars (1,385 million dollars), while outside the peak period it amounted to (1,374) billion dinars (900 thousand dollars).

It is believed that the generators’ revenues exceed that, especially since the population of Iraq has exceeded the barrier of forty million people, and all residential units and small projects such as shops, workshops, restaurants, etc. depend on generators.

With 6 million and 700 thousand subscribers to private generator lines, according to official figures, each subscriber paying only 30 thousand dinars per month – which is the minimum number for any subscription – means that the amounts paid to generators exceed 200 billion dinars per month.

Civil activist Moataz Majed says that the number of private generators is much larger than the number estimated by official authorities. “Perhaps this number includes (49 thousand) registered generators that receive monthly fuel quotas from the Oil Derivatives Department.”

He continues: “But in reality, every industrial, agricultural, or livestock project, even if it is small, is equipped with an electricity generator and cannot do without it.”

Therefore, it is likely that their numbers will reach 100,000 generators, in addition to the small gasoline-powered generators, which he says are widely spread, and all of them contribute to environmental pollution, in addition to the financial costs imposed by their operation.

Serious environmental damage

The Director of the Air Quality Monitoring Department at the Ministry of Environment, Engineer Ali Jaber, says that private generators “are greatly damaging to the environment. Instead of emissions coming from one place, which is the large power stations, they are now spread over larger areas and within cities.”

Jaber warns that inhaling polluted air poses a threat to human health in the short, medium and long terms, pointing out that the noticeable increase in “cancer and respiratory diseases is due to pollution.”

He points out that getting rid of this pollution “requires capabilities, efforts and detailed studies that are not currently available.”

Amidst the smoke surrounding the place, Karar Abbas (39 years old), a worker in an electricity generator in central Baghdad, was busy disconnecting the electricity from a citizen who was late in paying his wages. He did so and then turned over the other late-paid lists, and said: “I also have a family, and I know very well the problems the generator causes for the neighbors, but we have no solutions. This has been the fact of the country for more than thirty years.”

Karar constantly faces angry citizens who come to his workplace and quarrel with him, especially those who suffer from allergies or have family members who complain about the generator water turning into puddles in the alley. He adds: “I understand their suffering very well, but I stand helpless. I tell them that the only solution is to turn off the generator and not get electricity in return, so they keep quiet and go on their way.”

 The Global Center for Social Services, a civil society organization, warned in a statement issued in early 2024 that 45% of the Iraqi population is at risk of contracting diseases due to air pollution from emissions from electricity generators: “It is likely that cases of infection and environmental pollution will worsen in the coming years due to the poor quality of some generators and their failure to meet technical and environmental specifications.” The statement warned that generator emissions pollute the air with more than 40 toxic substances, including many “substances that cause cancer or are suspected of causing disease,” and that such pollutants may lead to an increase in respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Pollution and water waste

The investigator conducted statistics related to the use of water generators, which included 15 generators in various areas of the capital, Baghdad, and concluded that each one of them consumes 4,000 liters of water per day in the summer, and since the total number of generators in Iraq is 49 thousand registered generators, this means that the total daily water consumption is 196 million liters of fresh water.

The percentage increases monthly to reach 5,880,000 million liters, which is a large amount that is basically taken from citizens’ shares, because these generators use the runoff water coming from purification stations, then release it polluted with oils in most cases without any treatment, and a large portion of it reaches the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Civil activist Salam Ghazi believes that the first measure that should be taken by the authorities is to oblige the owners of electricity generators to use untreated water in the stations, “especially since the generators have been operating for decades, and may continue for decades to come as well!”

Noise pollution!

Zahraa (18 years old) is a sixth grade student from the 9th of April neighborhood, east of Baghdad. She suffers from selective sound sensitivity syndrome, which is a condition of excessive nervousness, disturbances, and mood swings when listening to loud sounds. This forces her to stay home because of the noise of the generator near her family’s house.

She says, putting her hands over her ears, “I cannot concentrate on studying when the generator is working, so I feel very comfortable when the national current comes on or the generator stops for some reason. My joy increases when it breaks down and I pray with all my heart that it will never be repaired. I would rather stay in the heat and darkness than hear its sound.”

Commenting on Zahraa’s case, Hussein Al-Lami, who holds a PhD in Psychology and Philosophy, says that there is a relationship between noise pollution and the deterioration of mental health. He explains: “Noise pollution causes symptoms not only in humans, but also in animals and plants, and the matter may worsen, as noise leads to temporary or permanent hearing loss. Some scientific studies have concluded that noise affects the mental capacity of the individual, which leads to mental stress and the inability to comprehend and learn. Therefore, continuous exposure to the sounds of domestic generators poses a direct risk to those afflicted with selective sound sensitivity syndrome.”

Dr. Raghad Al-Rifai, an environmental security specialist at the High Commission for Human Rights, confirms the significant negative effects of noise. She even believes that private generators cause a number of “humanitarian and environmental” problems that were monitored by the Commission’s teams working in Baghdad and the governorates.

