Installing solar panels at 10 major mosques in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe would save thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year, a Greenpeace report has said.
The environmental group says that improving the environmental performance of mosques could also have the wider benefit of highlighting the importance of green issues to communities.
Among the mosques subject to a detailed technical analysis are Masjid Al Haram in Makkah, the world’s largest mosque, and Al Nabawi Mosque in Madinah.
Glasgow Central Mosque, in the Scottish city where the Cop26 climate change conference is being hosted, is currently installing solar panels funded by Islamic Relief.
The report, The Green Mosques Initiative, was published by Greenpeace and Ummah for Earth, an alliance of environmental groups and experts that aims to support Muslim communities.
Writing in the report, Ghiwa Nakat, executive director of Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa, said it was important that the value of “community-led solutions” was highlighted.
“This report shows the potential that the Ummah [the Muslim community] has to be part of the solution, not only through the direct environmental benefits of ‘greening’ these mosques, but also because of their potential to influence people as centres of culture, spirituality and community life,” she said.
“They are an expression of the willingness of Muslims and religious leaders to be part of the climate solution.”
Solar solution could slash emissions and save money
Estimated cost savings from installing photovoltaic (PV) panels at the mosques would be $375,420 a year at Al Nabawi Mosque, the largest single figure, and $373,200 at Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria.
The smallest saving would be at Nizamiye Mosque in Johannesburg, South Africa, where PV panels would save $9,493 a year.
Carbon dioxide emissions would be cut by 12,025 tonnes a year if PV panels were installed at the 10 mosques, with the biggest saving at Al Nabawi Mosque, where savings would amount to 3,199 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
The smallest figure would be at the Glasgow Central Mosque, where 43.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide would be saved annually, which is many times the carbon footprint of a person in the UK.
PV panels would account for between 23 per cent and 100 per cent of the energy demand at each mosque, researchers say.
Techniques including 3D modelling were used to determine the energy savings, while researchers also worked out the optimal tilt for the PV panels at each mosque.
Researchers at the American University of Beirut, the Lebanese Foundation for Renewable Energy and the National Council for Scientific Research in Lebanon produced the report’s figures.
As well as being installed on the roofs of the mosques, researchers worked out plans for placing them in the yards adjacent to the buildings, where possible.
Calculated installation costs could be as much as $3.1m at Al Nabawi Mosque, the most expensive figure, but this would be paid back within eight years.
In some cases the installation cost is paid back much more quickly, such as 5.2 years at Glasgow Central Mosque.
'We must take the initiative'
“While we continue to demand policy that delivers climate justice, we must take the initiative and enact solutions we are capable of implementing ourselves, just like what is being done at Glasgow Central Mosque this week,” said Nouhad Awwad, project campaigner for Ummah for Earth at Greenpeace Mena.
Solar panels were installed last year at another of the study’s mosques, Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, which now runs partly on the electricity these generate.
The other mosques in the report are Al Azhar Mosque in Cairo, Al Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Grand Jamia Mosque in Lahore and the Great Mosque of Algiers.
RESULT
Al Hilal 4 Persepolis 0
Khribin (31', 54', 89'), Al Shahrani 40'
Red card: Otayf (Al Hilal, 49')
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The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
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