The claim
There is excitement about the fact that there is an energy crisis in this country while the World Cup stadiums in Qatar are being cooled with huge air conditioning systems.
Our conclusion
The air conditioning systems are most likely powered by solar energy and are only used marginally, as the temperatures in Qatar in winter are a more pleasant 24 to 29 degrees.
Let's start simply: What is heating in our country is air conditioning in Qatar - necessary when the temperatures are unpleasant. During the World Cup, games are played in stadiums that have air conditioning. However, the question remains whether and how often these will be needed, because in winter the temperatures there are only between 24 and 29 degrees - and they are powered by solar systems.
The exciter
There are a lot of things to be upset about regarding the World Cup in Qatar, but we don't want to go into all of those points in this article, but rather one particular point that was already raised in August and will certainly come up again: The Air conditioning in the stadiums.
Emotionally, the photos like in the screenshot above are repeatedly drawn to the energy crisis here: While well-paid players are cooled down with cold air, we in this country have to save energy in order to “ save the world again ”.
The framing is obvious: While there is a need to save money here, the stadiums in Qatar are being air-conditioned for a World Cup, which is not very popular anyway, which in our view is a huge waste of energy. But the comparison is not that simple.
The photos are real
The large vents seen in the photos actually show the air conditioning in one of the eight stadiums that will host the World Cup in Qatar. Strictly speaking, these are photos from the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, the country's capital.
They are by photographer Karim Jaafar, who took them on May 18, 2017 and uploaded them to GettyImages (see HERE ).
The air conditioning probably won't be running at all during the World Cup
When the World Cup was awarded to Qatar in 2010, one of the conditions was that the stadiums were air-conditioned, because it was assumed that the World Cup would take place in the summer and the players could not be expected to run across the field when the outside temperature was 40 degrees without collapsing after a few minutes.
In 2015, “ WirtschaftsWoche ” and “ Tagesspiegel ”, among others, reported on the construction and expected functioning of the air conditioning systems. The entire stadium is not cooled, but only up to a height of three meters , so at least the players have cooler air.
But all of this is actually invalid, as it was decided years ago to hold the World Cup in winter, perhaps because some people were too unsure whether the air conditioning would work reliably and the winter temperatures would be more pleasant for the fans.
In November and December, the average temperature in Qatar is between 24 and 29 degrees , with an average of two rainy days a month - like a pleasant summer in our region. However, dehumidification will probably still be necessary, as the relative humidity during the World Cup up to 70 percent - making it harder for sweat to be released into the air.
The comparison with Qatar is flawed
As Günter Meyer , head of the Center for Research on the Arab World (ZEFAW) at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, explained , the situation regarding energy supply in Germany and Qatar is completely different and should therefore be assessed differently.
As an energy importer, we in Germany currently have a massive shortage of energy and therefore have to save it, while Qatar has an energy surplus due to its own oil and large natural gas deposits, and an enormous amount of energy due to the average sunshine duration of 9.4 hours per day There is potential for solar energy, which has only slowly gained momentum in recent years.
So it makes little sense to accuse Qatar of supposedly wasting energy. The country has a surplus of energy, so there is nothing wrong with using it for air conditioning, which will also be used for sporting events after the World Cup.
Even if gas were used in Qatar instead of solar energy, “energy envy” would be pointless, because after all we do not have a global gas crisis, but a European gas crisis due to the known circumstances. In principle, there is enough gas available worldwide, it just doesn't reach Germany.
Conclusion
As already written above: There are a lot of things that you can and should be upset about regarding the World Cup in Qatar. However, the air conditioning systems, whose operation will marginal due to the postponement of the World Cup into the winter months
Additional source:
BR fact fox
Also interesting: A sharepic claims that the electricity for the e-charging stations is generated by diesel generators.
However, this claim turns out to be false in most cases. – E-mobility: Electricity is usually not generated by diesel generators
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )