Engineers at Buffalo University (NY) have recently designed a new system that will help to cool buildings in a crowded metropolitan city without consuming electricity. The new method is known as radiative or passive cooling because it does not require batteries or other sources of electricity to initiate cooling.

In July 2019, the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNERC) introduced changes to electricity supply and consumption rules and procedures, among which the prices and terms of connection of a new customer to the distribution network.

In July 2019, Georgian power plants generated 1,055 mln. kWh of electricity (Figure 1). This represents a 16.8% decrease in total generation, compared to the previous year (in July 2018, the total generation was 1,268 mln. kWh). The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from the decrease in thermal (-52%) and hydro power generation (-17%), more than offsetting the increase in wind power generation (+11%).

In June 2019, Georgian power plants generated 1,198 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 0.9% decrease in the total generation, compared to the previous year (in 2018, the total generation in June was 1,208 mln. kWh). The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from the decrease in hydro power generation (-1%), more than offsetting the increase in thermal power generation (+141%) and wind power generation (+6%).

The latest impact of Gavrilov’s visit to Georgia has fueled societal concerns about the economic consequences of deterioration in Russo-Georgian relations. For instance, due to the Russian government’s decision to cancel flights to Georgia, residents are beginning to worry about potentially adverse economic impacts on the tourism sector. ISET-PI has already discussed the expected impact of such a change, highlighting how these concerns might be unwarranted, as tourism accounts for 7.6% of the GDP, with Russian tourism contributing only 1.8% to the economy.