In the wake of a 6-day trip by China’s Premier Win Jiabao to Saudi Arabia, China and Saudi Arabia have forged an alliance on developing nuclear power. Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with China for assistance in the development of nuclear power, using the last of its oil wealth to invest in the most […]
International water management policies in Morocco have disrupted the Berber’s perfectly good and longstanding system. In 2009 I travelled to the High Atlas mountain region of Morocco to reach some friends that ran an eco-lodge in a very lonesome village with a wholesome lifestyle. The mother of Houssa, the owner of the eco-lodge, revealed the […]
News that the French Parliament accused Israel of using water “apartheid” unleashed a fury of water war rhetoric that Friends of the Earth Middle East’s Director Gidon Bromberg is trying to calm. Yesterday the Israeli paper Haaretz reported that the French Parliament accused Israel of using water as “a weapon serving the new apartheid.” Socialist […]
Fossil-fueled til 2004, Oman is now making bold moves into solar The Sultanate of Oman, despite its small population of under 3 million, is forming an unusual partnership arrangement with Terra Nex for financing and project development of solar infrastructure capabilities locally. Terra Nex, a Switzerland-based wealth management company that develops investment opportunities, acts as a […]
A hydroelectric project in Turkey’s northeastern Ardahan district will change the flow of the Mtkvari River, the biggest water artery in the South Caucasus. A planned dam in northeastern Turkey, the Beshik Haya cascade reservoirs, will divert most of the Mtkvari River from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, according to Georgia’s Green Party. […]
Algiers will be the place to be for utility-scale solar developers next May. The German trade fair specialists Messe and their Algerian daughter company in Algiers will hold a solar trade fair at the Palais des Expositions d'Alger from 7 to 10 May, 2012. As one of three North African desert nations now at the forefront of responsible climate legislation, through its ambitious solar plans and its participation in the visionary Desertec project, Algeria is ideally situated to host the event.
Dubai is expected to run out of oil by 2020. It will invest billions in solar instead. Dubai produces only around 100,000 barrels per day of oil from four existing fields, and is dependent on fossil fuels for electricity production and for water, which must be desalinated. So news that Dubai is planning a gigantic […]
Turkish environmental journalist Mahmut Boynudelik has proposed a set of fundamental ecological principles to be enshrined in the country’s new constitution. Last Wednesday, Turkey’s Constitution Reconciliation Commission was presented with a new series of articles for inclusion in the country’s new constitution. Led by the Turkish Green Party, the articles were submitted by the Initiative […]
Morocco already has the world's most ambitious solar target. Now it is starting on wind. Morocco's ascendance in renewable development is continuing apace. Morocco's state-run power utility has just invited companies to bid on five wind farm projects with a total power generation capacity of 850 megawatts, as part of its plan to build 2,000 MW of wind power by 2020.
Scotland’s first Minister Alex Salmond will travel to Abu Dhabi this week to address an audience of world leaders at the World Future Energy Summit as a guest of Masdar. (Related: Global Clean Energy Brokers Meet at Abu Dhabi Emergy Summit) But additionally, in a first-ever contract with a country, the clean tech giant Masdar is about […]
Want to see the garbage flowing from Lebanon’s waterways? Greenpeace Lebanon goes undercover to reveal shocking videos of 14 polluters (see them below). They are young, passionate about the environment, and not afraid to engage with technology to get their voices heard. Greenpeace Lebanon continues to demonstrate the power of the “Net Generation” in raising […]
Israel’s Eco Wave’s clappers get energy from the sea. Developers first looked to the ocean for offshore wind power, a conveniently windy and out-of-the way site for giant turbines. But increasingly, energy companies are realizing that sea water itself can be harnessed to generate electricity. Israel’s Eco Wave Power announced on Tuesday that its initial […]
Could the ocean make pumped hydro power? In the Middle East, it could. A brilliant proposal has been made to build a massive 2,400 MW sea water hydro project using the Mediterranean Sea, and the Dead Sea, which is below sea level. The Dead Sea Power Project would use the ocean to make hydro power, […]
Desalinated water is costly for Israel, and practically no one is talking about the hidden costs. Making drinking water from sea water has been touted as a solution for water shortage in the Middle-East and elsewhere. In southern Israel, near Ashkelon, a small pilot project has been pumping out 24 million cubic meters of fresh […]
Post-Durban World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi is now a huge opportunity for clean energy developers in the Middle East region. Ever since the European Union adopted the Kyoto Accord and with it the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) which funds renewable development in the developing world to offset carbon emissions in Europe, the developing […]