Masdar City is an experimental clean tech and research hub located 17 kilometers outside of Abu Dhabi. One day, it is expected that up to 40,000 people will call the car-free, pedestrian friendly, energy-efficient city home. Plus, since it is a special economic free zone, foreign companies and startups can take advantage of 100 percent  ownership of their firms, zero import tariffs and taxes, and zero currency restrictions.

But Abu Dhabi has already forked over billions of dollars to realize Masdar’s current achievements, which include doubling the size of the Masdar Institute of Technology (MIST), which has already produced 40 patent-application disclosures and graduated top tier students according to Wired, attracting over 100 companies to its new incubator building, a new headquarters for IRENA, and the recent completion of Siemens’ groundbreaking LEED-Platinum headquarters.

Such an inspired green development, Masdar has already had ripple effects across the Gulf. Ostensibly realizing that solar and other renewables make economic sense, both Saudi Arabia and Qatar are pursuing ambitious plans to wean their own population off oil in order to ensure long term export earnings.

But what about Tunisia, or Algeria, or Jordan? Given that they have less disposable income than Abu Dhabi, how can these countries possibly replicate the Masdar model? How can they be encouraged to pursue green development?

“With the financial crisis and the realization that if you’re going to be a model for sustainable development, you have to recognize not only environmental sustainability but social and economic as well,” said Mallows. “With that came the realization that you build cities not within the realm of governments that have a lot of money to invest in R&D, but you build it with the private sector… that build pieces of cities or parts of cities for profit.”

“We re-calibrated the development strategy for Masdar City to allow specifically third party investors and developers to participate in Masdar City’s development on long term land leases and all we do is we say here are development regulations based on Abu Dhabi 2030 and Estidama regulations and sustainability criteria that if you build in Masdar City we expect you will conform to.”

In other words, Mallows notes, a third party developer on a long term land lease could build a sustainable project anywhere in the world, not just in Masdar City, without massive financing from government. They can make a profit, but building sustainably depends on the will to do so.

Which means that municipalities in other cities could mandate that all future builds or retrofits fit a certain standard – in the same way that Abu Dhabi has mandated that all new residential projects should earn at least one pearl under Estidama guidelines, while government buildings are expected to achieve at least two.

In Masdar City, all future builds are expected to achieve at least three pearls under Estidama, according to Chris Wan, who spoke during a breakout session in Abu Dhabi about the economics of sustainability and the process that lead to the Siemens building’s success.

“We’ve taken a look at Masdar City and said OK, what are the building blocks of a city,” says Mallows. “And the building blocks of a city are actually not huge districts or downtown cores or things the size of Masdar City, they are in fact neighborhoods.”

“But neighborhoods are not necessarily just residential, they are also working neighborhoods, live-work neighborhoods, mixed-use neighborhoods, R&D neighborhoods – how do you do this?”

“So now we’ve re-organized Masdar City into nine neighborhoods – starting around Masdar Institute as an R&D neighborhood … where in fact there are different kinds of facilities and then straightforward residential neighborhoods, shops, amenities – but, and here’s a big but, they are all linked by a network of mobility and that’s the key and that’s replicable.”

Mallows says that a sustainable city must have public transportation and it must be pedestrian-friendly. This not only reduces the number of cars on the roads, but by extension energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. It also provides a more pleasant social atmosphere – especially if the neighborhoods are designed for an optimum microclimate that takes advantage of passive design and natural cooling.

The post Can there be more Masdar eco-cities in the Middle East? appeared first on Green Prophet.

The buildings of Mos Espa, a fictional city that appeared in Episode I of the Jedi series directed by George Lucas, The Phantom Menace, is used by geologists as a measuring stick that allows them to keep track of dune movement in the Tunisian desert, according to BBC News.

Because Tatooine is so popular among Star Wars fans, the researchers had a great stock of online images to use to monitor the site when they were unable to visit in person.

When Ralph Lorenz from Johns Hopkins University, Jason Barnes from the University of Idaho, and Nabil Gasmi  the University of Sousse, Tunisia, toured the site together in 2009, they discovered that a set used in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope had already been partially overrun.

