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Food Waste Woes in Qatar

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Food waste is a huge environmental and socio-economic issue in the State of Qatar. In 2012, a massive 1.4 million metric tonnes of food was consumed and wasted in Qatar. This figure, divided by the then population of 2.05 million, equates to an average of 636 kilograms (kg) of food per person for the year, or 1.74 kg per day. Given the benchmark of two kg per person per day (preferably nutritious fare that does not contain too many kilojoules), that does not sound too excessive. But if you remove the young, elderly, short-term visitors/workers and people who consume less … Continue reading →

Aquaculture Using Desalination Brine: Transforming a Waste Stream into Sustainable Food Production

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The rapid expansion of desalination capacity in arid and semi‑arid regions has generated an urgent need to find sustainable uses for the concentrated brine by‑product produced by seawater and brackish water desalination plants. Traditionally, brine has been treated as a waste stream, often discharged into the sea or terrestrial environments with little or no value recovery. Because most desalination technologies, especially reverse osmosis, produce brine with salinities significantly higher than natural seawater, improper disposal of this stream can lead to negative environmental impacts, including increased salinity in coastal zones, benthic ecosystem disruption, and changes in water column chemistry. However, over … Continue reading →

Water Pollution Worries in the Developing World

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Water pollution has become a major concern worldwide, especially in developing countries where around 3.2 million children die each year as a result of unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation. Access to adequate wastewater treatment facilities in the developing countries is very limited. For example, only 209 of India’s 3,119 towns and cities—less than one in ten—have even partial sewage systems and treatment facilities. As a result water bodies in developing nations are often used as open sewers for human waste products and garbage, which is evident at the Ganges River in India which receives over 1.3 billion liters of domestic waste, … Continue reading →

Polylactic Acid – An Emerging Bioplastic

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During the last decade, the movement towards bio-based products has increased dramatically as a result of increasing environment awareness and high increase in fossil fuel prices. That is why companies like Polymer Chemistry Innovations must offer products based on new environmental trends. Polylactic Acid (PLA) is an eco-friendly bioplastic derived from lactic acid which can be produced by fermentation of renewable resources. It is a new type of biocompatible material produced from utilizing lactic acid as monomer. Since lactic acid is a non-toxic component, which exists in human metabolism, PLA is safe polyester for human-related applications. In comparison to traditional plastics, … Continue reading →

فيروس كورونا: فرصة لإعادة النظر

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لطالما اعتقدتُ أنّ ما من شيءٍ يحدثُ دون أن يحمل في طياته رسالة ما، إما أن تكون عامة لفئات كثيرة،  أو خاصة لأشخاصٍ معنيين بها، لعقودٍ طويلةٍ بقي الإنسانُ يؤدّي أعماله ومهامه بكفاءةٍ عالية، لكن هل فعلًا كان يبلي بلاءً حسنا في نهاية المطاف؟ بالرجوعِ للأثرِ البيئيّ لمختلفِ الممارسات التنمويّة في مختلفِ القطاعات نجدُ انتهاكًا كبيرًا للبيئة بوتيرة متسارعة، وعلى مر السنوات تكدّست كميات كبيرة من الملوّثات في بيئاتنا بكل مكوناتها، إضافة إلى استمرارنا غير المبرر في ظلّ هذا التطور الهائل الذي وصلنا إليه نكون قد وقّعنا وثيقة دمار كوكبنا بشكلٍ علنيّ وفي وقتٍ قريب جدًّا خاصة بعد التغيّر المناخيّ … Continue reading →

التغير المناخي وقمة باريس: الإجماع البيئي العالمي

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مما لا شك فيه أن قمة المناخ في باريس أظهرت جليا مدى قوة الخطاب البيئي ودبلوماسية البيئة  وقدرتها على توحيد الأمم وقادة العالم والمجتمع المدني لحماية الأمن الأنساني-البيئي.هذا الإتفاق يقتضي إالتزامات من كافة الدول مثل التكيف وتخفيف آثار التغير المناخي ودعم الدول النامية ونقل التقنية النظيفة للحد من حرارة الكوكب بما لا يزيد عن درجتين مئويتين أو أقل لغاية  (1.5  للعام 2050.  لكن هذا الإتفاق بحاجة إلى استثمار (100 بليون سنويا بحلول عام 2020) من دول الشمال الصناعي تجاه العالم النامي حيث أن ما نسبته عشرة بالمئة من الدول الصناعية تساهم بما قيمته خمسين بالمئة من إنبعاثات غاز ثاتي أكسيد … Continue reading →

