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TRENDS, PROMOTION AND PERFORMANCE
socio-economic characteristics established by Resolution 456. In residential and rural sectors, if consumption falls below a certain threshold, social lump-sum tariffs apply. This differs between areas. Typically, the tariffs vary between US$1 and US$3 per month. Because this tariff does not cover the costs incurred, the concessionaries (or Γ’€˜permissionariesΓ’€™) will recover these investments through the cross-subsidy tariffs, meaning that these lowincome consumers will be covered by all of the concession area consumers. Most of the consumers already electrified by photovoltaic solar energy in Brazil are eligible for the low-income tariff. Iran Vahid Ghobadian Iran is a rich country with regard to fossil fuel sources and a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). During the last decade, fossil fuel consumption has become an important issue for three main reasons: 1 2 3
The total annual increase rate of consumption during the last decade was 4.1 per cent, which is above the world rate. Air pollution in large cities such as Tehran is at a dangerous level and is far above the standard health level for air quality. Finding other sources of energy (especially renewable and clean energy) is essential for the sustainable development of the country.
Trends towards solar sustainable housing Solar sustainable housing is rather a new subject in Iran, and although there have been some climatic houses built during the past few years, they were essentially designed and built with saving energy in mind. In Tehran and Azad universities, especially in the architecture and environmental design departments, solar sustainable housing is being taught and discussed, although work on other aspects of sustainability, such as economy, culture and society, have not yet been considered adequately. Government policy, legislation and structure Government policy in the third five-year plan, which started during the year 2000, is to decrease and optimize energy consumption in all of the economyΓ’€™s different sectors. With regard to housing, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the municipalities and the Ministry of Petroleum are the responsible authorities. The Building and Housing Research Centre, which is a research institute under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, is responsible for scientific research and laboratory tests for different building materials,
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