Caspar Hobhouse on Syria: "You need a functioning energy grid to have any sort of economic recovery"

In an interview with The New Arab, Caspar Hobhouse argued that Syria has an opportunity to develop a new energy model that can help the country navigate the challenges facing reconstruction more adequately. 

"A diffuse grid where you have localised energy providers, for instance through the installation of residential solar panels could help circumvent the vast amount of capital and time required to restore Syria's large-scale energy infrastructure, whilst more directly addressing Syria's urgent electricity shortage," he explained.

Caspar added that such a diffuse grid would have a "democratising effect" on the energy system, making Syrians "far less vulnerable to a central authority just turning off the electricity supply on a whim". 

Read his full analysis of this proposed energy model in 'Energising Syria's Future'.