Egypt's solar powered carts to ease vendors of high gas costs

In the coastal town of Alexandria in Egypt, street vendors have a reason to smile.

The local government is offering solar powered carts to the vendors as an alternative to power their mobile kiosks.

New innovative #Green #Solar powered #Smart_Carts #Egypt pic.twitter.com/k32X7×64aT

— Shawkatt Raghib (@ShawkattRaghib) March 30, 2016

The town has reliable and regular sunshine throughout the year and its pristine beaches are a tourist attraction.

For the vendors, the new initiative will enable them serve a wider clientele.

“As a project it is a very good idea because it will serve the beach goers and Alexandria is a touristic city,” said Ramy Ibrahim a cart owner.

The street carts usually rely on gas to power their cookers but the rising costs of gas is a hindrance thus making the solar powered carts more attractive.

The sellers must present a health certificate, criminal record and a copy of their identification in order to apply for a solar powered cart.

The north African country which was once a gas exporter is going through an energy crunch and the government is trying to mitigate the situation by offering such incentives.

On a positive note, Egypt made recent discoveries of gas fields in August 2015.

The fields are named Zohr and they are the largest ever made in the Mediterranean Sea.

International oil and gas companies have already started to increase exploration in the area, and if Zohr and other offshore fields reach their full potential in the 2020s, Egypt might again become a gas exporter.

Reuters