Environment and Climate in the Middle East

news, conferences, policy discussions and academic publications on environmental issues and climate change in the Eastern Mediterranean

Environment and Climate in the Middle East

Archives for February, 2016

‘Trash scavenging scaring away waste management investors’ – Jordan Times

by Hana Namrouqa – Feb 16,2016 A pickup truck carries items scavenged from garbage containers in Amman (File photo) AMMAN — Scavengers digging through trash bins in Amman are driving away millions of dinars of potential investments in the capital’s waste collection and segregation, a municipal official said on Tuesday. Waste picking is no longer […]

Read the rest of this entry »

The coming wave of oil refugees – Jordan Times [corrected]

Feb 15,2016 – Michael Meyer www.project-syndicate.org The idea that oil wealth can be a curse is an old one — and it should need no explaining. Every few decades, energy prices rise to the heavens, kicking off a scramble for new sources of oil. Then supply eventually outpaces demand, and prices suddenly crash to Earth. […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Confusion prevails over gas deal with Israel – Jordan Times

By Raed Omari – Feb 16,2016 AMMAN — The government on Tuesday left it unclear whether it has annulled the deal with Noble Energy to buy natural gas from Israel. During Tuesday’s Lower House oversight session, Minister of Energy Ibrahim Saif said that no deal has been reached yet with Noble Energy to buy natural […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Berri to Reactivate Oil Exploration over Skepticism on Pipeline Plans – Naharnet

Speaker Nabih Berri has said that he would prioritize the exploration of gas and oil after Lebanon resolves its waste management crisis. Berri, whose remarks were published in al-Joumhouria daily on Friday, told his visitors that he will focus on resolving the oil exploration file after the garbage crisis which erupted in July 2015 is […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Latest round of testing kicks off at Golan Heights drilling site – Jerusalem Post

By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN 02/17/2016 In July, the Afek Oil and Gas firm confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons at the site. The hunt for oil in the Golan Heights entered a new stage on Tuesday as a round of testing began at the Ness-3 drilling site. In July, the Afek Oil and Gas firm confirmed […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Solar tower in desert promotes Israel’s renewable energy drive – YNET

The tower could generate up to 121 megawatts of power, providing around 1% of Israel’s electricity; Israel aims for 10% of country’s energy needs to come from renewable sources by 2020. Reuters Published: 02.19.16 In a vast expanse of open desert in southern Israel, a 787-foot tower (240 metres) is taking shape that its builders […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Israeli innovation hopes to change the world by changing the wind – Jerusalem Post

By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN 02/18/2016 Leviathan Energy Renewables’ technologies boost power of wind turbines. In a country where most rooftops have a solar panel on top, one American-Israeli inventor hopes to change the wind in order to change the world. Dr. Daniel Farb is CEO of Leviathan Energy Renewables, Ltd., which specializes in renewable wind-power […]

Read the rest of this entry »

15 violations on water main supplying Maan town removed – Jordan Times

By Hana Namrouqa – Feb 20,2016 AMMAN — Authorities have removed 15 violations on a main water carrier that supplies Husseiniyeh town in Maan Governorate, a government official said on Saturday. The violators were diverting hundreds of cubic metres of freshwater daily to wash trucks and cars near the desert road, which links Amman to […]

Read the rest of this entry »

EU to finance 6m euro ‘Irrigation in Jordan Valley’ project – Jordan Times

AMMAN — The Water Ministry and the German Development Bank (KfW) on Wednesday signed a financing agreement for the “Irrigation in the Jordan Valley” project. The scheme is fully funded by the EU through a grant of around 6 million euros (some JD4.7 million), according to a statement released by the KfW and the EU. […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Pollution, Hezbollah have residents of Haifa on edge due to ammonia plant – Jerusalem Post

