On January 16-18 2008, EWE (through the LSE Centre for Environmental Policy and Governance) hosted a NATO-funded Advanced Research Workshop titled Enhancing Security in the Middle East through Regional Collaboration on Renewable Energy.
Co-convened by Dr Michael Mason (Deputy Director, Centre for Environmental Policy and Governance) and Dr Amit Mor (CEO of Eco Energy Ltd), the workshop examined the prospects for collaboration on renewable energy within the Middle East by bringing together scientific experts, economists and legal practitioners from the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) and Europe, as well as representatives from the NATO Environmental Security Advisory Panel and the World Bank.
Among the topics discussed were:
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The security context for regional energy collaboration (General (rtd.) Mohammad K. Shiyyab, Cooperative Monitoring Centre, Amman)
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Renewable energy country profiles for Israel (Dr Amit Mor), the Palestinian Territories (Dr Imad Ibrik, Energy Research Centre) and Jordan (Dr Mohamad Al-Widyan, Jordan University of Science and Technology);
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The legal and financial incentives for renewable energy (papers by Joseph Huse [Freshfields Middle East], Yuval Laster [Hebrew University], Kirsty Hamilton [Chatham House, UK], and Dr Hynd Bouhia [Government of Morocco]);
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Examples of green energy use - green rural communities (Dr Ofira Ayalon, Technion), solar energy for desalination (Dr Karim Bourouni, National Engineering School of Tunis) and wind energy (Dr Driss Zejli, National Centre of Scientific and Technical Research, Morocco);
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Energy from deserts for power and desalination (Dr Gerhard Knies, Club of Rome/TREC)
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Institutional aspects of regional energy systems (Dr Mohamad Al-Widyan and Mr Mu'taz Al-Muhtaseb, Jordan University of Science and Technology)
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A World Bank perspective on enhancing energy and renewable energy utilization in the Middle East (Khairy Al-Jamal, World Bank)
Workshop papers and discussions highlighted the potential for a significant increase in the uptake of renewable energy technologies in the MENA region. There has so far been little appreciation of the prospects for regional adoption of clean energy, and the energy security and human development benefits that it would generate. Aided by Professor Tony Allan's (King's College London) concluding observations, workshop participants identified several research priorities to assist regional practitioners in sharing relevant expertise and, more ambitiously, develop networks for regional cooperation. EWE is seeking funding to give this community of renewable energy practitioners a secure long-term basis.
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Full presentations
