Are Israel’s cleantech glory days over? The hype might be over, says leading business analyst group. While Israel is often portrayed as a global leader in cleantech with an almost endless possibility for growth, a new report from the international consulting firm Ernst & Young published by the Israeli business daily Globes shows that potential […]
Lebanese writer says the Middle East’s nuclear energy ambitions amount to a status symbol that should be replaced with decisions based on efficiency, safety, and communal good The United Nations has called on the Middle East to be nuclear-free. Free of destructive power, and free of a volatile source of energy. Why choose nuclear in […]
Solar Millennium AG is the next in a string of companies to withdraw its bid from the tumultuous Ashelim tender in Israel. In their recent newsletter, Bloomberg reports that the German solar power plant developer Solar Millennium AG has withdrawn its joint bid for a 240 MW solar thermal project with the Israeli firm Minerva […]
Abu Dhabi newspaper points out renewable energy costs and trends. That renewable energy is good for the environment we have known for a long time, and it’s becoming cheaper as well. An article The National, a newspaper based in Abu Dhabi the United Arab Emirates, outlines some of the dramatic changes in cost of production of […]
A solar band-aid: Spain and the UN looks to create solar power heating, mainly water, for hospitals in Lebanon. Thanks to a contribution from Spain, Lebanon’s first solar power heating project for hospitals have been made possible, the Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star is reporting. The project is part of the Lebanese government’s plan called Country […]
In the face of nuclear sanctions, Merhdad reports on Iran’s renewable energy agenda. Time to invest in Iran’s sun? Above image of streetlights in Tehran. These days the news about using renewable energy are heard more than ever before in the Iranian media. One of the most talked about news item is related to the […]
It would create jobs and better dividends for the marginalized Bedouin in Israel’s Negev Desert. So will the Israeli Government allot a lease-land quota for solar energy on Bedouin-settled land? Arava Power, based on an Israeli kibbutz, recently signed a solar energy land lease deal with Israeli Bedouin (previously nomadic people). The deal, it seems […]
The Texas Star meets the Star of David: Two Lone Star states have a history of doing business together. They now look for clean tech opportunities. While at first glance Israel and Texas may seem worlds apart culturally and in their approaches to business, consultant Arie Brish, an Israeli-American businessman who has spent more than […]
More news to make Ra, the Egyptian sun god proud: Egypt gets serious about building solar energy plants on top of its 500 MW plant, with bids open for 1,000 MW more. The Egyptian government hopes two new projects will help push forward solar and wind energy in the country. According to the country’s Electricity […]
Deep Economy is probably the first economics book you’ll read that advocates for less economic growth. The book is framed around a simple, yet zealous premise – that what we need is Better rather than More. Author Bill McKibben believes, as do a growing number of economists, that we indeed have to choose between one […]
Hussein Farag’s home made version of a solar water heater is not as sophisticated as these made in Israel, but it’s a heck of a lot cheaper. Although solar water heaters are now becoming popular in Egypt, pay the equivalent of US $ 600 or more to purchase them is still out of reach to […]
Moshe continues his weekly look at the Middle East eco-blogging community, in Arabic. This week he flies to Syria and looks at how an Internet Service Provider is educating the public. Last week, we looked at Mazen Abboud’s environmental blog from Lebanon. This week, we are flying to Lebanon’s next-door neighbor, Syria, and to a […]
Wind farms, like this one in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, may soon be common in Syria. About 90 percent of Syria’s electric power comes from thermal power plants fueled by heavy fuel oil and natural gas; and the country is now looking into using forms of renewable energy to provide its increasing need for energy. […]
They’re already going eco: Hanging the clothes to dry, naturally, in Hebron. Image via andydr Hebron (or Hevron) is a West Bank city run by the Palestinian Authority which is famous for being an ongoing powder barrel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and an ongoing source of unrest between Israelis and Palestinians. But nowadays, when the […]
The Palestinian electric car isn’t much to look at, and it couldn’t carry a large Arab family, but it is solar powered! Just when we all thought Shai Agassi’s Better Place electric car company had the electric car technology field sewed up in this part of the world, some university students in the Palestinian West […]