They published their findings in the online journal Geomorphology.

Mos Espa is heading in the same direction, as dunes are ploughing through the desert at a rate of roughly 15 meters per year, which is ten times faster than they move on Mars, BBC News reports.

Like crescent-shaped sand waves, the dunes shift in a rolling movement. The wind blows sand to the back of the dune and eventually spills over to the steep front slope.

The front edge of the dune reached Mos Espa earlier this year, the researchers report, and are beginning to inch  towards Qui-Gon alley.

Called a “pudgy” barchan, this kind of dune also appears on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.

Star Wars sites generate a certain amount of income for local Berbers, but the buildings at Mos Espa are likely to be damaged once they emerge from the dune as it continues its migration.

Perhaps Star Wars fans will come to their rescue?

The images show the dune’s progression towards Mos Espa

:: BBC News

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New scientific reports suggests that coastal flooding for Middle East and North African countries will be much worse than estimated six years ago. What countries are bracing for the severe effects of climate change? Egypt sets the stage.

In 2007, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that global sea levels would rise between 8 inches and two feet over the next century. That was cause for concern along North Africa’s coast, especially in Egypt where rising sea levels would ostensibly drown Alexandria and much of the northern part of the country. Today, new evidence says it could be worse.

Scientists working for Environmental Research Letters believe that global sea levels will increase between 12 inches and 3 feet over the next century, or a 60 percent increase over the IPCC model.

For North Africa, this is a major worry, where much of the countries’ agricultural land is harnessed.

In Egypt, this means “Many of the towns and urban areas in the north of the Delta will suffer from the rise in the level of the Mediterranean with effect from 2020 and about 15 percent of Delta land is under threat from the rising sea level and the seepage into the ground water,” Environment Minister George Maged told a parliamentary committee in 2008 as reports began to flow over the future of sea levels.

The Nile Delta region is home to approximately half of Egypt’s 80 million people. The UN’s Environment Program says that a rise in only 0.5 meters (20 inches) would displace at least 4 million people and damage 1,800 square kilometers (700 square miles).

It gets worse still with a one-meter (39 inches) rise, which would displace at least 6 million people and damage more than double the farmland.

Efforts are already underway to limit the immediate impact of global warming in Alexandria.

In 2009, the local government spent approximately $300 million to build concrete walls to protect the city’s beaches, and in some areas sand is being dumped to help replenish deteriorating beaches.

Many of those barriers have yet to be completed.

According to an Alexandria government official, since the January 2011 uprising, no work has been done on the challenges facing the coast from climate change.

But there is hope, writes Shin-pei Tsay and Victoria Herrmann in a Carnegie Endowment brief on coastal water levels and the threat to major urban areas. Following a plan similar to what New York City has implemented may be a way of staving off the worst scientists’ predict, but it means more than erecting barriers.

“To help stave off these potentially devastating outcomes, coastal cities and communities should align comprehensive climate protection with economic development strategies,” they write.

“New York City, one of the world’s largest economic engines, is doing just that. PlaNYC began in 2007 as an economic development initiative, but when it became clear that the city would experience significant future impacts from climate change, the plan was transformed. Now it is a cutting-edge example of a city climate plan,” the paper continued.

For the MENA region, where vast numbers of population and agriculture exist today, the threat of rising sea levels is one that needs more action and more care if the region is to be able to cope with the environmental changes faced by climate change.

Image via tourdafrique

The post North Africa Coast Will Rise 60 Percent More than Previous Projection: New Study appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 CSP plant in the world, Egypt’s hybrid CSP plant, Kuraymat, and most recently, Masdar inaugurated the largest PV plant in Africa, which is now generating a whopping 10 percent of Mauritania’s energy supply.

But small scale solar is catching on less quickly. In addition to being prohibitively expensive for most people, the government offers very little incentive for residents of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to coat their roofs with costly solar modules. It’s a shame, because a new study shows that affixing Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) to windows in Abu Dhabi could slash energy costs by as much as 33.5 percent.

