IBM builds a solar power desalination pilot plant in Saudi Arabia. News that Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest market for desalination plants, is planning future solar-powered reverse and osmosis projects has been met with general enthusiasm by environmentalists and non-environmentalists alike. However, while politicians in the region play up the significant advantages of modern desalination, […]
Saudi Arabia is investing huge sums to diversify its water supply, while at the same time fanning a booming construction industry. Will the latter negate the former? Desertification, depletion of underground water sources, and lack of perennial rivers or permanent water bodies are among Saudia Arabia’s greatest environmental challenges. In part, these are being met […]
IDE’s new desalination plant in China is powered by excess heat from power plant nearby. Israel has been a world leader in desalination technology and projects by through companies like Tahal and IDE Technologies. IDE has already constructed more than 400 desalination plants in 40 countries, including at least 3 in Israel – the world’s […]
How governments respond to water woes will determine the future stability of the Middle East. It’s impossible to point to any one issue and claim it as the final explanation for the protests unnerving leaders in the Middle East. Weeks ago one Tunisian man set himself on fire when he was told he couldn’t sell […]
Qatar will secure 70% food security in the country by exploiting the latest technology to make its barren land arable. Roughly as large as Connecticut, Qatar relies almost exclusively on imports for food with only 10% of the country’s edibles produced within its own borders. Unlike other Gulf countries that are usurping African land to […]
Israel’s new desalination plan, water cooperation in the Middle East, Solaris Synergy, and more headlines related to Israeli cleantech and the environment. Following reports that the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) only rose 16 centimeters in January, the Israeli government moved quickly earlier this week to pass an emergency plan that will increase desalination production capabilities. […]
Jordan will be the location of the Sahara Forest Project which uses solar power to create clean water and electricity for agriculture Whilst deserts can be the harshest and most inhabitable places in earth, they are also the perfect locations for new-fangled green technologies such as solar power. For example, Jordan has recently announced its […]
Hopefully, the UAE’s new solar energy desalination process will help create more green water. Abu Dhabi’s Environment Agency is testing a new solar energy desalination system that is much more environmentally friendly, as well as less costly, according to the English language Dubai News. The process is said to be a “zero-carbon process which helps […]
Water theme parks, like this one in the UAE, won’t reduce high water tariffs from desalination Saudi Arabia’s plans to increase water tariffs for non-residents, due to the high cost of producing desalinated fresh water, has an all too familiar ring in today’s increasing reliance on desalination in water scarce regions like the Middle East. […]
Can you guess where this winterland is located? In Dubai! In the middle of the desert. In a recent post, Pablo from Treehugger (a site we deeply admire) concluded that Ski Dubai’s indoor ski slope is not that bad. He based this conclusion on a beautifully calculated analysis of the facility’s energy consumption compared to […]
Bahrain intends to save its portion of the Gulf before the ship sinks by staging and practicing its response to a major oil spill. In an alarming testament to the bizarre times in which we live, Bahrain is planning a new kind of drill. As small children we listened eagerly for the sound of the […]
Saudi Arabia officials meet for nanotech desalination investment The development of nanotech membranes for use in desalination is one of the new ideas Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah is considering to modernize the Kingdsom’s 80-year-old oil-powered desalination technology. Two things need to be accomplished. As peak oil continues to deplete oil production now used to generate […]
The Emirates are feeling the pressure of energy and water deficits. Unfortunately, their nuclear solutions are still shortsighted. Dubai grew and grew: without any kind of environmental foresight, the Emirate built the tallest this and the biggest that, showing off its engineering might. And despite some efforts to learn from its neighbor’s mistakes, Abu Dhabi […]
Abu Dhabi’s government plans to pump desalinated water underground to prepare for event that its desalination plants are threatened. Relying almost entirely on desalination plants for drinking water, and with approximately 90% of its groundwater unfit for drinking, Abu Dhabi’s water security is deeply uncertain. A major oil spill or a serious case of sea […]
Saudi Arabia now using more reverse osmosis desalination in the Kingdom over any other water processing method. Like neighboring Kuwait, where virtually all supplies of fresh water comes from desalination, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has now reached a level of need for fresh water in which it requires at least $50 billion of investments […]