Libya has long relied on its crude oil resources for revenue, but the country possesses a natural resource far more abundant and hardly tapped at all: sun. Nearly 90 percent of the country is comprised of sun-drenched desert or semi desert and only 1.03 percent of the land is arable. Match this with solar irradiation that […]
We all had so much hope for Jordan’s Solar Mamas – two women who traveled from a dusty village to India in order to become “solar engineers.” During their six month training, they learned to install and maintain small-scale solar systems back home and proceeded, upon their return, to implement 80 of them back home. […]
First Solar has until recently participated as an associate partner of the Dii initiative designed to develop renewable energy projects throughout the Middle East and North Africa for eventual evacuation to Europe. But now one of the world’s most prolific renewable energy producers has taken on a more serious role as shareholder. Particularly well poised […]
Cairo’s traffic is the stuff of legends. It’s easy to spend hours in total gridlock while trying to get from one side of the city to the other, with people honking and shouting. Then there is the smog that spews from aging vehicles. But what to do about this economic, personal and social hazard? […]
Incredulously, despite everything that we know about climate change and its inevitable consequences of drought, food insecurity, rising sea levels and widespread ecological change, certain sectors of society stand steadfast by the suicidal notion that developing increasingly dangerous fossil fuels is “good” for us. Led by ruler-backed organizations such as King Abdullah City for Atomic and […]
Have you been watching the gradual unfolding of a hot new solar power market in the Middle East and North Africa without really understanding how to get involved? If so, you might want to read on. PV Insider is hosting a free webinar tomorrow, Tuesday 5th March at 08.00am GMT / 09.00 CET / 12.00 GST […]
Sixty percent of Morocco’s fuel reserves consists of petroleum and 23 percent of the country’s energy is derived from coal, according to the DESERTEC Knowledge Platform. Yet Morocco has to import roughly 96 percent of its fossil fuel, which is both costly and politically destabilizing. So it comes as no surprise that learning institutions around the North African […]
Want to find sunny Middle East solar opportunities? Think short term investments, and know that higher risks mean bigger rewards, says Belén Galled who talks about MENASOL 2013 CSP and PV solar opportunities in Dubai. A two-day networking and conference in Dubai this May will give equal treatment to both concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) […]
Israel NewTech has launched a interactive map of green Israeli innovations as part of a new Industry, Trade & Labor Ministry campaign that aims to showcase the country’s international influence in the clean tech and energy sectors. We have been frustrated with the slow pace at which Israel has incorporated some of its own homegrown […]
We love just about anything that is made with earth – a vast, renewable resource eclipsed by more modern materials. Not long ago we featured the Eliodomestico – a solar-powered water desalination pot that enamored readers around the globe for its ease of use and potential domestic application. Now we’ve stumbled across a new water treatment […]
Like the Middle East, parts of Peru suffer from a chronic water shortage. Also like parts of this region, such as Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, and other Gulf countries, humidity levels are extraordinarily high. So when students from the University of Engineering & Technology (UTEC) sought a creative solution to water scarcity as part of a campaign […]
When Spain ditched DESERTEC’s solar interests in Morocco, the blogosphere was quick to pronounce the initiative Dead Before Arrival. Underestimating the German foundation’s tenacity, critics could never have anticipated what happened next. Morocco found its own way to proceed with Ourzazate and Saudi came on board. DESERTEC Power, backed by the original DESERTEC Foundation, recently […]
Given that 85 percent of the country’s residents lack access to electricity, it is no surprise that Ethiopia has pursued an aggressive hydropower plan. But the Grand Renaissance Dam and similar projects are expected to create significant environmental and social disruptions, problems that the former President Meles Zenawi both denied and defied. But the Ethiopian […]
Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology (EUT) and Hong Kong Polytechnic University have developed a fabric that traps water molecules present in fog. This clever new technology could have applications in dry coastal zones throughout Africa and the Middle East, where lack of water is increasingly both a humanitarian and security concern. To make the […]
Israel’s eVolution Networks has recently announced that the pan-Caribbean mobile provider Digicel saved up to 23 percent of their cell phone tower energy consumption within three months of incorporating the start-up’s new Smart Energy Solutions (SES) system in Jamaica. One of those hidden energy gobblers that – like internet data centers – is felt less by consumers […]
By the end of the decade, Morocco hopes to generate a full 2,000 megawatts of wind energy, but for now, the North African country needs all the help it can get from foreign investors. No stranger to wind, GDF Suez from France inked a 20 year deal with to build and operate a 300 MW […]
Water produced as a byproduct of natural gas extraction is one of the oil and gas industry’s biggest waste streams, according to the Environment News Service (ENS), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers are collaborating with scientists from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals to do something about it. A process called Humidification […]
Built anywhere else, a 3.5 MW photovoltaic solar plant wouldn’t even elicit a whisper from mainstream news outlets. But one completed in Saudi Arabia has set the wires ablaze. We don’t mean to be cynical. It’s great that Saudi has turned to solar, regardless of its intentions. Some solar is better than no solar. To […]
While there are no winners from the Middle East this year, an important awards organization Katerva scours the globe for people and organizations that can make real immediate change for our planet. Now Katerva has announced its 10 winners for the Katerva Awards 2012. In 2011 we wrote about Katerva’s 8 finalist projects that will save […]
A century-old fermentation process to transform plant material into a propellant, could eventually replace gasoline. In 1914, thirty-five years before Chaim Weizmann (pictured center beside Einstein) would become Israel’s first president, he discovered a fermentation process for harnessing bacteria to produce large quantities of useful chemicals. For this discovery, Weizmann was called the father of industrial […]
Sometimes it takes a touch of star power to boost solar energy projects, which may be why comedian Sarah Silverman has publicly supported Arava Power and Energiya Global founder Yosef Abramowitz’s latest solar campaign in the Galapagos Islands. Known as “Captain Sunshine,” Silverman’s brother-in-law has pioneered a host of solar energy projects around the globe, […]
Masdar held a packed press conference late last week to announce its launch of three renewably-powered desalination pilot projects. On the last day of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, Masdar CEO Dr. Sultan Al Jaber said that existing desalination technology will continue to “play its role,” but added that the company will […]
Abu Dhabi wants to ensure that by 2020, seven percent of the nation’s energy mix will be comprised of renewables, and Shams 1 – the world’s largest single unit concentrating solar power (CSP) plant – is about to put the emirate one step closer to this goal. A 100 MW CSP plant located 120 km southwest […]
Did December gifting or a year-end bonus put a new smartphone in your hand? Check out ten mostly-free apps that will help you live healthier, smarter and more sustainably in 2013. Call It Quits is for smokers wishing to quit and quitters who could use some added support. It provides cessation tips, motivations and coaching […]
If you are among the 70 or more bloggers who submitted an entry to Masdar’s blogging competition, or simply want to know what it takes to impress the jury of one of the leading promoters of sustainable technology and renewable energy, then this post might appeal to you. Professor of public and environmental affairs at […]
