Croatian Firm to Design Istanbul’s First Disaster Prevention & Education Center

Istanbul-lo-3.jpg

Radionika Arhitekture from Croatia won an international design competition to design  Instanbul’s Disaster Prevention and Education Center, which is hoped to create more public awareness about earthquakes in particular. In the last two months, two large earthquakes in Turkey claimed a total of 670 lives – deaths that might have been prevented with better disaster […]

Read more

A Quick Look at Egypt’s Environmental Agenda Ahead of Elections

egypt-environmental-agenda-elections.jpg

Before now, the environment has been glaringly absent from Egypt’s political agenda, but our friends over at Almasry Alyoum have compiled a fantastic list of would-be parliamentarians who seek to change that. Until now, the environment has never been on Egypt’s political agenda, but today’s parliamentary elections – albeit fraught with undue complexity and fears […]

Read more

Scales, Impingement and Entrainment: Know Desalination’s Negative Side

Desalination’s negative environmental risks can outweigh the benefits, argues our environmental lawyer blogger Josh. Israel will quadruple its output of desalinated water by 2050, according to a report released by the country’s Water Authority Council. The government will also encourage construction of new desalination facilities on manmade islands. These measures will ensure a continuous stream […]

Read more

Airlight Energy Brings CSP to Morocco from Switzerland

Airlight-Swiss-Morocco.jpg

The world's fifth largest cement producer, with an annual production capacity of approximately 75 million tons of cement, Italcementi Group is pioneering a concentrated solar power (CSP) plant at the site of one of its cement plants - in Ait Baha, Morocco. The advanced use of CSP in MENA region industries is becoming more frequent as the oil age draws to a close.

Read more

Next for MENA Nations: Desertec University

MENA-solar-potential.jpg

University degrees in renewable energy are among the practical first steps towards realizing the visionary desertec program. A new university degree program is being funded with more than 3 million euros by the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, and additional support from the Kingdom of Morocco, and the Eu. RE-Generation MENA will initiate […]

Read more

RAFAA Designs Next Generation Solar Tower for Bright Source Competition

BrightSource-Solar-Plant-Tower-RAFAA-1-537x382.jpg

Zurich-based RAFAA Architecture & Design propose the next generation of super sustainable solar power towers. An often overlooked component of the growing number of solar power plants popping up in Egypt, the United States, Spain, and elsewhere is that someone was responsible for their design. Bright Source Energy recently solicited proposals from international firms for […]

Read more

BrightSource Applies to Build Two More Solar Thermal Plants in California

brightsource-energy.png

BrightSource Energy keeps plunging forward with its solar ambitions! BrightSource Energy may well be one of the most indefatigable companies on earth. After 20 years of solar dormancy brought about by cheap oil prices, what was once Luz International rose from the ashes to pursue development of the world’s largest solar thermal plant in California. […]

Read more

Inspiring Qatari Man Designs Solar Generator For High-End Desert Camps

hashim-al-sada.jpg

After watching a sobering documentary about global warming, Hashim Al Sada has devoted his career to developing solar powered solutions for Qatar. If you can’t beat ’em, do you join ’em or redirect the game? Qatari desert camps are often equipped with a variety of electronics, including refrigerators, air-conditioning units (check out these Dead Sea […]

Read more

Japan’s Pre-Fukushima Solar Aid for Egypt Proceeds

photovoltaics_picnik.jpg

Despite problems confronted on its own soil, Japan proceeds with its commitment to fund a photovoltaic project in Egypt. Japan’s International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced that it will proceed with plans to support a solar energy generating station south of Alexandria. Egypt applied to the aid agency for assistance with the “Project for the Introduction […]

Read more