By YUVAL AZULAI / GLOBES 04/13/2011 20:19 Gore’s cleantech fund to finance Tigo Energy Inc., which develops solutions to maximize output by photovoltaic installations. Talkbacks (2) Tigo Energy Inc. has raised $10 million in its third financing round plus a $10 million credit line from Climate Solutions Fund LP, managed Generation Investment Management LLP, whose […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Starting this year, millions of native trees, some under the threat of extinction, will be planted within a “Green Corridor” that extends from Irbid in the north to Aqaba in the south. The Green Corridor, announced on Tuesday, is a sustainable agro-forestry initiative that aims at expanding Jordan’s limited green […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/13/2011 03:04 Next step is to use organic wastes to create fuel for coal-fired power plants. In an effort to combat the annual dumping of 250,000 tons of sludge into the Mediterranean Sea from the Dan Region Wastewater Treatment Plant, a network of companies have come together to launch a technology that […]

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By Sam Bahour “Store in a clean, dry and cool place” – Text from Coke, Sprite, Jericho Water, etc. labels On Hippocrates Street in Ramallah, two blaring examples of the schizophrenic nature of Palestinian “development” are in full view for all to see, yet, sadly, few are moved to take action. On one side of […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/13/2011 19:21 Friends of the Earth Middle East slam request from Environmental Protection Ministry to dump wastewater into streams and sea. The environmental organization Friends of the Earth Middle East slammed the Water Authority on Wednesday for seeking permission from the Environmental Protection Ministry earlier this week to dump 500,000 cubic meters […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/12/2011 03:25 Green index shows nation’s cities generally doing “good job” raising environmental awareness, but Netanya, Rehovot fare poorly. Talkbacks (1) The nation’s cities are generally doing “a good job” raising environmental awareness among their residents and advancing long-term policy changes, according to a first annual green index released on Monday by […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/12/2011 03:33 Municipal company embarks on effort to build treatment facility for capital’s solid waste. Jerusalem Wastewater Purification Enterprises, a subsidiary of the city’s Hagihon water company, is in the initial stages of planning a solid waste treatment facility in the Atarot area as a longterm solution to the capital’s trash disposal […]

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By Mohammed Zaatari The Daily Star SIDON: Sidon’s municipality will embark on a plan to rehabilitate a beach in the southern coastal city by furnishing it with sand, in preparation for the summer season. The city’s municipal council decided during a session last week to buy hundreds of tons of sand for the beach in […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Desalination of sea water is the solution to Jordan’s water crisis, particularly since demand for the precious resource surges by 6 per cent every year, Minister of Water and Irrigation Mohammad Najjar said on Sunday. Over the past three decades, the depletion of underground water has surpassed the safe limit […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – A total of 15 million cubic metres (mcm) of treated wastewater will be pumped into the King Abdullah Dam annually as of 2014, under the first phase of a multimillion-dinar project. The project, which will generate an additional 20mcm by the year 2020, seeks to provide farmers in the Jordan […]

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By Ahmad Khatib Agence France Press AMMAN: In its desperate efforts to battle chronic water shortages, Jordan, one of the world’s 10 driest countries, is now mulling “unconventional” and “environmentally unfriendly” plans, experts say. The challenge is huge for this tiny country where desert covers 92 percent of the territory and the population of 6.3 […]

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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Israeli forces demolished a water well in Al-Khader village in Bethlehem on Monday. The well belongs to farmer Muhammad Issa and his brothers. He told Ma’an that he checked his land on Wednesday and his farm and it was all fine but when he arrived Monday the well was demolished and his […]

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By Tamara Qiblawi The Daily Star BEIRUT: Special laws and bureaucratic bodies must be formed in order to expedite gas and oil excavation off Lebanon’s coast, lawmakers and legal experts said at a gas and oil workshop held at Parliament Monday. Lebanon faces a variety of legal and political hurdles that stand in the way […]

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Factories along the bay will be able to use natural gas for their power needs instead of dirtier fossil fuels. By Avi Bar-Eli Natural gas may now start being delivered to the Haifa Bay, the National Infrastructure Ministry ruled two days ago after a two-month delay. This means factories along the bay will be able […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/11/2011 10:51 Experts applaud switch from oil to gas, but say it came too late. Israel Natural Gas Lines will begin pumping natural gas into the Haifa Bay area on Monday, which will soon enable Oil Refineries Ltd., and industrial factories in the region, to be powered primarily by natural gas, creating […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/08/2011 04:55 Energy company and environmental groups spar over the right to derive energy from subterranean layers. After receiving the “black award” at a green award ceremony held by Israel’s top environmental organizations two weeks ago, Israel Energy Initiatives says that criticisms of its oil shale drilling project were inaccurate, and that […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – The Ministry of Water and Irrigation on Wednesday announced names of qualifying consortia to serve as master developer of the Jordan Red Sea Project (JRSP). Minister of Water and Irrigation Mohammad Najjar, head of the JRSP steering committee, said six consortia, which include local and international companies, qualified to serve […]

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As Jordan considers the establishment of a nuclear reactor in the Kingdom, environmental studies must be conducted and the reactor’s impact assessed. This leads to questions along the lines of: does Jordan need a nuclear reactor? Is its presence in the country safe? Does it provide a safe alternative to energy imports? See the full […]

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By Kamal J. Araj The nuclear industry is facing its second-most-significant crisis ever. While the full extent of the crisis at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station may not be known for months, the global impact will be significant. The trigger was the 9.0-magnitude earthquake. The ensuing tsunami, recently reestimated at 14 metres, caused the real […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/07/2011 04:54 Israeli and German experts as well as academics and green leaders discuss the country’s nuclear future. Talkbacks (3) Civilian nuclear power is neither the ultimate answer to the country’s energy needs nor a disaster, Dr. Ephraim Asculai, a veteran expert on nuclear energy, said on Wednesday at a conference held […]

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