BIPV = very good

Mohammad Katanbaf, an architect at KEO International Consultants Abu Dhabi, recently set out to determine how much energy businesses would save if they incorporated a certain number of BIPVs on their windows, according to The National.

For the sake of accuracy, he used very sophisticated computer modeling to match the United Arab Emirates’ specific climate, since temperature, wind, dust and other climatic conditions affect the efficiency of solar modules.

He told the paper that although he was expecting savings, their full extent surprised him. Trouble is, it’ll be a cold day in the desert if they are ever widely used, since the cost of BIPV modules is 30 percent higher than regular PV panels and even those aren’t hugely popular.

Elsewhere, feed-in-tariffs, a government protocol that purchases clean energy from whoever’s got extra, encourages residents and corporations to incorporate BIPVs or regular panels as a long term investment.

But in MENA, not only are governments a little slow to establish attractive FiT plans, but they also subsidize energy costs such that none but the most devout environmentalists are really motivated to spend the money necessary to either get off or reduce their dependence on the grid.

(Curiously, Iran did quit dirty energy subsidies and survived the ordeal – before the west intensified sanctions.)

Daniel Pedroso, Regional Manager of BIPV manufacturer Isofoton told The National that BIPVs won’t become a viable option in the Emirates until the government creates incentives that make the investment worthwhile.

The option is on the table, and Dubai’s Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) is looking into it, but nobody is going to make sudden moves given the overall instability gripping the region.

And if you want to geek out on the stats, Katanbaf published his findings in the January edition of the journal Engineering.

Top image via ertex solar

The post Building Integrated Photovoltaics Slash Energy Costs in Abu Dhabi appeared first on Green Prophet.

Particularly well poised to supply solar modules to countries in the MENA region given that their thin film solar cells can withstand high temperatures and minimal water, First Solar already has a firm foot in the renewable door with a host of solar projects in various Gulf countries.

“Our extended dedication to Dii as a shareholder emphasizes First Solar’s commitment to the MENA region, where we see tremendous potential to build a sustainable market for solar power,” said Christopher Burghardt, First Solar’s Vice President of Business Development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“Dii is the ideal industrial initiative to bring power from the deserts into reality.”

“I am very proud that First Solar decided to increase its commitment to our initiative,” said Paul van Son, CEO of Dii, who added that with 3 gigawatts of solar energy projects in the pipeline, First Solar has what it takes to help realize the “Desertec vision” of creating an industrial scale renewable energy market by 2050.

A leading provider of industrial-scale photovoltaic plants, First Solar is also well-established in the Middle East.

In addition to a new office in Dubai, the company is building an office in Saudi Arabia and a 13 MW PV plant for Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) – the first phase of the USD 3.3 billion Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park that will eventually pump 1,000MW back into the United Arab Emirates’ national grid.

First Solar also erected a 5 MW PV system for the Masdar Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company and even donated a small PV system to King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, responding to press that claimed Desertec has lost track of its own goals following the recent launch of Desertec Saudi Arabia, the Desertec foundation pointed out the difference between it and Dii GmbH.

“Dii works particularly with German industry to create the conditions for projects in various countries in North Africa,” a recent press release emphasized.

“The DESERTEC Foundation,” on the other hand “is committed to the worldwide implementation of the DESERTEC Concept: a solution in the fight for a sustainable global energy policy and thus also for security, peace and social stability.”

“We support, advise and fight for the implementation of these solutions. Our objectives are clear and we believe in them!”

Photo Credit: boutmuet via Flickr

The post First Solar Takes on More Serious Desertec Role appeared first on Green Prophet.

PV Insider is hosting a free webinar tomorrow, Tuesday 5th March at 08.00am GMT / 09.00 CET / 12.00 GST to discuss specific challenges and opportunities associated with solar growth in Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere in the Arab world. Hit the jump for more details and to find out how to register for this very important event.

Vahid Fotuhi, President of ESIA and Daniel Zywietz of the Clean Energy Business Counci/Ambata Capital will join Matt Carr at PV Insider for a 60 minute session, which will feature industry polls and an extended question and answers session.

