Bill McKibben isn’t the kind of guy who takes getting arrested lightly. He’s doing it to save humanity from one of the most catastrophic dangers we have ever faced. The right wing has long maintained that America should reduce its oil dependency on the Middle East. Considered the root of the last war in Iraq […]
This man is paddling trash out of a polluted water body in the Jordanian city Azraq, which is believed to have one million barrels of oil. All signs show that Jordan is firmly caught in the clutches of a resource curse. Since it takes a whopping 80% of its energy from Egypt, which has not […]
An oil shale trial plant in Colorado. Does Israel want its Negev and Galilee regions torn up for “black gold”? Until recently, Israel has been an energy poor country, with nearly all its energy needs having to be supplied by importing both petroleum – bought mainly on the international Spot Market – and coal. Previous […]
Jet fuel spurts into pristine nature zone in Israel. Who will pay for this unthinkable mistake? A month ago, Israeli airlines suffered from a jet fuel contamination, grounding flights, and causing chaos as officials tried to figure out if planes loaded with the contaminated fuel would be damaged. This past Wednesday, there is another chapter […]
Algae based bio-fuel may someday be an important fuel source Los Angeles based Origin Oil has recently announced its intention to up-list its stock exchange shares as a result of the development of a new large scale oil extraction from algae process that could result in the process of up to 1100 liters (300 gallons) […]
An update on the latest climate negotiations in Bonn as well as Middle Eastern countries which made the headlines during the talks Believe it or not, the latest climate negotiations at Bonn – which discussed the future of the Kyoto Protocol which ends in 2012 as well financing adaptation – have come and gone without […]
BrightSource solar thermal illustration: Better than using the sun to soften oil BrightSource Energy, the California based solar thermal energy company whose technology as innovated in Israel, and whose solar “star” was even touted by US President Barack Obama, is now in financial hot water again as its joint oil recovery project with giant energy […]
NATO’s “steel fish” may not be works of art like this, but they have a very important goal: to catch oil spills. Pollution issues in the Mediterranean Sea have reached a point where the future of this historic body of water will be in serious doubt without environmental protection. A new project called “steel fish” […]
The Elah Valley, which IEI hopes to use as testing grounds for oil shale extraction. The annual Israeli “Green Globe” award ceremony, hosted by the environmental umbrella organization Life and Environment, took place last Thursday where recipients included Minister of the Environment Gilad Arden. That award ceremony is not all pats-on-the-back and positive recognition, however. […]
Garbage dumps roll into the sea? Rola suggests ways for energy intensive Lebanon to help ease its waste and energy problems. As Lebanon enters another waste crisis in the cities of Sidon and Tyre, with reportedly thousands of tons of waste piled up on the streets, the country finds itself once again looking for an […]
Israeli Solar energy company BrightSource is the child, but the real father of solar thermal technology. SEC filings show BrightSource Energy Inc has raised $122.5 million in its fifth round of financing, according to Israel’s Globes.The company says it raised the capital in shares and warrants, as part of a planned $125 million offering. BrightSource […]
Would Gaddafi risk an environmental disaster by sabotaging oil pipelines to the Mediterranean to regain his control over Libya? According to an article in Time Magazine, sources close to Gaddafi have warned that the situation in Libya will escalate into further chaos as the eccentric leader has ordered security services to sabotage oil facilities. This […]
Petrol and electricity are considered birth-rights, even God-sent in the Arab world. How can this reality compete with the use of renewables? Grid parity, the point when the cost of power generated from renewable energy resources become equal or cheaper than conventional power costs, is around the corner for many countries. In the Arab world […]
The Ahmad Family in Egypt shows us what they eat. As popular uprisings continue to spread in Middle East, rising food costs for stable crops like rice and wheat cannot be ignored as underlying factors in the political unrest. In a region where Islam and anti-Westernism are usually blamed for driving populist politics, the impact […]
How governments respond to water woes will determine the future stability of the Middle East. It’s impossible to point to any one issue and claim it as the final explanation for the protests unnerving leaders in the Middle East. Weeks ago one Tunisian man set himself on fire when he was told he couldn’t sell […]