Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

Sign In Sign Up

Energy Sector

Power Struggles—Energy as a Weapon of War, Domination and Resistance in Palestine
Palestinians living with limited electricity in Nuseirat Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip, December 24, 2024. Hassan Jedi/Anadolu via Getty ImagesOffice of the Quartet Energy Infrastructure Map, from Office of the Quartet Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, November 17, 2021.A Palestinian man charges phones at a station fed by a solar panel in a refugee camp in Rafah, January 2024. Due to worsening economic conditions and the lack of electricity, some young men who have solar panels are using them to run small businesses. Mohammed Talatene/dpa via Getty Images
MER Article

Power Struggles—Energy as a Weapon of War, Domination and Resistance in Palestine

The role of the grid in Israel's colonial domination.
Zachary Cuyler • 17 min read
Desert Solar—A Spectacular Fiction, Not a Spectacular Future
Rendering of the Al Maktoum Solar Park distributed for official publications by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority.Cover of the Middle East Solar Industry Association’s Solar Outlook Report 2019, with a view of Morocco’s Noor Laayoune Solar PV Park.Masdar Future Energy display at COP28. Author’s photo, December 2023.Portrait of Mustapha, the man responsible for the distribution of water in the oasis. January 2021, Tighmert, Morocco. By artist Seif Kousmate, from his project Waha about the relationship of humans to the environment in oases. Mixed technique using fire on a paper print.
MER Article

Desert Solar—A Spectacular Fiction, Not a Spectacular Future

On the visual power, and pitfalls, of solar mega projects.
Natalie Koch • 10 min read
The Uneven Politics of Decarbonization in the Middle East and North Africa
An aerial view of technicians completing the construction of a wind turbine in the Golan Heights, Israel, 2020. (David Silverman/Getty Images)
MER Article

The Uneven Politics of Decarbonization in the Middle East and North Africa

According to Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy, Norway’s state-owned Statkraft, “A lesser known positive aspect of the green energy shift is that more renewable energy leads to more peace and democracy!” It is tempting to formulate such grandiose arguments about the possibilities of a transition to renewables
Benjamin Schuetze • 8 min read