By Lior Zeno Israel’s offshore natural gas deposits haven’t snagged the large international energy companies, until now. TheMarker has learned that China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., also known as Sinopec, is looking to buy into Israeli drilling licenses with the help of All Energy Holdings. The two have signed a memorandum of understanding for All […]

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By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 02/22/2011 01:55 ‘1 megawatt saved at consumption level is equivalent to 3 megawatts at production level, so it’s 3 times more efficient to work on demand than production.’ Sixty percent of global companies did not monitor their energy usage last year, but the need for energy efficiency is increasingly being recognized, […]

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By Fahed Fanek Jordan’s economy is very sensitive to the fluctuations of petroleum prices. During 2010, the imported petroleum bill rose by 31 per cent, to form around 12 per cent of the gross domestic product. It contributed at least 3.7 percentage points to the inflation rate. It also had a negative impact on the […]

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By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 02/25/2011 03:07 Energy experts tell ‘Post’ as a result of the chaos in Cairo, the gov’t should move immediately to secure backups to gas supply. Talkbacks (2) The government should move immediately to secure alternatives or backups to Egyptian natural gas following the upheavals there, experts told The Jerusalem Post this […]

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By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 02/24/2011 05:01 Nature and Parks Authority praises decision after waging campaign to convince Israel Electric Corporation not to ruin beauty of the crater. Power lines needed to bring electricity – particularly solar energy – up from the Negev to the center will run under the Ramon Crater and not through it, […]

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By BEN HARTMAN 02/23/2011 02:58 Minister vows to lower prices and diversify sources as well as develop periphery. National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau (Israel Beiteinu) said Tuesday that reducing energy costs and using renewable energy programs to develop the periphery are his ministry’s top priorities. He spoke at the opening of the fourth annual Eilat-Eilot […]

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25-02-2011 The EU-funded Horizon 2020 initiative Steering Group held its 4th meeting in Amman, Jordan gathering representatives of the Ministry of Environment in Jordan, the EU Directorate General for Environment, and member countries of the programme to review progress achieved by the initiative. A press release said the meeting, held on 22 and 23 February, […]

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full text available at: http://www.mei.edu/Publications/WebPublications/Viewpoints/ViewpointsArchive/tabid/541/ctl/Detail/mid/1623/xmid/1640/xmfid/11/Default.aspx 2/10/2011 The Environment and the Middle East: Pathways to Sustainability 11 Leading Experts As this publication is being launched, Egypt enters the third week of nationwide protests. Indeed, there is evidence of political ferment throughout the Arab world, as people have taken to the streets in Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon, and […]

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’ By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 02/22/2011 01:55 ‘1 megawatt saved at consumption level is equivalent to 3 megawatts at production level, so it’s 3 times more efficient to work on demand than production.’ Sixty percent of global companies did not monitor their energy usage last year, but the need for energy efficiency is increasingly being […]

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By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 02/16/2011 05:49 Licenses for large solar fields effectively frozen. Talkbacks (2) Citing the fine print in a 2007 cabinet decision mandating 10 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2020, the Treasury has launched a campaign to reevaluate the costs of alternative energy. What began last week intensified on Monday as […]

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BEIRUT: The Israel Navy is finalizing plans which would see it defend its country’s disputed oil and gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean, a popular Israeli tabloid reported Sunday. The reserves, to which both Lebanon and Israel lay claim, would see Israeli warships protect an area of sea 1.5 the country’s size, in order to […]

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Monday, February 21, 2011 BEIRUT: Lebanon must brace for more heavy rains and storms, coupled with long periods of drought and water shortages as the affects of global warming continue to take their toll, a Canadian climate expert has warned. Professor John Pomeroy, the Canada research chair in water resources and climate change at Saskatchewan […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Jordan must take its climate change adaptation measures to the national level in order to enact needed programmes estimated to cost the Kingdom billions of dollars over the next decade, experts and officials say. The fact that the Kingdom doesn’t contribute to greenhouse emissions but is already falling victim to […]

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Itay Fischhendler, Shlomi Dinar, and David Katz Global Environmental Politics 11:1, February 2011 excerpt: Cooperative adaptation has become a fashionable concept that has been prescribed for many transboundary environmental problems. In water/land interactions this option has a distinct spatial form of action that includes establishing joint managerial jurisdictions that span borders. Yet, this study shows […]

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Political Geography 30 (2011) 13-24 David Katz & Itay Fischhendler abstract: Water issues are inherently multi-faceted and therefore water policy often involves linkages to other issues. By providing opportunities for bargaining, use of policy linkages in transboundary water negotiations can increase the possibilities of reaching agreements; however, they also involve potential political costs. While there […]

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By SUSAN H. ROLEF 02/16/2011 22:00 We’ve come a far since water costs were fixed by Knesset subcommittee of agricultural lobby representatives, but it’s not enough. Talkbacks (1) On Wednesday, a private members’ bill introduced by MKs Alex Miller and Faina Kirschenbaum of Israel Beiteinu on the cancellation of VAT on water has just come […]

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By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 02/17/2011 04:47 Knesset Economic Affairs Committee tackles issue of water corporations, and if they just raise the cost of water. The Knesset Economic Affairs Committee on Wednesday tackled the issue of water corporations, and the debate centered around whether they are necessary to improve infrastructure, or whether they just raise the […]

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By Franco Frattini The Mediterranean poses dramatic new challenges for European security. Events in Libya may add a fresh wave of refugees to the 5,000 Tunisian migrants who have landed on the coast of Sicily last week alone. Human traffickers, criminals and terrorists stand ready to exploit chaos stemming from the collapse of the old […]

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