Well, I am again in the Middle East. I was in Abu Dhabi a couple of weeks ago, but now I am back in Palestine. The Abu Dhabi trip was to work with the International Renewable Energy Agenc, and NGO that represnets 160 countries. There were about 40 people there from around the world. We were discussing the topic Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy. Yup, there are still people around who dont want RE. They like things the way they are. Global warming, carbon emissions, military protection of oil shipping lanes, miner deaths, everything. I did get a chance to visit Dubai, site of the worlds tallest building, and very glitzy malls. One of them I visited has 2500 shops. There were about 20 shops just for babies! I also visited the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Reportedly it cost $3 billion and can accommodate over 20 thousands worshippers at once. It was grand alright. This present visit to Nablus, Palestine, is to present a workshop on solar energy to about 25 so-called stakeholders, that is, people who are leaders in the solar energy, field, such that it is here. They do have abundant sunshine, and not much else. Sort of like Arizona, which has a bit of coal, but no oil or gas. They, like Arizona, have to import most of what they need, be it electricity or liquid fuels. Almost all of it comes from Israel. Some of these same people will come to Arizona to complete their training in early 2014. As usual, everyone here is very nice, funny, smart, and committed to a solar energy future for their homeland. Already they get over 70% of their water heating from solar energy. Arizona, by contrast, gets almost zero. So we have something to learn from them as well. The morning reception was very impressive, with several hundred people in the audience to welcome us and hear comments of support fromt the Prime Minister. When we visited here in May, he was President of Ah Najah National University, our hosts. The Palestinian Ambassador to the U.S., by the way, is a graduate of Arizona State University and a very enthusiastic fan of Sun Devil football. Small world, indeed. I will post some photos when I have a minute or two. Until then, even the rest of the weekend.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 18:37:20 +0000
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