Virtually undisputed is that the MENA region has enormous solar energy potential that can and should be exploited in order to promote greater economic and energy independence, while reducing overall carbon emissions.

But a host of both practical and political challenges have stunted growth until now, for which there are two major reasons, according to PV Insider.

Local governments and agencies are not well briefed on either the long term environmental or fiscal benefits of solar energy, and there is an absence of project experience in the region from which to gather lessons learned.

Dialog and education can not only help local officials incorporate photovoltaic power into their energy mix, but it can also equip outsiders with the specific cultural and practical exigencies of the region.

The webinar will provide a useful guide for all PV solar professionals interested to enter this lucrative but murky new market, and will also identify various off-grid opportunities for those who aren’t sure where to find them.

The webinar can be joined for free by following the link below; there is limited space, so sign up now!

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/746646086

Image of solar panels in the desert, Shutterstock

The post Free Webinar for MENA PV Solar Professionals appeared first on Green Prophet.

When the Star Wars films began they chose Turkey and its fairy chimneys for the futuristic backdrop of the science fiction films. Later films were shot in Tunisia and some fans have even gone so far as to restore characters’ homes, like Luke Skywalker’s house pictured below. Tunisia, Egypt and more North African countries, are facing serious political upheavals and desertification. Can Star Wars movies and the movie industry in general educate people on the woes facing these conflict-prone countries?

Hotel Sidi Driss in Matmata was also Luke Skywalker’s desert homestead. But it’s a traditional Berber home. 

Tunisia is a Mediterranean coastal and desert country that has been a favorite movie set location, including at least three of the extremely popular Star Wars films. The popularity of Tunisia, besides perhaps the friendliness of its people, may also be attributed to its unique topography and desert architecture; especially subterranean dwellings like the Hotel Sidi Driss located in the desert oasis of Matmata.

The cave-like desert dwellings of Matmata, go back hundreds of years and are a real indication of how people can live in harmony with the harsh desert conditions that are often scorching hot during the daytime and bone-chilling cold at night. The hotel itself, besides being a unique desert tourist hideaway, has been used as Star Wars’ character Luke Skywalker’s desert homestead in at least two of the series films.

Matmata caves in Tunisia in the region of the troglodyte communities. 

The immense popularity of the Star Wars series has resulted an another film now being planned by J.J. Abrams , the Emmy-award-winning creator of TV’s “Lost” and director of 2009’s “Star Trek” movie. He has been chosen and has agreed to direct the seventh installment of the “Star Wars” series.

Luke Skywalker’s home in Tunisia. Before, and after shots. Fans renovated this building. 

Tunisia’s attempts to be in harmony with the desert, which covers most of the country’s southern regions, has  also included several large scale solar energy projects, carried out in conjunction with the Desertec series of solar energy projects in North Africa.

The filming location of the next installment has not yet been announced; and with the final completed film only coming out in 2015. But perhaps the pristine desert landscapes of Tunisia may once again play host to the  Star Wars actors and film crews and could also be a welcome boost to Tunisia’s tourist industry, which has been flagging since the original Arab Spring uprising.

In the meantime, those tourists choosing to visit Tunisian locations like Matmata can see its truly unique subterranean architecture, which proves that people can indeed live in harmony with the desert and keep the process of desertification at bay.

Read more on Tunisia, desertification, and deserts:
5 Things Wikipedia Won’t Tell You About Tunisia
Ancient Nabatean Wisdom to Prevent Desertification Today
Desertification in Egypt is Putting Food Supplies at Risk
Greenprohet’s Whirlwind Trip to the Siwa Oasis in Egypt

:: gonomad.com

Image of Matmata caves via Shutterstock

The post Star Wars Filming Sets in Matmata, Tunisia Promotes Desert Tourism for the Berbers appeared first on Green Prophet.