Dr. Raghad assumes that private generators abide by national environmental laws, such as Environmental Protection and Improvement Law No. 27 of 2009, in addition to the World Health Organization’s environmental standards for sound levels to avoid noise with auditory effects, which were set for residential areas at about (50-55) decibels.

“If these standards are increased, it causes hearing impairments such as permanent and temporary hearing loss and physical harm, not to mention the psychological state, respiratory problems, and allergies, in addition to their damage to the local environment.”

Environmental Police

Due to the many environmental violations in Iraq, the Environmental Police was formed according to Internal Regulation No. 1 of 2015, administratively linked to the Ministry of Interior, and technically to the Ministry of Environment.

The Director of the Environmental Police, Brigadier General Chemical Firas Salim, says that the total number of subscribers to the electricity lines supplied by the 49,000 generators in Iraq is 6,700,665 subscribers, while the number of amperes supplied during one month reached (25,875,722) amperes, according to his department’s data.

He continues: “In addition to air pollution, an increase in the concentrations of pollutants caused by gasoline and diesel generators has been observed, namely carbon monoxide – nitrogen oxides – sulfur oxides, which are produced by gasoline generators at a greater rate than those produced by diesel generators and sometimes more than the proposed national limit.”

It is shown that diesel generators produce approximately 10% of the carbon monoxide produced by gasoline generators, and lead compounds are absent in diesel, but “we notice an increase in the amount of lead to more than the proposed national limit in the case of using a gasoline generator.”

Regardless of the source of the pollutants, whether gasoline or diesel, the director of the environmental police warns of the danger of generators to both soil and plants, and explains: “The direct impact occurs when quantities of fuel are spilled on the soil during the filling process, which leads over time to the lands around the generators turning into dead lands saturated with oil and oil spills, becoming polluted and unsuitable for agriculture.”

Ahmed Shaker (46 years old) owns a diesel generator in the Al-Hurriya area, west of the capital, Baghdad. He confirms that the water he uses to cool the generator’s engine is the one that arrives through the drain water network, and he uses it around the clock, and his need for it increases with the rise in temperatures in the summer, confirming that he drains the used oil directly into the sewage networks.

He also does not deny that some of the generator’s engine oil leaks into the sewers and pollutes the land with it: “This is normal. We change the oil regularly and its quantities are large, and the Baghdad Municipality has organized the process of disposing of used oils, as we collect them in barrels and sell them to be reused later in another activity.”

Regarding the reason for the noise made by the generators, he says: “Some generators are old or do not have a silencer. For me, and all other generator owners, in the summer we are forced to remove the frame that covers the engine due to the high temperatures. Leaving the engine exposed to air is good for reducing its temperature, but in return the noise increases.” He points out that he compensates the residents near his generator for the damage caused to them by the sound of the generator or the smoke emitted from it, by giving each nearby house “three amperes of electricity for free.”

Social Service

Kazem Abdul-Fahdawi, head of the Baghdad Generators Syndicate, Karkh Sector, says that the syndicate is an unofficial body, and the nature of its work focuses on meeting the demands of private generator owners: “Especially towards the regulatory authorities to equip the generators with the free diesel share, which is small.”

He stated that generator owners sometimes incur losses, as the price of one ampere of electricity in 2023 was set at 8,000 dinars ($5.35), which led to them being exposed to losses due to the high price of fuel, especially in the summer when the hours of supplying citizens with electricity increase, indicating that this prompted them to declare a strike and turn off their generators.

But this was met with strict government measures, by obligating them to install a meter showing the number of operating hours of the generators and the amount of energy provided to citizens. At the beginning of 2024, a decision was issued by the Baghdad Governorate “to collect the financial dues for the generators from subscribers at the end of the month and not at the beginning, with the imposition of legal penalties against the owners of the violating generators ranging from fines to imprisonment,” says Al-Fahdawi.

Assistant Professor Dr. Safaqis Qasim Hadi from the Department of Geography, College of Arts, University of Baghdad, indicated in her research completed in 2022 that the deficit in the national electricity grid reached 52% throughout Iraq, which increased the need for private generators.

The researcher monitored other problems in addition to the environmental problems caused by generators, the most important of which is the problem of high prices and their fluctuations, as she says: “The price of an ampere of electricity that it supplies is not fixed and varies from one season to another. In light of the high temperatures and over-use, it needs more fuel purchased from the black market, so the price of an ampere is raised to compensate for that, which is a cost borne by the consumer.”

The researcher stressed the activation of the role of health and environmental oversight, and the application of safety conditions for generators in accordance with international laws and the World Health Organization.

The researcher called for diversifying energy sources in the country, increasing power stations that operate on gas instead of fossil fuels, and encouraging society to use energy-saving devices, which contributes to reducing the use of private generators until they are completely stopped.