By Hana Namrouqa – Apr 07,2016 AMMAN — Despite existing interdependencies between energy and water, decision makers, planning institutions and the scientific research community are still analysing both sectors separately, experts said on Wednesday. Weakness in research in the water-energy nexus holds particularly true for the West Asia North Africa (WANA) region, where research in […]

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The United States Embassy Beirut is hosting waste-to-energy expert Thomas Henderson as part of activities for Earth Day and in support of the Global Sustainable Development Goals, the embassy said on Thursday. “Henderson is in Lebanon from April 6 to 10 to share his 37 years of experience in the field of waste management with […]

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KUWAIT CITY — Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) nations can make a “net benefit” of $750 billion if they achieve their set targets on the use of renewable energy, a senior official said on Monday. “Almost every country in the [MENA] region has a target for renewable energy from 5-15 per cent,” by 2030, […]

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By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN 04/04/2016 Report shows serious advances, yet Haifa ammonia factory’s promised relocation in dispute. For all those questioning what’s being done to fix pollution in Haifa, look no further than the Environmental Protection Agency’s quarterly report. It’s an update on how the government has been carrying out the plan to cut air […]

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By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN 04/01/2016 Environmental Ministry official: Government has maintained complete transparency. The first official report on Haifa’s pollution and disease rates is ready, with one caveat: The government does not deem it ready for the public’s eyes just yet. On Thursday, the researchers carrying out a five-year Haifa epidemiology report submitted their findings […]

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Power-supply reductions and interruptions in Bethlehem and other cities due to the Palestinian Authority’s accumulated debt of 1.7 billion shekels, say Israel Electric Corp. officials. Jack Khoury Apr 04, 2016 The Israel Electric Corporation cut power Monday to large areas of the West Bank city of Bethlehem. The outage was part of a plan to […]

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RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) cut two-thirds of the power supply for the central West Bank district of Jericho on Thursday, the head of the Jerusalem District Electricity Company (JDECO) said. Hisham al-Omari said that JDECO had not been officially informed of the “illegal procedure.” IEC’s decision sets a “dangerous precedent,” al-Omari said, […]

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$148 million wind power project inaugurated in Maan AMMAN — Energy Minister Ibrahim Saif on Sunday in Maan inaugurated a wind energy project to generate electricity, funded by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The $148-million project aims at supporting the national economy and developing Maan, and […]

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MMAN — The fifth international conference for “Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Desert Areas” kicked off on Monday at the University of Jordan. Inaugurated by HRH Prince Hamzah, the conference will discuss issues related to renewable energy and challenges facing investments in the sector, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. UJ caretaker President Azmi […]

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Maya Gebeily, AFP Monday, 4 April 2016 Text size A A A Imagine living near a trash dump so putrid that you would rather move to war-torn Syria. That’s what Fayyad Ayyash, his wife Riham and their four young daughters plan to do next week, leaving behind their home in Lebanon for neighbouring Syria. Their […]

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By Hana Namrouqa – Apr 05,2016 A regulation setting penalties for cutting old trees has come into effect (Photo courtesy of Barakat Zaza) AMMAN — A new regulation listing the names of centennial, rare and wild endangered trees and plants and banning cutting them down has entered into force after being issued in the Official […]

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By Merza Noghai – Apr 04,2016 PETRA — In 2008, local community members met to discuss a project aimed at protecting the natural heritage in Petra, which resulted in some recommendations the UNDP adopted in 2014. On Sunday, a ceremony was held in the red-rose city to launch the project. Called “Mainstreaming biodiversity conservation in […]

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Israeli court blocks government’s natural gas plan in blow to energy firms – Reuters By Ari Rabinovitch Israel’s Supreme Court blocked a controversial plan to develop the country’s natural gas fields on Sunday, dealing a blow to energy companies operating in the eastern Mediterranean and drawing fire from the government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached […]

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By YOSEF I. ABRAMOWITZ 03/28/2016 The Start-Up Nation looks today a bit more like a banana republic, and we’re all to blame. Israel’s energy needs, ruled the High Court, cannot be fueled by unchecked political power. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the passage of the gas deal a signature economic initiative of this government – […]

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By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN,REUTERS 03/29/2016 Energy, Infrastructure and Water Resources Minister and Noble Energy Inc.’s Israel country manager discussed possible ways to satisfy the High Court’s demands. National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Tuesday he believes recent turmoil in the country’s natural gas sector will be resolved within a couple of […]

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By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN 03/29/2016 The High Court’s ruling on Sunday supported most of the gas framework, with the exception of a stability clause, putting the government in charge of providing stability insurance. The head of Noble Energy said Sunday’s High Court decision striking down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s natural gas outline was “disappointing and […]

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By Mohammad Ghazal – Mar 28,2016 AMMAN — Jordan is interested in importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia’s Gazprom as part of its efforts to increase sources of LNG, Energy Minister Ibrahim Saif said Monday. “We have discussed this issue with the Russians, and we hope that we will get LNG at preferential prices. […]

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In a series of activities held around World Water Day, the Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability (PIBS) and the Faculty of Science at Bethlehem University in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) invite those working in areas of water to a workshop: “Water and sustainable development in Palestine”. Place: Palestine Museum of […]

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GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Gaza Strip was left almost entirely without power Tuesday due to maintenance work on power lines from both Israel and Egypt and ongoing tax disputes on fuel for the enclave’s near-defunct power station. Muhammad Thabit, a spokesman for Gaza’s electricity company, said that starting at 6 a.m., all lines supplying […]

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After fleeing from ISIL, dozens of young Iraqis spend their days searching through rubbish heaps for valuable scraps. photoessay at http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2016/03/iraqi-children-scavenge-living-160321112736752.html Sebastian Castelier, Wilson Fache | 29 Mar 2016 Standing next to a pile of rubbish as high as a hill, Ali, a 12-year-old child from Mosul, looks excitedly at his latest discovery. “They say […]

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