We speak to waste management expert Salman Zafar about the region’s mounting trash problem and why it’s outpacing all efforts to deal with it

A recent report by the World Bank predicts that by 2025, city dwellers could produce as much as 2.2 billion tonnes of solid waste a year – that’s a 70% increase on the current 1.3 billion which is generated. It’s a scary thought to have to live in all that trash. However cities across the Middle East already appear to be living in mountains of trash with rubbish strewn across deserts in Gulf nations, on busy streets in Tunisia, in canals and open waterways in Egypt and in dangerous landfills in Kuwait.

“On the whole, MENA countries are slowly, but steadily, gearing up to meet the challenge posed by waste by investing heavily in [sold waste management] projects, sourcing new technologies and raising public awareness,” explains waste-expert Salman Zafar. “However the pace of progress is not matched by the increasing amount of waste generated across the region.” I caught up with Zafar to find out more and ask what the region can do to get a grip on its trash problems.

Tell us a little about yourself, your expertise and the range of work you do.
I am a chemical engineer by education and have been working in the cleantech sector after completing my education in 2004. My core areas of expertise are waste management, waste-to-energy, renewable energy and sustainability. I am an entrepreneur, a consultant, a writer and a speaker. EcoMENA was launched to increase environmental awareness and encourage community participation in sustainable development initiatives in Middle East and North Africa. Apart from EcoMENA, I run two other cleantech advisory firms cum resource websites BioEnergy Consult and Cleantech Solutions. I am heavily involved in spreading mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management and resource conservation through my websites, blogs and projects.

What are the biggest problems of the region in terms of waste and trash creation?
Lavish lifestyle, ineffective legislations, infrastructural roadblocks, indifferent public attitude and lack of environmental awareness are the major factors responsible for growing waste management problem in the Middle East, especially GCC. High standards of living are contributing to more generation of waste which when coupled with lack of waste collection and disposal facilities have transformed ‘trash’ into a liability. Though Islam puts much stress on waste minimization, Arab countries are among the world’s highest per capita waste generators which is really unfortunate. Dumping of waste in open spaces, deserts and water bodies is a common sight across the region. Another critical issue is lack of awareness and public apathy towards waste reduction, source segregation and waste management.

What are the barriers holding back countries from taking action to deal with these problems?
Solid waste management in MENA countries is bogged down by deficiencies in waste management legislations and poor planning. Many countries lack legislative framework and regulations to deal with wastes. Insufficient funds, absence of strategic waste management plans, lack of coordination among stakeholders, shortage of skilled manpower and deficiencies in technical and operational decision-making are some of the hurdles experienced in implementing an integrated waste management strategy in MENA. In many countries waste management is the sole prerogative of state-owned companies and municipalities which discourages the participation of private companies and entrepreneurs.

What do the attitudes of the MENA region citizens to trash and rubbish say about their commitment to dealing with other environmental issues?
The general perception towards waste is that of indifference and apathy. Waste is treated as ‘waste’ rather than as a ‘resource’. There is an urgent need to increase public awareness about environmental issues, waste management practices and sustainable living. Public participation in community-level waste management initiatives is lacklustre mainly due to low level of environmental awareness and public education. Unfortunately none of the countries in the region have an effective source-segregation mechanism.

Are government policies, new technologies or shifts in attitudes the solution to the region’s trash problems?
A sustainable waste management system demands high degree of public participation, effective legislations, sufficient funds and modern waste management practices/technologies. The region can hope to improve waste management scenarios by implementing source-segregation, encouraging private sector participation, deploying recycling and waste-to-energy systems, and devising a strong legislative and institutional framework.

Are there any countries or projects that are leading the way in terms of efficient waste management?
In recent years, several countries, like Qatar and UAE, have established ambitious solid waste management projects but their efficacy is yet to be ascertained. On the whole, MENA countries are slowly, but steadily, gearing up to meet the challenge posed by waste management by investing heavily in such projects, sourcing new technologies and raising public awareness. However the pace of progress is not matched by the increasing amount of waste generated across the region. Sustainable waste management is a big challenge for policy-makers, urban planners and other stake-holders, and immediate steps are needed to tackle mountains of wastes accumulating in cities throughout MENA.

