Residents of southern Israel didn’t even know a pipeline was under their feet for 46 years – until it exploded. Haaretz Editorial | Dec. 9, 2014 Residents of Eilat and the surrounding area didn’t know a pipeline had run through their city for the last 46 years – one that could cause the heavy stench […]

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by Hana Namrouqa | Dec 04, 2014 AMMAN — An oil spill in southern Israel near the Jordanian border on Wednesday night created a state of panic among Aqaba residents, dozens of whom went to hospitals after suffering from shortness of breath, according to officials. An oil pipeline rupture caused thousands of cubic metres of […]

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JERUSALEM POST Expected rain spurs worry that Arava oil will spread – Jerusalem Post By NIV ELIS 12/08/2014 Just a few minutes drive north of Eilat, the air already reeks of oil. The arid bouquet of sand and acacia trees one expects in the valley, flanked by red mountains in Jordan and sandstone in Israel, […]

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By JEREMY SHARON 12/08/2014 Air quality in the region is now within accepted standards, removal of the contaminated earth from the large pools is nearly complete. The Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company has admitted that some 5 million liters of crude oil spilled out of the pipeline in the Arava region during the catastrophic leak that […]

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9/12/2014 The Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) released today the recommendations of its seventh annual conference held in Amman, which addressed food security in Arab countries. The recommendations were finalized by a high-level committee of experts and officials who participated in the conference. AFED secretary general Najib Saab announced the recommendations, which call […]

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MMAN — Through using satellite remote sensing techniques in collaboration with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), authorities have uncovered a major case of water theft, Ministry of Water and Irrigation announced Monday. The ministry has discovered an illegal 1.5km pipe linked to a major water conveyer in the Tneib region in south […]

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Trash has been piling up in the district of Alaya, where waste collectors say they have faced repeated attacks. Karlos Zurutuza Last updated: 08 Dec 2014 Qamishli, Syria – Wheelbarrows have become essential for living in Alaya, a district of Qamishli, about 700km northeast of Damascus. Local residents dump their garbage almost anywhere in the […]

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By NIV ELIS 12/08/2014 In 2014, renewable energy use in Israel is expected to rise to 1.5-2%, still far from the 10% goal set for 2020. Energy Minister Silvan Shalom on Monday caused a stir at the Eilat-Eilot Renewable Energy conference by announcing, to audible hissing in the crowd, that the government will change its […]

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Can solar power replace oil in the Middle East? The Middle East can achieve first-move advantage in a market that appears to be the longer-term future of energy. Vicente Lopez-Ibor Mayor Vicente Lopez-Ibor Mayor is a former commissioner of the National Energy Commission of Spain. He is chair of one of Europe’s largest solar energy […]

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By YOSEF I. ABRAMOWITZ, DAVID LEHRER 12/07/2014 20 percent renewables by 2020. Election time in Israel means that little will get done by the government in the months leading up to the vote. But when it comes to renewable energy – something that this government has failed to deliver in any meaningful way – the […]

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BEIRUT: Israel is overtly stealing Lebanon’s underwater oil and gas reserves off the coast of south Lebanon as the government remains distracted over the issue of its kidnapped soldiers and policemen held by jihadi militants, Speaker Nabih Berri warned in comments published Monday. Daily Al-Akhbar quoted Berri as saying that he had received credible information […]

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by Mohammad Ghazal | Dec 08, 2014 AMMAN — A Canadian company will soon start studies on the development of the Hamzah Oil Field in Al Azraq, Energy Minister Mohammad Hamed said Monday. The company, Transeuro Energy Corporation, won a tender the government floated in early 2014 to develop the oil field, the minister said. […]

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AMMAN — The 100 Resilient Cities (100RC), pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation, on Wednesday announced that 35 cities from around the world, including Amman, have been invited to join the 100 Resilient Cities Network. The announcement was made during the Rockefeller Foundation’s Urban Resilience Summit in Singapore, according to a statement sent to The Jordan […]

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JEUSALEM POST Thousands of cubic meters of oil spill near Kibbutz Ketura; representative of Ministry of the Environment says will take months if not years to rehabilitate the area. Millions of liters of crude oil have gushed out of a pipeline to flood 200 acres of a desert nature reserve in southern Israel, officials said […]

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An explosion in a gas well in the Israeli town of Eilat sent strong emissions of gas all over Aqaba late Wednesday, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The agency quoted an official source as saying that concerned parties were following up on the incident, pointing out that different amounts of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) had […]

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David Lehrer The disastrous oil spill which occurred Wednesday night in the Arava valley was caused by maintenance work on the Eilat Ashkelon Oil Pipeline in preparation for the building of the new international airport outside of Eilat. The pipeline brings oil from the port of Eilat to the refineries and power stations in the […]

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Food Security is the seventh in the series of annual reports on the state of Arab environment, produced by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED). The report highlights the need for more efficient management of the agriculture and water sectors, in view of enhancing the prospects of food security. This report comes after […]

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Times and policies have changed, and this week’s decision to turn part of Palmahim beach into a national park instead of a vacation resort marks a major change. Yet threats from tourism to Israel’s open beaches and coastline remain By Zafrir Rinat | Dec. 3, 2014 The peaceful hill at the northern end of the […]

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Planning commission debates consequences of proposed Sde Barir project near Arad. By Zafrir Rinat | Dec. 3, 2014 Currently in Israel, the Clean Air Law is being exploited to sanction air pollution and appropriate testing is not being conducted to gauge the impact of this pollution – so said the Health Ministry Tuesday at a […]

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The recent breakup of the solar power consortium Desertec has been a huge disappointment to the renewable energy community. The idea was to create a pan-European North African, even Middle East energy grid with solar energy collected in the MENA region which could then be shipped via cables to Europe. Despite the Desertec collapse, Europeans […]

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