World’s Largest Solar Yacht PlanetSolar Tours Mideast on Final Leg of Around the World Voyage

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PlanetSolar’s solar yacht in Abu Dhabi. After spending some time in Qatar, Tûranor PlanetSolar crossed the Persian Gulf into the United Arab Emirates. It overcame some bad weather and a severe technical problem with the pitch controller for one of its steering propellers to arrive in time for the World Future Energy Summit at the ANDEC […]

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Saudi Arabia’s Climate U-Turn?

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Once the region’s climate skeptic, Saudi Arabia is slowly shifting towards a more progressive stance ahead of the climate summit in Qatar It’s not long now till the climate summit follow up to Durban, is held in Qatar later this year. And in response to the eyes that will be soon focusing on the Middle […]

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4 Miraculous Eco-designs by Ro-Ad Architecten

This amazing moat bridge parts waters in the Netherlands like Moses and the Red Sea! Thanks to theological scholarship (or in my case, thanks to MGM and Charlton Heston) everyone knows how Moses split the Red Sea. Architects have now imitated that miracle with a sunken eco-bridge that allows safe pedestrian passage through far less-daunting waters. Four […]

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Gulf people ridicule female falconry association

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Join the debate: is the world’s first all-women falconry association in Qatar a bad idea?  Falconry is a time-honored tradition in the Gulf, but like more recent sports such as race-car driving and rugby, it is a male-dominated sport. So when the Katara cultural village in Qatar recently announced the launch of the world’s first female […]

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Will Bike Sharing Become the New Mode of Transportation for the Middle East?

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Is bike-sharing gaining momentum in the Middle East? Paris got many cities to start thinking seriously about bike-sharing systems when it launched Vélib in 2007 – a municipal bike-sharing network that has been widely successful and grown to include over 20,000 bicycles at 1,200 stations.  Cities worldwide have begun adopting the idea, but it is […]

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Saudi Acts as Oil Cheerleader at COP 17 Circus

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Saudi is pulling out the pom poms to protect OPEC oil-producing nations from losing money as climate change negotiations start at the COP 17 circus in Durban. It’s that time of year again, when delegations suit up for the circus that has come to typify the United Nations Climate Change Conferences. Rich, polluting countries unwilling to […]

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