Abu Dhabi’s 75% government-owned National Energy Company TAQA has just created its first-ever division to specialize in investing in renewable energy. The new unit, Energy Solutions, will invest in wind, solar, thermal and hydro power, according to a report at The National. TAQA first evidenced an interest in clean energy in 2008, and it has committed to a $1.1 billion […]
Ever since the classic The Book Of One Thousand and One Nights, which include tales on Aladdin and the Lamp, Sinbad the Sailor and Alai Babba and the Forty Thieves, the Arabian Peninsula, and seacoasts have never been the same. While the characters may be fictional (or maybe not?), the actual location of these magical […]
Scientists discover that every year Oman loses a little bit more of its landmass to rising sea levels. Within the next 100 years, global sea levels are expected to rise by at least 1 meter and swallow up coastal towns and cities – a reality from which the Middle East is not exempt. Already geoscientists […]
Morocco already has the world's most ambitious solar target. Now it is starting on wind. Morocco's ascendance in renewable development is continuing apace. Morocco's state-run power utility has just invited companies to bid on five wind farm projects with a total power generation capacity of 850 megawatts, as part of its plan to build 2,000 MW of wind power by 2020.
Time to scale down on Diamond Class sleeping suits? Image via Etihad United Arab Emirates-based airlines, Emirates and Etihad Airways warn of higher ticket prices as they seek to pass on costs of a European Union (EU) aviation carbon trading scheme to passengers. Dubai’s Emirates will spend almost $52 million US this year to purchase […]
Lebanon goes green with seed bank, but can this memory keeper for nature fight GMOs? Lebanon harbors over 2600 plant species of which 119 are counted to be endemic. The unique climatic and landscape diversity in Lebanon has shaped 22 bio-climatic zones which fosters one of the most precious ecological services: genetic diversity. Unfortunately, the […]
Unless you are a really big fan of tornadoes and hailstorms, it’s time to ditch the car (or at least carpool), grab a bus, or pick up your bicycle. For so long scientists were reluctant to draw relationships between increased pollutants in our atmosphere and certain climate change events. Bill McKibben and others started warning […]
An ingenious technology installed in 20 countries around the world has enormous potential not only to regenerate ailing coral reefs but improve their resilience as well! Coral reefs throughout the world are in dire straits, which bodes badly for the world’s marine ecosystems. But a proven technology that has been floating around for two decades […]
The future of the Nile River still hangs in the balance, but at least a team of experts are committed to evaluating the potential impact of Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam. The politics surrounding Ethiopia’s Grand Millennium Renaissance Dam changes only slightly more frequently than the project’s name, and we are excited to bring you one […]
The countries that emit the most greenhouse gases only agreed to “vague, fragile” reduction targets at the recent climate change conference in Durban, according to Özgür Gürbüz, who was present at the conference. For MENA countries, there are some bright spots in the outcome of the most recent United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP17) […]
The Haramain High Speed Rail Project (HHR) in Saudi Arabia recently broke ground, which bodes well for the future of the Kingdom’s environmental/energy footprint. Phase II of Saudi Arabia’s 276 mile Haramain High Speed Rail Project (HHR) is now underway. The Kingdom is getting 35 swanky new trains and 4 stations designed by Foster + Partners […]
At the ongoing Eye on Earth summit in Abu Dhabi, there has been a lot of talk about sharing environmental data. But we question whether knowledge is enough. As early as 1930, a British engineer named Guy Calendar warned that increased carbon emissions as a result of industrialization was beginning to raise the global surface […]
Although the massive 3,300,000 sq m King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh will feature a variety of “green” initiatives, this is definitely sustainable architecture Saudi style. We applaud any individual or organization that seeks to green up their portfolio, and Saudi Arabia is no exception. Really, it’s difficult to blame the Kingdom’s residents for striking […]
Post COP 17 FAIL, most experts believe that we are probably looking at a 4°C rise in average global temperatures within the next few decades. On the face of things, the COP 17 conference in Durban was more successful than Copenhagen or Cancun, but the truth is, nothing has changed. Even though the Kyoto Protocol […]
A way to bypass a minority of ignorant US voters on international climate policy? The climate talks at Durban look like they may finally yield some positive movement on a Green Climate Fund, that would work the same way as the Clean Development Mechanism that has been so successful in growing renewable energy in the […]