A model of Al Reem Island in Abu Dhabi. A playground for foreigners or ecological nightmare? Looking at this gigantic real estate project, one might wonder if there will ever be an end to all of the monstrosities that being erected on every piece of available land in the United Arab Emirates and other parts […]
Abu Dhabi to build new green city in Middle East. It sits in the middle of a harsh, barren desert, sweltering in searing heat. It has no clean water, its sea is polluted and there is no topsoil, just a covering of sand. It is also the biggest per capita consumer of fuel, massively reliant […]
If until now you worried about carbon offsets for your international flights, you may want to add baby crocodiles to the list of concerns. On Friday, a foot-long croc was found scurrying down the aisles of an EgyptAir flight from Abu Dhabi to Cairo. The Emirati paper The National reports that EgyptAir has claimed the […]
The Tesla Roadster is a purely electric sports car. Coming to Abu Dhabi? The oil-rich United Arab Emirates owe most of their wealth to their natural abundance of petroleum. But what they’re starting to do with that wealth is very interesting. Abu Dhabi, for example, is increasingly leveraging its oil wealth in favor of positioning […]
It could change the way companies make and distribute renewable energy technologies: We reported about the International Renewable Agency that convened in Sharm, Egypt this month. Today we get the news that the Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City, the world’s first carbon-neutral, will house the new Agency known as IRENA. According to a press release issued […]
Once again, in the UAE Gulf state of Abu Dhabi, the Zayed Future Energy Prize contest is open for entries on new and innovative projects in various forms of alternative energy. Inaugerated in January 2008 during the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, the contest, under the sponsorship of the Abu Dhabi government as […]
Tonight begins Israel’s Independence Day, and a lot of recent articles on Green Prophet have been about the regional water crisis, and what must be done to alleviate it. Both agronomists and hydrologists in our region have tried to find ways to deal with the increasing lack of water resources, including recycling of sewage and […]
(Snapshot of the WWF coral map of Qatar and UAE coral reefs). With worrying reports of coral death globally, with global warming to blame, it’s heartening to hear that Arab nations, who are more known for causing global warming, are now working to protect coral reefs. Mapping the reefs to know where to install underwater […]
Last month, I had the unexpected pleasure of visiting Abu Dhabi and Dubai, two of the seven tiny kingdoms that together make up the United Arab Emirates. I was there to cover the World Future Energy Summit, an international conference on renewable energy technologies. This was my first visit to the Emirates, which have a […]
Taking God-Knows-How-Much of the world’s non-renewable energy sources to build, developers of the world’s first zero carbon city, Masdar City, proclaim that the historic groundbreaking in Abu Dhabi will take place this month. (In advance, Daniel’s posted on Abu Dhabi’s Podcar People Mover). While I think the concept is definitely thought provoking — as the […]
Masdar’s PRT pod cars. The playground of the rich, Abu Dhabi, is not just a place for playing kick-the-golden-can. Instead of simply finding ways to spend oil-money on futuristic gadgets and grandiose monuments, there is a lot of interest providing proving grounds for sustainable solutions and new urban paradigms. Personal Rapid Transit: Our very own […]
Academics from Arizona State University are hard at work promoting sustainability and regional cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a politically stable and very prosperous Gulf country. A delegation from Arizona traveled to the United Arab Emirates this past January for a series of meetings to follow-up on last summer’s visit to their university […]
California-based electric car company Tesla Motors is reportedly (according to the National) in talks which could lead to their vehicles being sold in the United Arab Emirates. Ventures in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar are looking at everything from bringing the vehicles in as rental cars to starting championship electric car racing. News of the […]
As African nations sell and lease its land, and birthright, to the world’s super-powers, and arguably “dangerous” countries like Saudi Arabia who support Islamic fundamentalism, we are seeing a brand new kind of neo-colonial land-grab, and it scares me. I’d reported on Galten’s Jatropha seeds for biofuel here, and also on the Israeli conglomerate Ormat, […]
A Bangladesh developer in the alternative energy field won the coveted Zayed Future Energy Prize at a recent competition held in the United Arab Emirates State of Abu Dhabi. Dipal Barua’s non-profit company Grameen Shakti was founded in 1996 to provide alternative energy solutions to one of the world’s poorest nations, where most of the […]