بصمة خضراء… حكاية الكربون ٢/٤

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من الانبعاث إلى العزل: فهم التقاط الكربون في ظل تنامي التحديات المناخية، أصبحت مسألة خفض انبعاثات ثاني أكسيد الكربون أكثر إلحاحًا من أي وقت مضى. فالعالم اليوم يقف أمام معادلة معقّدة: الحاجة المستمرة للطاقة، والنمو الاقتصادي، مقابل ضرورة حماية المناخ والأنظمة البيئية. ورغم التوسع في استخدام الطاقة المتجددة، لا يزال الاعتماد على الوقود الأحفوري قائمًا في قطاعات واسعة مثل الصناعة الثقيلة، والطيران، والإسمنت، والبتروكيماويات. هذه القطاعات لا يمكن إزالة الكربون منها بسهولة أو بسرعة، ما يجعل الحلول التقليدية وحدها غير كافية. هنا برزت تقنية «التقاط الكربون» كأداة تصحيحية لإدارة الانبعاثات، لا كبديل عن التحول الطاقي، بل كمكمّل له. فبدل ترك … Continue reading →

Environmental Challenges in Saudi Arabia’s Oil and Gas Industry

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Despite the efforts of global society and scientists to reduce the dependency on oil and gas as a main source of energy and find new green and renewable energy sources, the oil remains the most effective one. The oil production rate has increased incrementally from the 1970s to the 2020s, which is driven by the demand for oil. A Global Problem The main problem with the dependence on oil and gas as a primary source of energy lies in the huge pollution caused by the industry. For example, oil enterprises and petroleum companies currently release about 2000 tons of chemicals … Continue reading →

Food Waste, Ramadan and the Middle East

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With the holy month of Ramadan already underway, huge food wastage in the Middle East is again hogging limelight. It is a widely accepted fact that almost half of the municipal solid waste stream in the Middle East is comprised of food wastes and associated matter. The increasing amount of food wastage in Ramadan urgently demands a strong and holistic food management strategy to ensure its minimization, ethical utilization and eco-friendly disposal. Food Waste in Ramadan Middle Eastern nations are acknowledged as being the world’s top food wasters, and during Ramadan the situation takes a turn for the worse. In the GCC … Continue reading →

Energy and the Climate: Perspectives for the Middle East

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Since energy is an absolute necessity for life on Earth, we have utilized many sources of energy to maintain and improve the lives of people around the globe. The ultimate source of energy is the Sun of course, since all living things on Earth such as plants, trees, animals, and humans need the Sun’s energy. In addition to the Sun, we have utilized other sources of energy such as oil, coal, and nuclear fission.  However, energy has many different forms and we use different forms of energy for different applications. For example, nuclear energy is mostly used to generate electricity, … Continue reading →

Integration of Renewable Energy and Agriculture for Sustainable Water–Food Systems

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The increasing pressure on water, energy, and food systems in arid and semi-arid regions has accelerated the search for integrated solutions capable of addressing these interconnected challenges. In the MENA region, where water scarcity is structural and climate change is intensifying hydrological variability, the convergence of renewable energy and agriculture has emerged as a strategic pathway toward sustainability. In particular, the coupling of renewable energy technologies with brackish water desalination offers a promising approach to support high-value crop production while minimizing environmental impacts and enhancing resource efficiency. This integrated paradigm aligns with the water–energy–food nexus framework, emphasizing synergies, co-benefits, and … Continue reading →

Post-Coronavirus World: Human Development Re-defined

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The coronavirus pandemic has rejuvenated human traits and values from various angles. Self-care, life balance, personal development, helping others, and considering the environment are just a few of many values and principles that are boiling down these days. Let’s take environmental values as an example with the several statements issued lately about the potential impact of COVID-19 on some of the hot green issues of today, Climate Change and Biodiversity. A few questions come to mind – though I don’t claim to know the answers for: is COVID-19 becoming the nature’s savior from air pollution and GHG emissions? Have we … Continue reading →