Morocco-Nigeria Gas Pipeline: Economy Development or Environmental Disaster

An ambitious project concerning energy industry in Africa between Morocco and Nigeria was set to be constructed to enhance the acceleration of electrification projects across the West African region. The objective of Morocco-Nigeria pipeline project is aimed at creation of a competitive regional market of electricity, and to connect gas resources from Nigeria to West African countries including Morocco. The pipeline project will be approximately 5,660-km long and its construction works will be in phases covering 25 years. After feasibility studies in 2017, the two countries opted for a combined onshore-offshore route to build the pipeline. The two countries are … Continue reading

Countries Driving Solar Surge in MENA

The countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are known for their abundance of fossil fuels, yet they also have another energy resource at their fingertips – solar power. Some countries such as Saudi Arabia, which have great solar resources, are transitioning to utility scale solar energy production.  This allows them to export more of their fossil fuel instead of using it to produce power domestically. However, the decision to switch to solar power isn’t just to preserve oil resources for export. The countries in the MENA region are also experiencing increased demand for electricity due to rising … Continue reading

Understanding Qatar’s Ecological Footprint

Qatar’s environmental impact remains worryingly high. The country’s per capita ecological footprint is now the second highest in the world, as another Gulf state, Kuwait, has overtaken it to become the worst offender of the 152 countries that were measured, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Living Planet Report 2014. The third country in the list is the UAE, with Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, in 33rd position. By comparing the total footprint with the planet’s biocapacity – its capacity to generate an ongoing supply of renewable resources and to absorb waste -the report, based on 2010 … Continue reading

Why We Need to Stop Using Fossil Fuels? Understanding the True Impact

Fossil fuels have a wide range of applications including generation of electricity, transport fuels, making products like plastics, cosmetics, and even certain medicines. But why scientists and environmentalist are fighting to end the use of fossil fuels and promoting solar and wind energy instead? The damage that fossil fuel cause to the environment is affecting the entire ecosystem. The impact is disastrous and haunting for the health of our planet. These damages are in some cases easy to see and evaluate such as pollution and land degradation. However, the damage can take various forms and be hidden and difficult to measure such … Continue reading

Water-Energy Nexus in the Arab Countries

Amongst the most important inter-dependencies in the Arab countries is the water-energy nexus, where all the socio-economic development sectors rely on the sustainable provision of these two resources. In addition to their central and strategic importance to the region, these two resources are strongly interrelated and becoming increasingly inextricably linked as the water scarcity in the region increases. In the water value chain, energy is required in all segments; energy is used in almost every stage of the water cycle: extracting groundwater, feeding desalination plants with its raw sea/brackish waters and producing freshwater, pumping, conveying, and distributing freshwater, collecting wastewater … Continue reading

Rationale for Solar Energy in MENA

The world is rife with news snippets concerning the development of solar power. The sun provides an infinite source of energy that takes off the burden on the renewable sources for power generation. In doing so, there are increased chances of conserving the limited energy reserves. Already about 50% of the earth’s natural resources are in use. If this usage rate continues, we will run out of finite sources in no time. For instance, there is only enough oil left for the coming 46.2 years. Luckily, the development of solar energy serves as the light at the end of the tunnel. … Continue reading

How Are Energy Alternatives All Over The World

A lot of fuss is going around fossil fuels and other non-renewable sources of energy, it seems that the focus was suddenly shifted towards renewables sources of energy. This could be explained by the eminent danger of running out of these sources while the whole world is still depending on them, not to mention the effect of global warming as well. The shift of attention towards environmental awareness all around the world led the industries to start adopting new approaches in the research and development of energy alternatives. We’ll be giving you a brief review of how the world views … Continue reading

الذروة النفطية…..بين النظرية و الواقع

  يعد النفط اليوم من أهم مصادر توليد الطاقة في العالم، بالطبع بعد اليورانيوم، وقد تم وضع الكثير من المواد تحت التجربة لتكون بديلآ للنفط و لكن لم تتك بالنجاح إلى يومنا هذا.و السبب الرئيس لذلك هو فقدانها الكثافة التي يتمتع بها النفط، فضلا عن أنها لا تحقق معدلات العائد التي يحققها الإستثمار في إستكشاف وإنتاج النفط،. وهناك أيضآ أبحاث علمية تشير إلى أن العالم مقدم على كارثة إذا لم يتوصل لمصدر بديل له، حيث لا يمكن للإقتصاد العالمي أن ينمو حاليآ بدون وجود كميات كافية من الطاقة تتماشى مع إحتياجات هذا النمو. وتتزايد النقاشات اليوم أكثر من أي وقت مضى … Continue reading

5 Compelling Reasons To Switch To Biofuel

Biofuel is created from plant-based materials. Several studies prove that it can deliver performance that can rival the performance produced by fossil fuels such as diesel and petroleum. As a result, it’s no surprise that the use of biofuels has increased in popularity substantially in recent years as a leading petroleum alternative. However, if you are still a bit sceptical about making the switch, we have listed some compelling reasons to finally switch to the eco-friendly choice and start using HVO fuel. 1. Help Enhance Air Quality Diesel and other fossil fuels are undeniably bad for the environment as they … Continue reading

Can Bitcoin Go Green One Day?

Many people who love to live off-grid or practice being self sufficient love the premise of cryptocurrency. It is perfectly aligned with the ethos of those who wish to unplug from the mainstream and do things their own way. Since cryptocurrency is decentralized and has no governing authority it seems like it should be a perfect fit for these types of people. Unfortunately, there is one glaring area which makes bitcoin and other cryptocurrency an anathema to those off-grid lifestylers. The price of Bitcoin is the key driver behind the environmental impact of the mining network. The mining of cryptocurrency … Continue reading

What is Climate Change Disinformation?

For decades, the oil and coal industries and some of their largest industrial customers have conducted a sophisticated and wildly successful multi-million dollar campaign to convince the public that climate change is not a serious threat. The impetus for the climate change disinformation campaign has been to protect industry profits by blocking any action designed to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide and other global heating gases produced in burning fossil fuels. Policies such as carbon taxes and carbon caps are intended to limit the release of carbon dioxide by restraining demand for fossil fuels. Fossil fuel companies, however, have … Continue reading

The Rationale for Renewable Energy Adoption in Middle East

The Middle East energy sector has played and will continue to play an important role in the regional as well as global economy. The oil and gas sector is the largest economic sector in the region. In addition to satisfying energy needs for economic and social development, it is the source of oil and gas export revenues contributing to economic development. Regional countries are heavily dependent on fossil fuels to meet their domestic energy demand. Oil contributes more than half of the total energy demand in the Middle East while the rest is contributed by natural gas. Widespread use of … Continue reading