by Galen Torneby Access to energy is a major issue for overall development around the world, many countries are assessing and reassessing their various energy infrastructure projects and initiatives so much so that propositions that might not have been considered before are being taken seriously now, particularly in distributed power generation. Now that the world’s population has officially reached seven billion and with around half of this now living in urban areas, new and creative strategies in energy generation are definitely needed for the increasing number of us, and distributed…

by Dr. Abdalla AlAmiri Since the discovery of oil just over a century ago, the Middle East has experienced major economic growth from this bountiful resource under the ground, the world was a different place then to what it is now. Oil, it seemed, was the answer to all our prayers and for the most part it has been, and for that we are extremely grateful. Now, in the 21st century, the world faces threats to its energy and environmental security like never before. Climate change coupled with the increased…

by Eswar Mani The current state of the world economy leaves a lot to be desired particularly when it comes to the hunger for new investment opportunities, so conventional wisdom would suggest that investing in the renewable energy technology (or cleantech) sector is a fool’s errand. With Google last week shutting down its ‘RE<C’ initiative that invested US$850 million in renewable energy and China’s mass production capability driving down solar PV (photovoltaic) prices put significant pressure on the profitability of the solar industry, these are tough times for the cleantech…

by Dr Nawal Hosany The concept of sustainable development stemmed from environmental movements in earlier decades. International forums, such as the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, brought sustainable development to the mainstream.  Today, the concept is often over-used and it may mean different things to different people, but it clearly goes to the heart of tackling a number of inter-related global issues such as poverty, food and water resources, energy security, and environmental preservation. The Global Sustainability Panel, a high-level panel on climate change and development launched in August…

by HE Razan Al Mubarak Popular culture pits us against nature. Man versus nature is one of the key conflicts in the works of pop culture, with many doomsday films featuring a character trying to avert, escape or fight the uncontrollable forces of nature. In retrospect, we got it all wrong – it’s been the other way around! A few years ago the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report stated that global warming is unequivocal and the ecological disruptions we witness are induced by human activities, and the result of…

by Bader Al Lamki This week, as Vice Chairman of the Review Committee for the Zayed Future Energy Prize, I had the chance to assess firsthand many great examples of renewable energy and emissions reducing technologies and solutions from SMEs & NGOs, large corporations and individuals from around the world. In fact I was very encouraged to see that in addition to energy efficiency and carbon reduction initiatives, quite a few of this year’s submissions were from influential groups or organisations that advocate green transparency among companies around the world….