It’s real-life Hunger Games, and the Middle East is among the busiest land-grabbers. In the last decade, nearly half a billion acres of land – eight times the area of Great Britain – were sold or leased in transnational deals, according to a 2012 report published by the Land Matrix project, a coalition of research […]
The opening of the Sahara Forest Project’s first pilot plant in Qatar is set to coincide with the United Nations Climate Conference (COP18) in Doha, Qatar, which kicks off on November 26, 2012, and operations are expected to be fully underway in December. By combining a seawater greenhouse with concentrated solar power (CSP) technology, SFP […]
The Wadi Marawan Organic Farm is a new project by the ‘Best Friends Safari’ that guides tour groups in Egypt Located at the terraces of Panorama Mountain Camp, the Wadi Marawan Organic Farm is a veritable paradise in the middle of the Sinai Peninsula. Over 4,000 sq. metres of land is planted with vegetables and […]
This month’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP18) will be hosted by Qatar, the tiny peninsula nation in the Persian Gulf that holds the world record for per capita CO2 emissions. According to a report entitled Indicators of Sustainable Development 2011 released by Qatar’s statistics’ authority, the state has experienced a 27% annual increase in […]
Frontal view of Toyota Prius Mk III hybrid: its battery was innovated by Stan Ovshinsky Ever since the first Toyota Prius hybrid cars began traveling on streets and highways in many parts of the world, more and more people have had the pleasure of driving these dual engine cars that incorporate both a standard gasoline […]
As part of its plan to shake off its unprofitable solar shackles, including Israel’s Solel initiative, German giant Siemens has exited the ambitious Desertec project. But that doesn’t seem to have deterred the strength of the initiative, which is designed to enable Europe to import one fifth of its power by 2050 from renewable energy […]
Tires, plastics, and other types of solid waste will soon be converted into energy and other products at a new Israel mega recycling plant. Photo: Haaretz/Michal Fattal Israel’s garbage dumps and landfills are often referred to as large, unsightly “garbage mountains” such as the Hiriya garbage mound near Tel Aviv. With the Hiriya site now […]
Israel’s Negev Desert, Jordan’s Mount Nebo, Medaba and Wadi Rum are a few dark sky destinations for stargazing. Paris is known as the city of lights. So is Medina Saudi Arabia, Be’er Sheva Israel and Las Vegas, Nevada. We shouldn’t overlook Baltimore Maryland, Varanasi India, Quanzhou China and Milford Pennsylvania. Each of these cities is also […]
A handful of new lakes popping up in the vast and formidable Arabian desert are creating whole new ecosystems and attracting rare bird species that breed among the dunes. And, technically, it’s not a naturally-occurring phenomenon. NPR traveled to the United Arab Emirates to witness firsthand one such lake that rose 35 feet in the […]
The award to design Masdar‘s new super-green headquarters in Abu Dhabi has been given to Brookfield Multiplex, the group announced recently. The Australian firm was awarded the contract to design and construct the seven story building in the Gulf nation, which will feature a whopping 344,445 square feet of interior space and a massive rooftop […]
It’s easy to poke fun at Dubai for all of its insane excesses, but because we’re big-hearted greenies, we also want to give the Emirate a giant high-five when it does something worthwhile. And the Green Bus is certainly that. Although the merits of bio-fuel are still debatable (depending on the source), this pilot bus, […]
Craig Deebank and Gina Gallaugher were selected as finalists in the Sukkahville design competition held in Toronto recently with their extraordinary Embryonic Canopy – a giant floating seed bomb (and a contemporary Sukkah.) Comprised of a CNC-cut central platform that resembles real trees along with several biodegradable balloons, the design is a whole new take on an […]
A bright and renewable future for Saudi Arabia? A shock announcement from the world’s largest oil producer Following plans to transform Mecca into a solar city, an influential member of the Saudi Royal family has announced even more ambitious renewable energy plans for the country. Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, founder of the King […]
The jury on the Stars of Science reality TV show proved that the “Shattel-Power” vertical wind turbine is not as efficient as its designer Mahmoud Shattel proclaimed it to be, but the 24 year old electrical engineer from Jordan still intends to find investors who will help him bring this clean energy concept to households all over […]
MENA Geothermal has completed the largest geothermal heating and cooling system in the Middle East and North Africa. Completed in August, 2012, the new and deeply clean energy system at the American University of Madaba (AUM) in Jordan has a total cooling load of 1680 kW and a heating load of 1350 kW, which is enough […]