In an attempt to diversify its energy balance, Dubai has just turned on a 13 MW solar energy plant. The oil wealthy nation is an OPEC member, and one of the first to make a bold statement away from oil. This makes it the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the Middle East North Africa.
Nuclear energy is a low carbon power source, but whether or not it should be considered a renewable energy source is long debated and fought over –- even in the Middle East where the industry is nascent.
Greenpeace Jordan recently launched its first report specific to the Arab World entitled Jordan’s Energy Future (pdf link) to a packed audience of environmentalists, activists and political stakeholders in Amman. The report demonstrates Jordan’s potential to achieve full energy independence through renewable sources whilst campaigning against kingdom ambitions to develop nuclear energy. “This report shows […]
Iran is gagging – on sanctions and deadly pollution. Finally, after months of denial, the country’s oil minister Rostam Qasemi acknowledged that petroleum sales are down by 40 percent after western sanctions that prohibit certain international transactions have stunted trade. In February, all energy, shipping and shipbuilding enterprises will be blacklisted as well, the New […]
Following a dispute over the details of their joint contract, the Jordanian government has parted ways with the french company AREVA Back in 2010, the Jordanian government granted exclusive uranium extraction rights for nuclear energy to the French company AREVA. It has now been announced that the mining license has been cancelled following a dispute […]
Does placing Israel in the same camp as the anti-nuclear movement in Jordan have negative implications for the success and popularity of the campaign? Since 2009, when Jordan first announced its nuclear ambitions, the country has been through a parliamentary review of nuclear power, accusations of slander by the head of the Jordanian Atomic Energy Commission and dozens of protests […]
Activists gathered on the streets of Amman today to say ‘No’ to nuclear energy and ‘Yes’ to renewables Following years of anti-nuclear campaigning and (more recent) controversy surrounding Jordan’s nuclear programme, Greenpeace activists in Jordan are stepping up their protests. They gathered today to launch a public dialogue about the dangers of nuclear energy and to […]
From growing protests in Jordan and Egypt to the first ever approved plant in UAE – we have the latest on nuclear from the region Jordan’s nuclear ambitions, which have faced a particularly rocky time over the years, encounters more drawbacks. Not only was the nuclear programme declared ‘hazardous and costly’ by a parliamentary committee […]
Jordan has supported a parliamentary committee recommendation to suspend Jordan’s projected nuclear programme It’s certainly been a busy week for Khaled Toukan who is commissioner of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission. First, a parliamentary committee releases a report which states that he misled the public about the feasibility of uranium mining in Jordan and that […]
Ukranian president Viktor Yanukovych dedicates construction of new protective cover for damaged Chernobyl reactors To mark the 26th anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident, Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych presided at a ceremony at the site of the ruined nuclear plant in which a new construction project is being launched. The country will build a […]
It has been three decades since Jordan’s national grid has seen substantial infrastructural changes, but the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has recently donated $1.15 million to the kingdom so that it can explore the option of implementing a “smart” upgrade. As new renewable, nuclear and oil-shale power plants are slated to come online […]
Begin with a 3-pronged disclaimer: I’m no engineer; I’m as political as a daisy; and since leaving university, my preferred way of learning is fairly chaotic. I bump into things. That draw me to other things. Thing One and Thing Two quickly lead to Thing Fifty-Three; and when I look up, blinking, discombobulated, I’m “sort of” knowledgeable about […]
Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant has been under suspicion for decades, rightly or wrongly. So as not to arouse alarm, the United Arab Emirates’ civil nuclear plan has been taking the opposite approach of complete transparency. The UAE has forgone any plans to enrich or reprocess uranium itself, so as to allay any cause for suspicion or concerns about […]
Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) Chairman Khaled Toukan champions a peaceful nuclear power program, despite opposition from environmentalists and Parliamentary MPs.The Chairman spoke earlier this month in a Lower House session, in reply to MP Mahmoud Kharabsheh’s claim that kick-off of a national nuclear program excluded proper assessment of feasibility and environmental impacts. MP Kharabsheh, a nuclear skeptic, […]
In the wake of a 6-day trip by China’s Premier Win Jiabao to Saudi Arabia, China and Saudi Arabia have forged an alliance on developing nuclear power. Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with China for assistance in the development of nuclear power, using the last of its oil wealth to invest in the most […]
In a post-apocalyptic world, you must be prepared to face everything! Are you prepared for what could happen in the event of a total economic collapse or natural calamity, a terrible war, or serious civil descent into anarchy generated by a prolonged food crisis as already occurring in a number of Middle Eastern countries such as […]
Israelis discuss the problem of getting nuclear neighbors. In a small region like the Middle East, a single country’s decision to build nuclear power can easily spill over borders. At a panel last Monday, Israeli energy experts spoke on the risks and benefits of nuclear power, noting that even if Israel avoided the risks of […]
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 […]
5000 MW by 2015? Iran wants to launch the largest solar power plant in the Middle East. A solar plant is in the works is in Shiraz, Fars. Image via SUNA About 27 people die every day in Tehran, from its shocking levels of air pollution according to our Iranian blogger Mehrdad. Some anti-regime environmentalists, […]
Praying in a Tokyo church could expose you to radiation levels higher than Chernobyl dead zones. In the same manner that Japanese authorities failed to prevent the Japanese nuclear disaster earlier this year, the authorities are dealing with radiation fallout –– in Tokyo. They are not telling the whole story. Locals armed with their own […]
Siemens CEO Peter Loscher on nuclear energy: “This chapter is closed for us” German industrial giant Siemens, already a leader in developing renewable energy projects and sustainable future residential communities has announced that it will phase out its participation in building equipment for nuclear power plants. The announcement was reported in Germany’s Der Spiegel, with […]
Despite the Fukushima nuclear power disaster, the energy minister of the United Arab Emirates states that they will stick by their nuclear energy plans With Jordanians taking to the streets to protest the dangers of developing nuclear power and the recent nuclear accident in France following hot of the heels on the Fukushima disaster, you […]
Anti-nuclear campaigners in Jordan have staged another protest against the nation’s plans to build a nuclear reactor Around a month ago, Jordanians held a protest in Amman against the government’s plans to build a nuclear station which they remarked posed more risks than potential positive impacts. Now, they have stepped up their protests with support […]
There are good reasons not to eat apricots and hazelnuts from Turkey (after Chernobyl). Japan’s reactor is much worse. Brace for future horrors says expert Dr. Helen Caldicott. Although several months have passed since the devastating earthquake and tsunami occurred in Japan, the resulting nuclear power plant crisis, and the effect on the world environment […]
Third act of sabotage in 5 months may spell the end of Egyptian natural gas shipments of both Israel and Jordan. Egypt’s natural gas pipeline to both Israel and Jordan suffered still another setback during the night when a third act of sabotage caused an explosion. This is three attacks since the beginning of the […]