An earth-shattering deal currently being finalized between Shell and Jordan’s Natural Resources Authority will potentially allow Shell to survey and develop nearly one quarter of Jordan in order to access about 40 billion tonnes of oil shale.
“Negotiations with Shell to sign a deal to process oil shale in Jordan are nearing an end,” said Maher Hjazin, head of the state-run Natural Resources Authority.
If our plans succeed, it would be one of the country’s largest projects to help the Jordan become energy self-sufficient, with a possibility to export oil in the future.
While most Baghdad residents still do not have reliable electricity inside their homes, Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity has begun to install solar-powered streetlights in the country’s war-torn capitol.
According to a recent NPR report, several thousand lamps have already been installed, with thousands more in the works. Anhar Abdullah, chief engineer of Ministry of Electricity, said off-the-grid street lights were important for security reasons. For over five years, the Iraqi government has done little to address their issues maintaining functional electricity inside homes.
Ancient Egyptian pyramids and Middle Eastern ziggurats are coming alive in the 21st century technology.
A new futurist concept that encompasses green building technology and—according to the developer—can house up to a million people, will make a debut at the world stage in October.
The 2.3 square kilometer Ziggurat Project, undertaken by Timelinks, a Dubai based environmental design company, will be 100 per cent carbon neutral and will run by harnessing the power of nature setting a futuristic pace for eco-friendliness for other similar projects in the pipeline.
Borrowing from ancient ingenuity, the inhabitants won’t even have any use for a car: transport throughout the complex would be connected by an integrated 360 degree network (horizontally and vertically) so cars would be redundant. Biometrics would provide security with facial recognition technology.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil producer is going green. At least in its first ecologically sustainable paper manufacturing venture. A carton paper manufacturer is making good its concerted efforts in environmental sustainability in the desert kingdom to recycle paper and raise consumer awareness about eco issues.
In a joint effort, the country’s paper manufacturer, Middle East Paper Company (MEPCO) and Tetra Pak Arabia will, exchange expertise and experiences in the recycling field and MEPCO’s role will be to collect, sort and do the actual recycling work. Beverage carton recycling will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfill sites.
The partnership will address the issue of recycling thousands of cartons that get discarded by households and other establishments across Saudi Arabia on a daily basis, the first of its kind in the Middle East region.
The collaborators hope that apart from making a mark on the environment, they will be opening the recycled products, largely post consumer food and beverage cartons, to a wider international market, and follows successful trials conducted to demonstrate the recycling ability of Tetra Pak cartons by MEPCO.
As it rages on five years later, perhaps one should spare a moment to reflect on the environmental effects of the war in Iraq.
How much has the war contributed to global warming? We can now debate the war on the scales of environmental justice and evidence is emerging that the damage on the environment and the global warming effects that this war has caused calls for all of us to pause and think.
For those of you like me – with a sizeable Star Trek/Sci-Fi fetish – then this news is going to make your heart leap. The world’s first zero-carbon city will begin construction soon in the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi, starting in February.
Named Masdar City, the city will be able to house 50,000 people and will run entirely on renewable energy. This will include using solar power to its limits in the sun drenched desert. “This is a place that has no carbon footprint and will not hurt the planet in any way,” Khaled Awad, director of the Masdar project’s property development unit of the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (ADFEC), told AFP. “At the same time the city will offer the highest quality of life possible for its residents.”
The first snows in memory drifted softly through the eastern part of Baghdad this Friday, falling on Shiite as well as Sunni houses. For these hours of snowfall, no violence was reported and no mortar shells flew. Baghdad was blanketed in a wintry peace.
An NBC local journalist reported hearing the delight in his niece’s voice as she woke him up to look at the view. He writes, “It was much more beautiful than can be described; a scene I have not seen before in my lifetime in Baghdad. … I thanked God for granting Iraqis the chance to watch the snow falling and I prayed that God will bring peace, happiness, success, and love in each white pure piece of snow.”
The Arava Institute plans to show the world that lasting peace can be achieved by working together to solve shared environmental issues. They are training Israeli and Palestinian youth leaders to find collaborative solutions to environmental issues that afflict both peoples. The result, they hope, will be a sustained peace through cooperation.
But in one of the most conflict-ridden regions of the world, what chance does the institute had in promoting peace through environmental studies? Just read the experiences of one Jordanian alumnus named Zein and judge for yourself.
Think globally, act locally has been a mantra for the environmental movement for decades. At EcoLocalizer, you can find local news and information about citizens, organizations and businesses that are taking positive green steps forward in their neighborhoods and communities.
An earth-shattering deal currently being finalized between Shell and Jordan’s Natural Resources Authority will potentially allow Shell to survey and develop nearly one quarter of Jordan in order to access about 40 billion tonnes of oil shale.
