“Reducing gases, especially CO2 gas, has the benefit of decreasing the percentage of toxic gases. By shutting down the generators, the air has changed significantly. In Erbil city, the changes are visible to the eye, and the black smog the city had is close to disappearing,” Sanan Abdullah, head of the Kurdistan Region’s Board of Environmental Protection and Improvement, told Rudaw.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Erbil on Saturday afternoon is a moderate 66, meaning people with existing health issues should avoid outdoor activity, according to the IQAir platform.
Over 2,500 private generators have been decommissioned in recent months as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) expands the Runaki project, an initiative to provide round-the-clock power that has nearly three million subscribers.
For years, many people have relied on private diesel-powered generators, which are costly and polluting, when the national grid would cut out for hours every day.
“When air quality improves, eye and respiratory problems improve and decrease, and it also has a positive effect on reducing cancer diseases, as one of the causes of these diseases are environment and air pollution,” Abdullah said.
Erbil accounts for the largest share of beneficiaries of the Runaki project, with nearly 1.5 million residents of the capital enjoying uninterrupted power.
The KRG plans to phase out over 7,000 generators by the end of 2026.
