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

Is the sun setting on the solar energy boom? Jerusalem Post

By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 06/25/2010 18:34 Israel’s solar energy industry faces ruin. http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Article.aspx?id=179386 Given the amount of sunshine this country gets, it was not surprising that when the government decided that 10 percent of electricity must come from renewable resources by 2020, solar power became the main method to achieve that goal. However, solar power […]

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Analysis: New technologies are not ‘bankable’ Jerusalem Post

By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 06/25/2010 18:33 No new Israeli photovoltaic (PV) technology is ready for deployment yet. http://www.jpost.com/HealthAndSci-Tech/ScienceAndEnvironment/Article.aspx?id=179388 Being an alternative energy technology company is rough going these days. Renewable energy power plants, especially solar ones, are extremely capital intensive. Without government support for extended periods of R&D, some companies are scrambling for funds to […]

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Something’s going to blow Jerusalem Post

By RON FRIEDMAN 06/25/2010 22:55 The residents of Zichron Ya’acov and its environs – vowing to use any means necessary and showing lots of chutzpa – have joined forces to battle the government and the newly empowered energy sector. http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=179445 Looking to the west from the top of a hill in Zichron Ya’acov, all you […]

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New sewage pipeline to protect public health in Jerash Jordan Times

By Hana Namrouqa http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=27878 AMMAN – Health and environmental conditions in the northern village of Souf, home to several freshwater springs, will be improved under a project to revamp sewage services, a government official said on Monday. Under an agreement signed yesterday by the Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) and USAID, an 8.5-kilometre sewage pipeline […]

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UN raps Palestinians over electricity crisis in Gaza Haaretz/ Reuters

Gaza’s sole power plant, which provides 25 percent of its electricity, was forced to shut down over the weekend as a result of a payment dispute between Hamas and PA. http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/un-raps-palestinians-over-electricity-crisis-in-gaza-1.298584 The United Nations Relief Works Agency on Sunday urged Palestinians to stop in-fighting and resolve a deepening electricity “crisis” in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, […]

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Minister upbeat after trip to raise awareness, funds for Red Sea project Jordan Times

By Hana Namrouqa http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=27885 AMMAN – Minister of Water and Irrigation Mohammad Najjar on Monday expressed optimism over the results of a recent trip to build international support for the Jordan Red Sea Project (JRSP). During his visit to the US last week, Najjar met with representatives from funding agencies, including the Overseas Private Investment […]

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OPEC urges US to reconsider offshore drilling ban Daily Star

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=116508#axzz0sF3gkZ8J BRUSSELS: OPEC called Monday on the United States to reconsider a ban on new deep-water drilling that could hold back oil supplies – despite safety concerns in the wake of the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Abdalla Salem El Badri, secretary general of the 12-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting […]

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Nature guides may be hiding facts to avoid offending religious hikers Haaretz

The Knesset is expected to look into the possibility that Israel Nature and Parks Authority guides at the Soreq Cave Nature Reserve are concealing the true age of the cavern’s stalactites, stalagmites. By Jonathan Lis http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/nature-guides-may-be-hiding-facts-to-avoid-offending-religious-hikers-1.298848 The Knesset is expected to look into the possibility that Israel Nature and Parks Authority guides at the Soreq […]

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Water apocalypse now on the Nile – Daily Star

Najib Saab http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=115857#axzz0r9NC5ADh Taking advantage of astounding Arab apathy, African countries of the Nile Basin met in the absence of Egypt and Sudan to agree on a plan for sharing the Nile water. Ethiopia, which is the source of 85 percent of the Blue Nile, is only able to utilize a small portion of this […]

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Studies on ‘green’ behavioural trends to be released this week Jordan Times

By Hana Namrouqa http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=27618 AMMAN – The results of 11 surveys measuring Jordanians’ behaviours, practices and consumption patterns in the water, energy and solid waste sectors will be announced this week. The studies, carried out by the USAID-funded Public Action in Water, Energy and Environment Project, aim to analyse people’s behaviour in order to encourage […]

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Jordanians least likely to make sacrifices to preserve environment – poll Jordan Times / Pew Research Cener

