Climate change is one of the most urgent issues of our time, yet most countries in the Middle East and North Africa continue to subsidize energy derived from fossil fuels. Seeking solutions, The Guardian launched a three part Global Public Leaders Series and sent us this recent lecture by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Dieter Moor of ertex solar examines the installation of his company’s solar project in Al Ain. Finally the Middle East is attuned to the numerous benefits of solar energy, and large scale Photovoltaic (PV) and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants are popping up all over the region. There’s Shams 1 outside of Abu Dhabi, the largest […]
High birth rates coupled with domestic subsidies have resulted in soaring energy demand. Now Saudi Arabia has turned to nukes to keep it all going. Bucking a trend globally of abandoning or reversing plans for more nuclear power in reaction to the Fukushima disaster, Saudi Arabia is now hunting for a site to build its […]
Energy subsidies keeping petrol and electricity prices low in the Middle East are jeopardizing the chances of renewable energy projects The Middle East may be unique for many reason- the stunning souks, the hospitality of the people and explosive political mentality- but they are probably known for just one thing: oil. Indeed, Gulf nations have […]
The Dubai government’s Emirates National Oil Co (ENOC) has stopped supplying subsidized gasoline to gas stations in neighboring sheikdoms in the United Arab Emirates. Hit hard by the property crash, the once high-flying Dubai government is now penny pinching. Even at the risk of destabilizing the region – in the same way that rising food […]
There was life before oil. And life will go on when it’s all used up. Iran becomes an unlikely leader by ending dirty energy subsidies. Iran has done what every politician on earth secretly dreams they could do: enforced the end of dirty energy subsidies. And the country is still standing. Mr. Dominique Guillaume and […]