For more on the region’s trash problem see:

Kuwait’s Towering Trash Problem

Libya’s Post-Revolution Trash and Traffic Problems

Lebanon’s Trash Gets An Audience With The (B)IM Project Play

Heaping Urban Trash May Be More Serious Than Climate Change

Egypt’s Filthy Canals Are Breeding Disease & Discontent

Image of a slum in Downtown of Fez, Morocco via Shutterstock.com

The post Trash Talk in the Middle East- Interview with Salman Zafar appeared first on Green Prophet.

Officials from France, Italy, Luxemborg and Malta were in Berlin last week with Moroccan representatives to ink the deal that would begin the process of developing a 100MW PV power plant, 100MW wind power plant and 150MW CSP power plant to export electricity to Europe.

Spain is seen as a key participant in the Desertec project since a major transmission line connecting North Africa to Europe would need to go through Spain before reaching the rest of Europe. Now the signing is on hold and the Moroccan government is frustrated that it could dampen the overall make-up of the solar energy project.

“This is just a hiccup and we fully expect to hear from Spain and see what the issue is that is holding them back from moving forward on this grand project that will deliver renewable energy for Africa and Europe,” said a top government official.

Surprisingly, the Desertec Reference Project had been vetted by two Spanish companies as well as the TSO Red Electrica and the European Commission declared it feasible, pv-tech.org reported.

Dii CEO, Paul van Son, said: “I’m confident that the other partners in this negotiation, from Morocco and the EU states, will be able to convince Spain soon as Spain could profit a lot.”

German utility RWE is to oversee the development of lthe first arge-scale photovoltaic, wind and concentrating solar power (CSP) projects in Morocco as part of Desertec.

Morocco imports 97 percent of its energy needs, currently dominated by coal. Its forward-looking energy policy, according to the World Bank, focuses on two key objectives: improving energy security while addressing climate change mitigation, but also ensuring energy access for all citizens and businesses at the lowest possible cost.

With Siemens also announcing it was letting go of solar energy investments to focus on wind, Desertec is now facing an uphill battle that must deal with a number of issues before the project that could be a watershed moment for solar energy globally gets officially off the ground.

Image of solar power plant in Spain, Shutterstock

The post Spain Ditches Morocco’s Desertec Solar Project Meeting appeared first on Green Prophet.

China’s State Grid Corp (SGCC) expressed an interest in becoming involved in the $514 billion Desertec renewable energy project, according to a conglomerate spokesperson, Reuters reports.

This news comes just after Siemens’ announcement that it is severing its solar arm, which included both the Desertec and Solel initiatives.

Energy generated by solar and wind plants in North Africa will be evacuated to Europe via cables that will run under the Mediterranean Sea, so it’s uncertain how SGCC expects to benefit from a partnership except as a shareholder. But the firm’s interest does show a growing faith that it can succeed.

Despite criticism of the project’s ambitious scope and costs, progress continues apace.

“Government representatives from Morocco, France, Italy, Malta and Luxembourg came to Berlin to sign a memorandum of understanding with Germany for a first Desertec cooperation project between EU member states and Morocco. Yet the agreement has had to be postponed due to the absence of Spain, a crucial participant,” according to a recent press release.

The Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii) and the Moroccan Solar Agency Masen has been mulling over the business case for a Desertec Reference Project with Spain’s TSO Red Electrica and the European Commission for the last two years, according to the release.

“Investors have been found, initial subsidies are available, and industry wants to get involved.”

“I’m confident that the other partners in this negotiation, from Morocco and the EU states, will be able to convince Spain soon as Spain could profit a lot,” emphasized Dii CEO Paul van Son.

A 100 megawatt photovoltaic and wind power plant by RWE are already underway in Morocco, along with a 150 megawatt CSP plant, and efforts to establish agreements in sun-drenched Algeria and Tunisia, which could result in an additional two gigawatts of renewable energy generation, have been “stepped up.”

“Italy supports this plan as a strategic partner. Plans for a grid connection to the Italian electricity grid are currently being discussed in detail. This development would open up new perspectives for Italian industry.”

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