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By NAOMI SCHWARZ, The Christian Science Monitor, July 17, 2008
Dap Dior, Senegal - D’dieme Faye’s muscular arms pump energetically as she pounds millet for her family’s lunch with an over-sized mortar and pestle.
In the past, Ms. Faye would have cooked a rich dish of rice, fish, and vegetables. But food prices are going up around the world, and West Africa has been one of the hardest-hit regions. The price of rice, alone, has doubled here in the past year.
“Life is too expensive,” she says, “too expensive.”
Her husband, Mamadou Diouf, says he hopes a new irrigation project in his village, Dap Dior, will be the answer to his family’s food problems. Villagers plan to use the project, developed by the Israeli Embassy in partnership with local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), to drastically increase their local production.
Traditionally, farmers in Mr. Diouf’s village wait for the rainy season to plant seeds. In a semi-arid place like Senegal, the rainy season only lasts three months. And if, like last year, the rainy season falls short, entire crops can fail.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Air & Water, Middle East Report, Science and Technology on July 18, 2008 - ט"ו תמוז תשס"ח at 11:42 am
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Written by Masimba Biriwasha, Ecoworldly.com, July 9, 2008
The Middle East and North Africa is also faced with acute water shortages, a situation that will pit the countries in the region against each other.
“The only matter that could take Egypt to war is water,” the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat said tellingly in 1979.
Water security is increasingly becoming a military priority for many of the countries in the Middle East, and the threat of wars between countries is real.
There is no consensus among water analysts on whether there will be global wars over water ownership.
According to UNESCO, globally there are 262 international river basins: 59 in Africa, 52 in Asia, 73 in Europe, 61 in Latin America and the Caribbean and 17 in North America — overall, 145 countries have territories that include at least one shared river basin.
UNESCO states that between 1948 and 1999, there have been 1,831 “international interactions” recorded, including 507 conflicts, 96 neutral or non-significant events and, most importantly, 1,228 instances of cooperation around water-related issues.
As a result, some experts argue that the idea of water wars is rather farfetched given the precedent of water cooperation that has been exhibited by many of the countries around the world.
“Despite the potential problem, history has demonstrated that cooperation, rather than conflict, is likely in shared basins,” says UNESCO.
However, the fact remains that throughout the world water supplies are running dry and the situation is being compounded by inappropriate management of water resources that will likely unravel previous international cooperation around water.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Air & Water, Alternative Energy, Climate Change, Middle East, Opinion on July 11, 2008 - ח' תמוז תשס"ח at 3:43 am
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IRIN, April 16, 2008
We need a multi-level solution, including conservation and changes in use in the agriculture sector.
JERUSALEM, 16 April 2008 (IRIN) - Israel is suffering from a water crisis and immediate steps must be taken to resolve the problem, Uri Shani, the head of Israel’s Water Authority, told the cabinet on 13 April. He said there was a gap between supply and demand that needed to be closed.
Over the next five years, the country would be below the “red lines” at all water sources, and there would be a need to significantly increase the amount of water produced by desalination, he said.
The government recently issued a tender for bids to build a new desalination plant to produce 100 million cubic metres of water a year. Officials told IRIN this was only one of several new plants to be constructed in the coming years.
However, some experts say desalination is only part of a wider change needed.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Air & Water, Middle East Report, Science and Technology on April 18, 2008 - י"ג ניסן תשס"ח at 6:12 am
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By MARGARET COKER, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 04/06/08
Eilat, Israel — Old-timers in this arid city where the desert meets the Red Sea still recall a time when ice was a luxury and residents watched their gardens bake crisp most of the year.
But ask 22-year-old Einav Arush about her experience with water scarcity and she cocks her head in confusion.
“I don’t think about water. Our city solved that problem, long ago,” she said.
The solution was desalination, the process of turning seawater into fresh water by separating salty compounds and leaving pure water molecules behind.
The technology is gaining new scrutiny among policy-makers in the United States in places such as Georgia, Florida and Texas, where periodic droughts have become severe and growing cities are demanding more water.
In six decades, Eilat has grown from an army outpost to a thriving port city and resort destination. Since 1982, the local desalination plant has met all the city’s water needs.
Situated at the southern tip of the Arava Desert, Eilat has no natural fresh water supply and the barest rainfall. Tourists used to bring barrels of water with them on vacation. Residents used to launder clothes from a bucket.
