Saudi researchers develop a new model for predicting flash floods in the Middle East. They cripple cities like Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and take lives each year in the Middle East: flash floods come without warning, and are hard to predict (check out our flash flood survival guide), but now Arab scientists at the King […]
As a new political order struggles to assert itself in the autocratic states of the Middle East novel challenges – and possibilities – emerge. In looking toward the future, social Greens throughout the region would do well to coordinate an agenda geared toward a sustainable tomorrow.
Istanbul – a major hub for train travel across the Middle East Survey results published this week reveal that the majority of international travelers would prefer to take trains instead of aeroplanes, if they had the opportunity. The poll of 300 consumers, conducted for train technology company Silverrail, showed that 79% would choose trains over […]
Estidama is like LEED for the Middle East. Last week, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz announced a second package of economic initiatives for Saudi citizens, including $67 billion for the construction of 500,000 housing units. As the construction industry in the Kingdom continues its fast paced growth, the government is presented with a unique opportunity […]
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, […]
In the deserts with the best solar insolation in the world, dust and drought are also the greatest enemy. GlassPoint is pioneering the solution – put the solar in a Glass House – only after an attempted sale in Middle Eastern oil fields. Instead of merely being just another solar CSP company, GlassPoint is now […]
Petrol and electricity are considered birth-rights, even God-sent in the Arab world. How can this reality compete with the use of renewables? Grid parity, the point when the cost of power generated from renewable energy resources become equal or cheaper than conventional power costs, is around the corner for many countries. In the Arab world […]
Middle East to Become a $90 Billion a Year Solar Exporter? A report from international energy consultants AT Kearney, quoted in the The Saudi, said that the oil-rich Middle East has the potential to become a solar "boom center" within ten years, creating 100,000 jobs and able to export $90 billion a year from solar projects.
Bahrain, which saw deadly protest this month, is eager to control the price of food according to Wikileaks Rising food prices have been at the centre of the recent riots to hit the Arab world and so it comes as no surprise that many Arab nations are working hard to avoid similar food price rises. […]
What is your Hajj footprint? Arwa starts calculting her family's
Robert Ferry and Elizabeth Monoian working in their Abu Dhabi Studied Impact Design studio. Robert Ferry and Elizabeth Monoian have made the United Arab Emirates their home, for which we are very grateful. Their teachings, their design studio Studied Impact, and their public initiatives such as the internationally-acclaimed Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) have coincided […]
From an average B to a C cup in 50 years: Is our modern lives making our breasts bigger? Britain’s Daily Mail reports that women in England have larger breasts than even a generation ago. Women (and men) are getting fatter, but obesity alone does not account for most of the increase: Women are exhibiting […]
Can commercial monstrosities like these in Mecca cause political upheaval in Saudi Arabia? The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always had its share of enemies. This is especially true in these times, when both the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Al Qaeda terrorist organization have both expressed great interest in replacing the monarchy there […]
It started with cotton and oil: the Middle East oppressed now seek freedom and a future. image via AP The autocratic rule now being challenged in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East has its roots in the state system that developed in the region during the twentieth century. This system is based on […]
How green is your fodder? Turns out, in the UAE, not so green. A new program aims to change that. In order to combat the dual challenge of desertification and regional water shortages, the United Arab Emirates are experimenting with myriad innovations. The latest encourages local farmers to switch to a different variety of fodder. […]