Tag Archives: Saudi Arabia

Future Water Scenarios in GCC

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Water is an important vector in the socio-economic development and for supporting the ecosystem. In the arid to extremely arid Arabian Peninsula, home of the GCC countries, the importance and value of water is even more pronounced. The GCC countries of United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait, are facing the most severe water shortages in the world.  Rainfall scarcity and variability coupled with high evaporation rates have characterized this part of the world with a limited availability of renewable water.  However, the scarcity of renewable water resources is not the only distinctive characteristic of the region, … 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 →

Biomass Potential of Date Palm Wastes

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Date palm is one of the principal agricultural products in the arid and semi-arid region of the world, especially Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. There are more than 120 million date palm trees worldwide yielding several million tons of dates per year, apart from secondary products including palm midribs, leaves, stems, fronds and coir. The Arab world has more than 84 million date palm trees with the majority in Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and United Arab Emirates. Egypt is the world’s largest date producer with annual production of 1.47 million tons of dates in … Continue reading →

Solid Waste Management in Saudi Arabia

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Saudi Arabia has been witnessing rapid industrialization, high population growth rate and fast urbanization which have resulted in increased levels of pollution and waste. Solid waste management is becoming a big challenge for the government and local bodies with each passing day. With population of around 29 million, Saudi Arabia generates more than 15 million tons of solid waste per year. The per capita waste generation is estimated at 1.5 to 1.8 kg per person per day. More than 75 percent of the population is concentrated in urban areas which make it necessary for the government to initiate measures to … Continue reading →

Desert Locusts Are Swarming With Greater Ferocity

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The latest outbreak of locusts over eastern Africa has been ongoing since the beginning of this year. It is considered by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the UN as the worst outbreak of locusts in 70 years. The threat of the desert locust is extreme urgent as it’s a major threat to the food security in the region. Bearing in mind, that this region is extremely vulnerable to the predominant subsistence lifestyle. It also appears that new breeding may have occurred in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia which will intensify the infestation. The question that are foremost in minds … Continue reading →

Things To Know About The Environmental Impacts of Fracking

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Fracking, or Hydraulic Fracturing, is a method to stimulate or improve fluid flow from rocks in the subsurface. Advancements in extraction technologies have enabled drillers to reach previously inaccessible gas in geological formations The technique involves pumping water-rich fluid into a borehole until the fluid pressure at depth causes the rock to fracture. The pumped fluid contains small particles, such as quartz-rich sand or chemicals, which serve to prop open the fractures. After the fracking job, the pressure in the well is dropped and the water containing released natural gas flows back to the well head at the surface. Fracking … Continue reading →