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 […]
Arab world “green” announcements seem to fade in the sands. Can we believe new renewable energy goals? Over the past three years, we have read about many ambitious renewable energy plans or projects coming from the Arab world. Most notably, Qatar’s announcement in Feb 2008 to launch 3,500 MW of solar capacity or the Saudi […]
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 […]
Increasingly shameful to members of America’s conservative wing, Glenn Beck evokes Code Red by dismissing 350.org as “Communistic.” Sadly, he’s no match for our witty friend Bill McKibben. Who the hey is Alexandra Kollontai, you ask? Why, she is the author of The Autobiography of a Sexually Emancipated Communist Woman. Of the year 1917, a time when Bolsheviks […]
Rising oil prices as a result of Middle East unrest could send Americans back to the drawing board. The last time the United States saw their oil prices soar, really soar, was during the three month Arab oil embargo in the early 1970s. Prices hit nearly $12 a gallon and Americans sat in line for […]
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 […]
With input from over 100 Middle Eastern leaders, the Swiss government has produced a positive tool that could transform regional water policies. There are no foregone conclusions. How the next few decades proceed depends on us, on actions that we take today. We know that the Jordan River barely exists six months every year, such […]
WikiLeaks show the Saudis overestimated their oil reserves by about 40% – the US is worried. As the largest exporter of crude oil, Saudi Arabia has kept international oil prices reasonably steady. Until now. The recent instability in the region coupled with overambitious estimates and slowing production has cast serious doubt on the country’s ability […]
Palestine’s green city attracts new criticism after developers admit they will be replacing 3,000 JNF trees with indigenous olive trees Rawabi, Palestine’s first planned and green city was bound be a project full of stumbling blocks. An ambitious plan to help revive the fortunes of the West Bank, it not only had to prove its […]
Queen Rania is the latest Middle Eastern elite to receive criticism from dissenting citizens. Like their Yemeni compatriots currently marching towards the presidential palace in Samaa, taking their cue and courage from jubilant Egyptians, thirty-six tribal leaders submitted a collective criticism of Jordan’s Queen Rania, according to an AFP report. Of Palestinian origin and born […]
The Israeli government wakes up to concerns about hormones and antibiotics in drinking water. Last week at Green Prophet, we wrote about how an increase in breast size may be connected to hormones in the water supply. Estrogens in the environment or in our food are implicated in lower sperm counts and higher rate of […]
Israel is fortunate to have an Environmental Protection Minister who is passionate about his job. So passionate, he gave up an opportunity to work as ambassador to the UN. Israel’s Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan turned down an opportunity to represent Israel as ambassador to the United Nations, according to a Jerusalem Post report. He […]
This should be the scene of a brand-new prefab building made in the UAE, but the building is still sitting in an Essex container port. The UAE is well-known for its ginormous skyscrapers and oil-guzzling lifestyle, and increasingly Abu Dhabi is making a name for its eco-consciousness, but it can’t be said that our Gulf […]
As solar energy becomes a more widespread reality and lessons are uncovered, conferences allow stakeholders to get the learned scoop. Given that Morocco has the highest concentration of solar power in the MENA region, it is appropriate that the country should host this year’s third annual MENASOL conference on May 4-5. These two days comprise […]
When it’s cloudy, does the money stop flowing? The National Bank of Abu Dhabi has become the first bank in the UAE to launch a solar-powered ATM, and it’s the first time this Green Prophet has heard of such an initiative. But after Googling a bit, we see it’s not the first. “As part of […]