Morocco Begins Plan to Create Clean Energy Mosques

Morocco began the first stage of its green energy plan on November 16, upgrading 600 of its mosques with LED lights, solar energy, and solar water-heating. The project’s goal is to renovate 15,000 of Morocco’s mosques in order to begin a renewable energy awareness and educational campaign. The plan is a continuation of Morocco’s dedication to fighting climate change as evidenced by its construction of the world’s largest solar power plant, its expansive wind farms, and its hosting of UN climate change summits. In 2013, the World Bank reported that Morocco imported 90 percent of its energy. Morocco hopes that the several renewable energy projects will reduce the number to just 60 percent by 2020, with the remaining energy coming from clean sources. Government officials highlighted the heavy reliance on foreign energy, which is expensive and unsustainable, as the reason for investing in renewable energy. In 2011, Morocco changed its constitution to prefer sustainable options by ending fossil fuel subsidies, increasing the viability of renewable sources: the turning point of its green energy mission.

Although mosques do not use a large amount of energy, government officials anticipate that the real change will come from the example that religious institutions set by emphasizing the importance of renewable energy. The chief of the project, Jan-Christophe Kuntz, echoed this sentiment when he stated that mosques, a place of social exchange, could bring discussion to “why renewables and energy efficiency might be a good idea.” Additionally, with mosques spread throughout the country, the implementation of green energy projects and ideas is more even than if the government had focused on more unevenly-spread industries.

The Moroccan ministries of Religious Affairs and Energy and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development cooperated on the funding for the project, with the Ministry of Religious Affairs financing the majority. However, though the initial investment costs around $7.5 million a year, the Ministry, which funds the mosques’ expenses, will save significantly in the future through the drastic increase in efficiency. For example, the As-Sounna Mosque in Rabat, after its renovation, cut its electricity bill by 80 percent. A similar decrease in costs across the nation coupled with job creation for electricians could stimulate the Moroccan economy while simultaneously combating climate change.  

Additional efforts to fight climate change and unsustainability have included a ban on manufacturing plastic bags and a program to replace current light bulbs in homes with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Though CFLs are more expensive, the state energy company allows citizens to pay for the renovations in installments rather than all at once, since the amount of money paid for energy in each bill is lowered through the higher efficiency.

According to a study by Stanford University, Morocco’s programs and continued dedication could lead to the entirety of its energy being sourced from renewable options by 2050. The report also cited the economic effects of the possibility: billions of dollars of pollution and climate costs would be avoided, over 88,000 permanent construction and operation jobs would be created, and net $3.5 billion would be earned through these new jobs.