By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN 02/17/2016 In a televised address, Nasrallah said that “Israelis fear that if we attack the Ammonia plant in Haifa, we could kill 800,000 residents.” As Haifa scrambles to deal with pollution caused by the cluster of urban petrochemical plants, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s threats to attack the city’s ammonia plant only […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Israeli Mayor ‘Happy for Help’ from Nasrallah Threats – Naharnet

The mayor of Haifa in northern Israel said on Wednesday that he is grateful for threats made by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to attack the city’s ammonia facility. In 2006, Israel fought a war with Hizbullah in Lebanon, but when Nasrallah said Tuesday that “several of our rockets combined with the ammonia storage facility […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Turn your waste cooking oil into biodiesel (Dubai) – Environment and Development

Tadweer, the Centre of Waste Management Abu Dhabi, has launched an initiative to convert household’s cooking oil waste into biodiesel for vehicles. The project has been started in Abu Dhabi’s Al Raha area whereby residents are provided with a five liter container to keep in their homes and fill with any cooking oil waste, instead […]

Read the rest of this entry »

What Dubai plans to do with 1,000 tonnes of daily food waste – Environment and Development

Dubai’s landfills are singing to the tune of 1,000 tonnes of food waste per day, according to a senior municipality official on Tuesday. The plan is to put those tonnes of discarded food to good use by turning them into biofuel. Food waste is not limited to residential homes: Hotels, catering companies and schools also […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Ras Gharib shores besieged by oil spills, dead fish – Egypt Independent

Al-Masry Al-Youm 17/02/2016 Residents in the Red Sea city of Ras Gharib have pleaded for authorities to help remove an oil spill that has stretched along its shores and created piles of dead fish. Oil spills have become common for the city over the past years, discouraging locals and visitors from using its beaches, some […]

Read the rest of this entry »

‘Trash scavenging scaring away waste management investors’ – Jordan Times

By Hana Namrouqa – Feb 16,2016 AMMAN — Scavengers digging through trash bins in Amman are driving away millions of dinars of potential investments in the capital’s waste collection and segregation, a municipal official said on Tuesday. Waste picking is no longer practised by the needy but rather by people who have turned the practice […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Plastic bag fee not high enough, greens say – Jerusalem Post

By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN 02/15/2016 The latest version of the legislation debated by the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee would require a 10-agorot fee per disposable plastic bag. Israel may be getting closer to charging a fee for plastic bags after members of Knesset met on Monday but some worry the cheap price that has […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Cabinet Decides to Return to Landfills Plan if Trash Export Firm Fails to Submit Needed Papers – Naharnet

The cabinet announced Thursday that it will return to a waste management plan based on “sanitary landfills” if the British firm negotiating with the state over trash export fails to submit the required documents by Friday. “The prime minister explained the circumstances during which only one firm was chosen for the trash export plan,” Information […]

Read the rest of this entry »

CDR Snaps Back at Gemayel, Distances Itself from Waste Scandal – Naharnet

The Council for Development and Reconstruction snapped back at Kataeb Party leader MP Sami Gemayel on Thursday after he accused it of being responsible for the corruption in the waste file. “It’s been a while that the CDR has become the target of a series of accusations that it has been avoiding to respond,” the […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Salam Denies Foul Play in Trash Export File, Says Russia Voiced Readiness to Help – Naharnet

Prime Minister Tammam Salam denied Thursday that forged documents have been used by a firm seeking to ship Lebanon’s accumulating trash to Russia, noting that Moscow has expressed its willingness to help the country in this regard through its top diplomat Sergei Lavrov. “We are certainly not witnessing an attempt to forge documents in the […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Committee Tasked with Trash Crisis Meets, Reviving Landfills Focus of Discussions – Nharnet

The ministerial committee tasked with following up on the months long trash management file kicked off a meeting at the Grand Serail on Saturday after the export plan failed to rid the country of its piling garbage. “Discussions are to focus on reviving the plan to establish landfills in several areas in Lebanon,” Education Minister […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Page 2 of 4:« 1 2 3 4 »