By Marie Dhumières Monday, February 21, 2011 Students help plant trees despite bad weather MAAD, Jbeil: Students from several universities braved the bad weather Sunday to participate in a reforestation event in Maad, Jbeil, where they learned about reforestation techniques and planted trees in the pouring rain. “We came today, we planted some trees, and […]

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By GIL HOFFMAN AND HERB KEINON 02/16/2011 02:41 Speculation points to Issacharoff, Sofer for possible UK envoy. Israel Beiteinu officials decided Tuesday night to delay a vote on a controversial bill that had been expected to reignite the already tense relations between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister and Israel Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman. […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – The Red-Dead project’s economic feasibility study and the environmental and social impact assessment have been completed, marking a milestone in the water mega-project, a senior official said on Monday. According to Jordan Valley Authority (JVA) Secretary General Saad Abu Hammour, the economic feasibility study and the environmental and social impact […]

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By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 02/14/2011 14:27 Knesset Health and Environment Committee told that State not prepared for a massive spill, which would have severe repercussions. Talkbacks (1) The Knesset Health and Environment Committee spared a moment on Monday to consider the implications of increased activity on the part of the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Co. on […]

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By JPOST.COM STAFF 02/15/2011 23:15 Dedication ceremony attended by PM, MKs, Haifa governor; Netanyahu says Druse are justified in claims to their land. Talkbacks (2) A dedication ceremony was held Tuesday for a new segment of the national natural gas pipeline that now reaches an area that includes Haifa, Acre, and the surrounding kibbutzim and […]

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Busted pipe and court order keep Cairo from supplying Israel with 20% of its natural gas needs Tani Goldstein Published: 02.16.11, 12:16 / Israel Business Share on TwitterShare on Facebook share Cairo has postponed once again the renewal of gas supply to Israel, due to an explosion that occurred in the pipe leading from Egypt […]

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The revolution has come, and it’s called shale gas. By Meirav Arlosoroff At least one group in Israel welcomed the revolution in Egypt with cheers: investors in the natural gas exploration companies. Upon learning that the status of Egyptian gas supplies had weakened, there was a stampede for stock in the Israeli companies. In their […]

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By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 02/16/2011 05:36 Originally, the Agriculture Ministry said two years would be required to save the lake’s fish populations. The Agriculture Ministry submitted regulations for approval on Tuesday which would prohibit fishing in Lake Kinneret from April 15 to August 15, 2011. Originally, the ministry said two years would be required to […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Newly appointed Environment Minister Taher Shakhshir on Monday outlined the ministry’s priorities for 2011, highlighting initiatives ranging from combating Jordan Valley flies to cleaning up the Zarqa River. During a meeting with the press yesterday, Shakhshir said the ministry will focus on four tracks this year: Zarqa Governorate’s environmental hotspots, […]

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The summary of the recommendations in the Strategic Foresight Report “Blue Peace” is available at www.strategicforesight.com/TheBluePeace-Summary%20of%20Rec.pdf Links to highlights of the report, in English and Arabic are available on the home page: http://www.strategicforesight.com/ for background to the project, see http://www.strategicforesight.com/middleeast_water_security.htm and http://www.strategicforesight.com/water_security_forum.htm See also their earlier work on costs of conflict in the Middle East […]

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Study: Water shortages to force Mideast cooperation Swiss FM urges Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestinians and Israel to work together on managing increasingly scarce water resources A report for the Swiss and Swedish governments warned on Thursday that water shortages in the Middle East were so alarming that opposing camps in the region would […]

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Rashed M.Y. Al-Sa’ed Birzeit University – Institute of Environmental and Water Studies; Birzeit University – Faculty of Engineering International Journal of Environmental Studies, Vol. 67, No. 6, pp. 937-954, 2010 Abstract: The annual discharges of municipal wastewater across the Green Line (the Israeli-Palestinian border) are causing a bi-national conflict with political, environmental, and economic dimensions. […]

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By Khetam Malkawi AMMAN – A lack of coordination among partners has caused the country to miss its health and demographic goals for 2010, according to the Higher Population Council (HPC). A lack of coordination and commitment are among the challenges facing the implementation of the country’s 2008-12 national reproductive health strategy, an HPC official […]

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Spanish company Gamesa has been selected as the preferred bidder for the contract to build Syria’s first wind farm. Gamesa is among six companies bidding to build the SYP 3.6bn (USD 78m) wind farm, which will be located south-west of Homs. It will add 50 MW to Syria’s electricity-generating capacity, which currently totals about 7,500 […]

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By AMIRAM BARKAT 02/12/2011 22:45 Bid to become a leader in renewable-energy technologies aims to help wean world off oil. ‘The global interest in Israel’s energy R&D and technology is out of all proportion to the size of the country,” says Dr. Eli Opper, a former chief scientist who is now the chairman of the […]

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AMMAN (JT) – An energy society will soon demonstrate ways to harness the heat of the sun to cool down homes, under an agreement signed on Sunday. The Jordanian Renewable Energy Society (JRES) and a Spanish firm have completed an agreement for the domestic adaptation of absorption solar cooling, a technology which JRES believes can […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Security concerns in the southern Mudawara area, the main location of the strategic Disi Water Conveyance Project, are holding back progress in the vital scheme, according to sources involved in the implementation of the project. They accused residents in the area of intimidating the workers, claiming that armed tribesmen “continue […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – After being delayed by security concerns, Disi Water Conveyance Project contractors are racing to meet its January 2013 deadline. Work on the mega-project, which entails the construction of a 325-kilometre pipeline to convey water from the ancient Disi aquifer in southern Jordan to Amman, is 40 per cent complete, according […]

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