By Taylor Luck http://www.jordantimes.com/index.php?news=27574 AMMAN – Jordanians think the Kingdom is generally liked abroad and are the least likely to make sacrifices to preserve the environment, according to a global public opinion survey released on Thursday. The Pew Research Centre Global Attitudes Survey, which polled 22 nations in subjects ranging from the economy and extremism […]

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Activists ‘liberate’ 800 bluefin tuna off Libya coast Daily Star /AFP

By Agence France Presse (AFP) Saturday, June 19, 2010 http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=116159#axzz0rQ7rboPS PARIS: Environmental activists from the Sea Shepherd group said Friday they had “liberated” some 800 bluefin tuna that had been caught by what they described as poachers and were being towed by two fishing vessels off the coast of Libya. Five scuba divers on Thursday […]

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Going to bat for nature Haaretz

Environmentalists hope that a recent, unprecedented survey of Jerusalem’s plant and animal populations will serve as a basis for future planning and construction in the city By Zafrir Rinat http://www.haaretz.com/magazine/week-s-end/going-to-bat-for-nature-1.296970 At night, when the human residents of Jerusalem hunker down at home or are sleeping, the city comes alive. A family of porcupines, long-time residents […]

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Eden halts mineral water bottling over microbe contamination Haaretz

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/eden-halts-mineral-water-bottling-over-microbe-contamination-1.296527 Eden, an Israeli mineral water supplier, said on Wednesday it had suspended bottling because of contamination at its Golan Heights spring. Eden mineral water on sale in Israel, May 15, 2009 Bottling was halted after tests showed bacteria levels exceeded limits set by state regulators. The company said it was carrying out tests in […]

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Israeli-developed boiled potato batteries may provide cheap power Haaretz

Study: Boiling potatoes increases electric power 10-fold; Potato battery 6 times more economical than kerosene lamp. http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/israeli-developed-boiled-potato-batteries-may-provide-cheap-power-1.296799 by Reuters An electric battery based on boiled potatoes could provide a cheap source of electricity in the developing world, according to the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The treated potato battery generates energy […]

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It’s all about electrons – and energy Jerusalem Post

By KARIN KLOOSTERMAN/ISRAEL21C 06/18/2010 19:36 http://www.jpost.com/HealthAndSci-Tech/ScienceAndEnvironment/Article.aspx?id=178766 Spintronics recognizes that the ‘spin’ of an electron – untapped until now – can be harnessed as a viable source of energy. He works at an academic institution that’s already established a name for itself worldwide with its developments in battery technology, and young Bar-Ilan University researcher Dr. Amos […]

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Our World: Warming to worms Jerusalem Post

By GLORIA DEUTSCH 06/18/2010 19:29 http://www.jpost.com/HealthAndSci-Tech/ScienceAndEnvironment/Article.aspx?id=178754 Crawling in and out of the environment. Nahum Hirschel has two great passions – Torah and earthworms. The 50-something immigrant from Flushing, New York lives in a haredi part of Beit Shemesh and operates the Eretz Hakodesh Earthworm Farm. This somewhat grandiose title refers to the small garden next […]

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WZO to boost environmental practices Jerusalem Post

By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 06/18/2010 05:21 http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=178816 The four new resolutions were proposed by the Green Zionist Alliance. The World Zionist Congress voted nearly unanimously in favor of four resolutions Thursday which would significantly improve its – and its subsidiaries’ – environmental practices. The WZO exerts influence over legacy Zionist organizations like KKL/JNF and The […]

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Environmentalism: a unifying force for the Middle East

By Joseph Mayton www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=115964#axzz0r13iFUgp In late March, global landmarks such as the Sydney Harbor Bridge, the CN Tower in Toronto, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum and Egypt’s pyramids all stood in darkness, along with more than 4,000 cities in 128 countries that officially switched off their electricity to pledge their support […]

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Vital River Is Withering, and Iraq Has No Answer New York Times

By STEVEN LEE MYERS nytimes.com/2010/06/13/science/earth/13shatt.html?ref=middleeast SIBA, Iraq — The Shatt al Arab, the river that flows from the biblical site of the Garden of Eden to the Persian Gulf, has turned into an environmental and economic disaster that Iraq’s newly democratic government is almost powerless to fix. Withered by decades of dictatorial mismanagement and then […]

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