Can there be more Masdars? Can this experimental eco-city be replicated in other Middle Eastern or North African countries that don’t have Abu Dhabi’s immense oil wealth? Green Prophet put this question to Anthony Mallows, Director of Masdar City, and Chris Chi Lon Wan, City Design Manager, during a recent roundtable discussion.
Star Wars fans lovingly restored Luke Skywalker’s Tatooine home in Tunisia recently, but the former home of young Anakin, who would eventually become Darth Vader, is about to be engulfed by fast-moving desert sand dunes.
New scientific reports suggests that coastal flooding for Middle East and North African countries will be much worse than estimated six years ago. What countries are bracing for the severe effects of climate change? Egypt sets the stage.
Dieter Moor of ertex solar examines the installation of his company’s solar project in Al Ain. Finally the Middle East is attuned to the numerous benefits of solar energy, and large scale Photovoltaic (PV) and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants are popping up all over the region. There’s Shams 1 outside of Abu Dhabi, the largest […]
First Solar has until recently participated as an associate partner of the Dii initiative designed to develop renewable energy projects throughout the Middle East and North Africa for eventual evacuation to Europe. But now one of the world’s most prolific renewable energy producers has taken on a more serious role as shareholder. Particularly well poised […]
Have you been watching the gradual unfolding of a hot new solar power market in the Middle East and North Africa without really understanding how to get involved? If so, you might want to read on. PV Insider is hosting a free webinar tomorrow, Tuesday 5th March at 08.00am GMT / 09.00 CET / 12.00 GST […]
R2D2 – Tunisia’s landscape and subterranean dwellings have made it ideal for filming our Star Wars movies! When the Star Wars films began they chose Turkey and its fairy chimneys for the futuristic backdrop of the science fiction films. Later films were shot in Tunisia and some fans have even gone so far as to […]
We speak to waste management expert Salman Zafar about the region’s mounting trash problem and why it’s outpacing all efforts to deal with it A recent report by the World Bank predicts that by 2025, city dwellers could produce as much as 2.2 billion tonnes of solid waste a year – that’s a 70% increase […]
Morocco’s ambitious Desertec solar energy project received a setback after Spain failed to show for the official signing of the agreement that aims to transform North Africa’s energy market. The first Desertec project between the EU and Morocco is now under threat as Spain had been an instrumental partner in the project. Officials from France, […]
As part of its plan to shake off its unprofitable solar shackles, including Israel’s Solel initiative, German giant Siemens has exited the ambitious Desertec project. But that doesn’t seem to have deterred the strength of the initiative, which is designed to enable Europe to import one fifth of its power by 2050 from renewable energy […]
If knowledge generates power, then the Clean Energy Business Council (CEBC) based in Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City intends to make the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) invincible with a new map of every known renewable energy plant in the region. Similar to the list of active environmental organizations in Palestine shared earlier this week, this […]
Finally poised to embrace renewable energy generation, little-known Algeria is accepting tender bids from solar and wind energy producers. Along with Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, which are either in the process of or are planning to build solar plants in their home countries, Algeria supports the Desertec Foundation vision to line the Sahara with solar thermal […]
Environmental law has proven to be quite dynamic in the Middle East. Some countries have made great strides toward protecting resources and preventing pollution. Others have done little to tackle environmental problems head on due to competing interests or public funding shortfalls. Although the majority of countries in the Middle East are Arab and Muslim, […]
Democracy used to be at the forefront of Arab Youth’s minds, but in 2012 that has changed. Now youth from 12 Arab countries in the Gulf, the Levant and North Africa claim they are more concerned about receiving fair wages for their work and being able to own their homes, though lack of democracy remains […]
Hazy conditions stemming from dust particles that traveled from North Africa to Israel shut down two Israeli airports last week. Last week two airports in Israel had to shut down because the sky was so hazy and visibility was so limited, Haaretz reports. Both the Sde Dor Airport in Tel Aviv and Eilat’s airport shut […]