Tag Archives: Energy

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

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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 →

Clean Energy Resources in Jordan

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The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is heavily dependent on oil imports from neighbouring countries to meet its energy requirements. The huge cost associated with energy imports is creating huge financial burden on the national economy. In 2022, the peak electricity load in Jordan was 4,010 MW, compared to 3,370 MW in 2021. Therefore, the provision of reliable and clean energy supply is playing a crucial role in Jordan’s economic growth. The country has established the necessary policies and regulations to support renewables, including solar photovoltaic (PV) and onshore wind development. In 2007, the Government unveiled an Energy Master Plan for … Continue reading →

Qatar’s Fight Against Climate Change

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Qatar’s environmental records have always been in news, of course for the negative ones, but it has always strived to work towards reduction of GHGs emissions. Qatar is already doing plenty to help poor countries with financing and it seems unfair to focus on per capita emissions for a country with estimated population of 2.6 million making it the 143th most populous country on earth. (For climate talks, that is heresy). This may sound harsh, especially since Qatar’s contribution to global warming is tiny compared with the United States, China or India. In recent years, Qatar is making itself a … Continue reading →

Ten Tips for Green Living

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Green living is an attempt to reduce an individual’s or society’s use of the Earth’s natural resources by altering methods of transportation, energy consumption, water usage etc. Green living aims to meet present ecological, societal, and economical needs without compromising these factors for coming generations. Also Read: How to Start Off-the-Grid Living Reduction in the size of ecological or carbon footprint is the natural outcome of sustainable living. Practices like resource conservation, waste reduction, and even making time to try grounding, which reconnects individuals with nature, can help address the major environmental challenges facing mankind, including water pollution, soil contamination, air … Continue reading →

CSP-Powered Desalination: Prospects in MENA

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Conventional large-scale desalination is cost-prohibitive and energy-intensive, and not viable for poor countries in the MENA region due to increasing costs of fossil fuels. In addition, the environmental impacts of desalination are considered critical on account of GHG emissions from energy consumption and discharge of brine into the sea. The negative effects of desalination can be minimized, to some extent, by using renewable energy to power the plants. What is Concentrated Solar Power The core element of Concentrated Solar Power Plant is a field of large mirrors reflecting captured rays of sun to a small receiver element, thus concentrating the … Continue reading →

Sustainability in the MENA Cement Industry: Perspectives

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The population in the MENA countries has doubled during the last 30 years (from ca. 110m in 1980 to almost 484m in 2018). As per conservative estimates, the rate of urbanisation in the MENA countries will exceed 70% five years from today (average for all developing countries: 54%). The proceeding urbanisation and the population increase involve several problems and challenges for the national governments and also for the cement industry. The cement production of countries in the MENA region has almost tripled during the last 15 years up to approximately 500m tons. Since the start of national revolts and demonstrations … Continue reading →

Green Building Rating System in Jordan

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Building consume 21% of the primary energy and 43% of the electricity generated in Jordan, according to a recent report by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. Efforts started in 2009 to develop a rating system for buildings that will reduce the energy and water demand and provide an efficient and healthier environment. Jordan has several LEED registered buildings since 2009. One of them is LEED Silver and two are LEED Gold, and around 20 more building are registered online and are in the process of applying for LEED. The energy crisis started in Jordan in 2008 after the sharp … Continue reading →

Things You Should Know About the Energy Mix in the UK

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We take fuel in our home for granted, rarely contemplating how the energy that lights our rooms, charges our smartphones, and heats our dinners arrives at those switches, sockets, and hobs. But with the world facing a climate crisis, the sources of our power are moving from the coal-smoky shadows into the sunlight, and into the centre of politics. The energy infrastructure in UK is rapidly evolving to use more renewable resources and emit fewer pollutants, a transformation that is impacting every sector of our economy and that some have compared in its scale to the Industrial Revolution that first … Continue reading →

Hydrogen Economy for Arab Countries: Perspectives

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Arab world is facing major sustainability challenges in achieving social, economic and environmental goals. Hydrogen economy can help Arab governments, companies, and citizens to save billions of dollars each year from reduced energy bills and sustainable waste management, while at the same time reducing carbon footprints – a win-win solution. Extremely arid climate, acute water scarcity, high energy consumption and polluting oil and gas industry present a unique challenge in Arab countries. Almost one-fifth of the Arab population is dependent on non-commercial fuels for different energy uses. All sectors of the economy — residential, commercial, transport, service and agriculture — demands … Continue reading →

Water-Energy Nexus in the Arab Countries

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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 →

Solar Energy in Jordan

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The solar energy potential in Jordan is enormous as it lies within the solar belt of the world with average solar radiation ranging between 5 and 7 KWh/m2, which implies a potential of at least 1000GWh per year annually. Solar energy, like other forms of alternative energy, remains underutilized in Jordan. Decentralized photovoltaic units in rural and remote villages are currently used for lighting, water pumping and other social services (1000KW of peak capacity). In addition, about 15% of all households are equipped with solar water heating systems. Portable solar generators can be helpful in transforming the renewable energy landscape … Continue reading →

The Role of Big Data in Environmental Sustainability

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Over the past few years, big data has gained significantly in popularity. Big data is being used for a wide array of applications. Businesses rely on big data to gain more insight into their customers. In return, this allowed them to market more effectively. Nowadays, it is possible to use big data, alongwith IoT and AI, for many other purposes, including achieving and maintaining optimum environmental sustainability. What is big data all about? How can it help achieve environmental sustainability? You’ll find out in the guide below. What is Big Data First and foremost, you should familiarize yourself with the … Continue reading →