The Gulf countries badly need to cut fuel subsidies in order to drive renewable generation projects, but in the current political climate, that would be suicidal. The nuclear travesty in Japan has gripped news headlines, while the Middle East political drama has taken back stage. But it is still having huge ramifications in the region. […]
The Middle East has become one of the most popular tourist destinations, and is expected to become even more so, but the current unrest has taken its toll. Even though Dubai has been spared the awful drama that has gripped many countries in the Middle East – most dramatically Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya – the […]
When the PRT plan at Masdar was scrapped, what exactly did we lose? The folks at Singularity Hub offer an interesting analysis of Masdar’s PRT failure. Why is it, David Hill wonders out loud, that we have made massive advancements in telecommunications but precious few in transportation? Masdar gave us the perfect opportunity to take the next […]
Green Prophet’s Arwa measures her family’s carbon footprint to Hajj. Last year, my auntie and her family- the Hussains– did one of the most important things that a Muslim can do in their lives. They fulfilled one of the five pillars of Islam and went to Hajj which is a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi […]
Arwa argues that population control is not the silver bullet that will solve climate change, rather over-consumption is the real issue According to the latest data coming from the UN, the world population will reach a staggering thirty billion people by 2300. Now, that’s a lot of people and a real sobering thought for those […]
Dubai’s Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc) launches the first “green station” in the UAE. The station features solar-powered lights, a waterless car wash system, eco-friendly products, and the vapor recovery system, a new technology that reduces carbon emission and fuel wastage.
To unclog Amman’s road arteries, the municipality hopes to bring its state-of-the-art public buses online by next year. While it’s neighbor brings Better Place electric cars online, a move that may reduce emissions but not congestion, Jordan is instead pursuing a state of the art BRT system for its capital, Amman, the site of several […]
Enoc collects fuel vapors and incorporates other green elements into Dubai residential filling station. Last September, Dubai ran short on gas, while other Gulf countries re-evaluated their long term energy plan as a result of looming peak oil. Now The National reports that Dubai has installed a “green” petrol station that not only captures and […]
Passed in the summer of 2008, Israel’s Clean Air Act went into effect this month. As with its neighboring Middle Eastern countries, things can be slow moving in Israel sometimes. Maybe its a regional thing. But better later than never. While it would have been great if Israel’s Clean Air Act went into effect back […]
Giant lightbulb installation in Abu Dhabi International Airport forms part of a campaign to reduce energy and water waste. How do we best effect change is a question that environmentalists, marketers, and social activists are constantly addressing. In the UAE, one man hopes to stop reckless driving through a campaign that combines emotion and logic, […]
Join hands with your fellows in the Middle East on 10-10-10 and drive down atmospheric carbon concentrations. There is no better way to subvert the status quo than to join hands with like-minded people on a similar carbon-reduction mission. Bill McKibben is the brains behind 350.org, an international non-profit organization that seeks to reduce atmospheric […]
Saudi Aramco claims to have an 80-yr steady supply of oil or more, while a German thinktank predicts that “peak oil” is imminent. Despite Bill McKibben’s pleas to reduce the amount of carbon in our atmosphere to 350 parts per million, or face serious consequences, and despite the myriad innovations worldwide aimed at shrinking our […]
Israel’s green campaigners note the quiet streets and clear skies on Yom Kippur Day Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year in Judaism and begins this Friday. For non-Jews in Israel it is a day when the streets are quiet, peaceful and vacant of anything but feet. But […]
Will more people in Dubai catch on to merits of metro-riding, ditch the car, and reduce their carbon footprint? We’ve already established that the Emiratis are not the most enthusiastic walkers; this can be attributed to the region’s crippling heat, as well as a simple cultural phenomenon. This has led to one of the world’s […]
What will Israel do if the Nile Delta becomes submerged from climate change? Brainstorming at the Climate Change Mitigation Policy Workshop today at Ben-Gurion University. (Image courtesy of Ophir Shoham) In his opening remarks at the Climate Change Mitigation Policy Workshop at Ben-Gurion University today, Prof. Alon Tal, one of Israel’s most revered environmentalists, referred […]