Today Eilat is dotted with trees, decorated with flowerbeds and green grass and awash in swimming pools.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Air & Water, Alternative Energy, Middle East Report, Recent Posts on April 8, 2008 - ג' ניסן תשס"ח at 8:53 pm
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LEBANON: ICRC completes primary water supply to ruined refugee camp
BEIRUT, 6 March 2008 (IRIN Middle East) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has completed rebuilding the primary water supply network in currently accessible areas of the ruined Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, north Lebanon.
full report
SOMALIA: Plea for help as drought ravages Puntland
NAIROBI, 5 March 2008 (IRIN Africa) - Authorities in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland in northeastern Somalia have appealed for international aid as parts of the region are ravaged by drought, which is killing livestock, the principal livelihood in the area.
full report
YEMEN: Sanitation services limited, sewage treatment plants poor
SANAA, 5 March 2008 (IRIN Middle East) - Sanitation services in Yemen are limited. Almost all villages in rural areas, where 75 percent of Yemen’s 21 million people live, still use traditional means: Sewage is either dumped in watercourses or piped onto open ground.
full report
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Air & Water, Health Sciences, Middle East Report, Science and Technology on March 6, 2008 - כ"ט אדר א' תשס"ח at 8:45 am
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By Robert F. Service, ScienceNOW Daily News
16 November 2007
If the hoped-for hydrogen economy is ever to become a reality, researchers must devise efficient ways to produce and store the gas. That will require a series of breakthroughs that have been slow in coming. But researchers in the United States have hit upon a material for storing hydrogen that could be far better than the competition–just the sort of break hydrogen researchers are looking for.
Hydrogen has long been seen as a potentially green alternative to gasoline, which is produced from fossil fuels and gives off the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide when burned. When piped through a fuel cell, hydrogen molecules (H2) combine with oxygen, producing only electricity and water. At room temperature, however, hydrogen is a gas, which makes it difficult to store enough of it on board a car to drive long distances. The gas can be compressed in high-pressure tanks or cooled to a liquid at ultracold temperatures. But both of those strategies require large amounts of energy themselves.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Air & Water, Alternative Energy, Climate Change, Recent Posts on November 17, 2007 - ז' כסלו תשס"ח at 10:34 am
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Israel NEWTech aims to double water technology exports to $2 billion by 2010.
Globes’ correspondent 30 Oct 07
The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor today launched Israel NEWTech - Novel Efficient Water Technologies, the government program promoting the Israeli Water Technologies at the International Water Technologies and Environmental Control Exhibition and Conference - Watec 2007.
Israel NEWTech will server as an umbrella organization for all Israeli entities operating overseas, enabling them to benefit from the industry’s excellent and continuously growing reputation. NEWtech coordinates the activities of ten government agencies, academic institutions, and additional authorities. The program closely cooperates with the Israeli water industry and the different water sectors, including irrigation, sewage treatment, recycled treated wastewater, desalination, water monitoring and security, water planning, consultation, and construction of water infrastructure projects. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Air & Water, Business and Commerce, Middle East Report, Recent Posts, Science and Technology on November 1, 2007 - כ' חשון תשס"ח at 9:43 am
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by Hana Levi Julian, Arutz Sheva, IsraelNN.com, September 7, 2007
The $10 million Palmachim desalination plant has begun pumping de-salted water from the Mediterranean Sea for the consumption of 300,000 people in the coastal area. The plant is prepared to expand production capacity and includes its own power station.
Israel has become the worldwide leader in developing technologies to address the issue of severe water shortages, having faced the problem for decades within its own borders.
The government agreed two months ago to more than double its self-imposed national limits of production of desalinated water from 230 million cubic meters to 505 million cubic meters. A plant currently under construction in Hadera will add its muscle to the effort, and three more plants are expected to join the list within the next five years. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Air & Water, Middle East Report, Recent Posts, Science and Technology on September 7, 2007 - כ"ד אלול תשס"ז at 9:00 am
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Xcel Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently unveiled the Wind2H2 project, a unique facility that uses electricity from wind turbines to produce and store pure hydrogen, offering what may become an important new template for future energy production.
“Today we begin using our cleanest source of electricity — wind power — to create the perfect fuel: hydrogen,” said Richard Kelly, Xcel Energy chairman, president and CEO. “Converting wind energy to hydrogen means that it doesn’t matter when the wind blows since its energy can be stored on site in the form of hydrogen.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Air & Water, Alternative Energy on July 13, 2007 - כ"ז תמוז תשס"ז at 2:55 pm
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October 10, 2006, Press Release from Community Energy, Inc.
Bridgton, ME – Shawnee Peak today announced its decision to power its entire operation with clean, renewable energy, making it the first ski area in Maine to choose 100 percent wind power. The clean energy choice will offset the electricity consumption of its lifts, snowmaking equipment, lights, lodges and administrative offices with zero-emission wind power.
Located in Bridgton, Maine, Shawnee Peak is the longest running ski area in the state. Under this new agreement with wind energy marketer and developer, Community Energy, Inc., Shawnee Peak will qualify as an Environmental Protection Agency Green Power Leader.
“Through recycling, responsible water usage and other actions, Shawnee Peak prides itself on limiting its impact on the earth. Our “100% Wind Power” Initiative strengthens our environmental position and helps to ensure that future generations will have a cleaner world in which to live,” said Chet Homer, Owner of Shawnee Peak. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Air & Water, Alternative Energy on October 15, 2006 - כ"ג תשרי תשס"ז at 6:51 am
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