Saudi researchers have produced a potato-powered battery that could be commercially available within the next year! Taking cues from a 2010 paper published by Israeli and American researchers that showed the benefits of potato-powered batteries in rural areas, a Saudi researcher produced an even more efficient potato cell that could be commercially available within the next year. Professor of […]
Does an expanding renewables market in the Middle East (such as that showcased in Masdar) just mean more oil can be exported and more profit made at the expense of the world climate? Here are GreenProphet, we have been carefully following the Middle East’s slow but steady uptake of renewables technologies. Every solar project or […]
While Israeli activists fight oil shale exploration, Jordan announces plans to explore oil shale next door. While activists continue to fight against oil shale testing in Israel because of its potentially harmful environmental and social impacts, on the other side of the Dead Sea, Jordan has just announced its intention to explore oil-shale without […]
Israel’s vast and dry southern Negev desert may actually help the country go green and just in time for the country’s 2020 10% renewables goal. At the Eilat-Eilot Forum for Renewable Energy Policy last week, energy experts discussed a recent report, still in draft form, of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, called Cleantech […]
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not particularly known for its commitment to conservation of the environment. Instead, being the world’s largest producer of petroleum products it faces a number of related dilemmas. From oil spills to decline in sensitive marine habitats, to plain old oil pollution, the kingdom has its feet firmly grounded as […]
A solar-powered goat farm in Lebanon now enjoys clean energy around the clock while the rest of the country sits in darkness for up to 18 hours a day. Hasan Istaytiyyah was lucky to have six hours of state-run energy a day before he decided to install a solar photovoltaic system and ditch his dirty […]
We have collected five inspiring stories that point to the possibility of a freer, greener Tunisia TIME Magazine paid allegiance to the brave hearted souls in the Middle East North Africa region who rose up against despotic regimes by naming “The Protestor” as their 2011 person of the year. Known now as the Arab […]
Sanctions have backed fossil-rich Iran into a corner, which could bode well for the country’s renewable sector. The western-led sanctions against Iran have crippled the country’s ability to provide for its 74 million strong population, Reuters reports. Food prices have skyrocketed and many ships holding supplies are waiting for payment before allowing Iran to collect […]
Palestinians living in Masafer Yatta who do not have access to the electrical grid have been developing home grown renewable energy plants. Palestinians living in the Masafer Yatta village have been secretly pursuing wind and solar energy projects in order to mitigate a serious shortfall of energy in the village. But the 150,000 residents that […]
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, […]
Egypt is now close to awarding a contract to build a 1,000 megawatt wind farm, to be up and running in 2016, that it first announced last year. A wind farm this size has few equals worldwide. Egypt has some of the best wind power potential in the world, and its government is beginning to tap into this source of free fuel in earnest, since passing its plan to get 20% of its electricity from renewables by 2020, in order to stave off climate change.
Investment in renewables grew 104 percent in 2010 in the Middle East and North Africa region- is this a step towards a renewables revolution? According to data from the United Nations Environment Programme, new investment in renewables in the Middle East and Africa region grew 104 percent in 2010 to $5billion. From inspiring solar projects […]
We have listed 6 big and small solar-powered projects in the MENA region that have inspired us in the hopes that it will do the same for you. Big or small, solar-powered projects in the Middle East and North Africa are transforming our region. Not only do they hold promise of slowly improving air quality […]
It is true that 2012 may be the last year for President Obama’s bold support for clean energy – because in the wake of the Citizens United decision by the bought-and-paid-for plutocratic new Supreme Court, it is the Koch brothers who get to decide – but oh boy, did he ever get his licks in! Last […]
With a 35 meter high sun-ray collection tower and about 50 mirrors positioned to direct the sun, Israel’s AORA is about to flip the switch on its latest solar power plant in Spain. The company created a huge buzz in Israel in 2009 when it was the first solar energy company to connect to the […]