Muammar Gaddafi ruled Libya for 41 years before an armed “Arab Spring” uprising last year drove him from power, leading to his death in October 2011. In 1998 Gaddafi shifted his attention away from unequivocal support of Arab nationalist causes and shifted his gaze towards Africa, telling journalists, “I had been crying slogans of Arab Unity and brandishing the standard of Arab nationalism for 40 years, but it was not realized. That means that I was talking in the desert. I have no more time to lose talking with Arabs……

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As North Korea celebrates 80 years and uses the occasion to lash out at the treacherous South with vows of a “sacred war” and to boast of its nuclear strike capability against the US, it won’t do to brush Pyongyang aside as simply irrational and unpredictable. Pyongyang is anything but irrational, and while it may be unpredictable, that only attests to the US Intelligence Community’s inability to get a handle on North Korea, which has very painstakingly and deliberately calculated every move it has made under the late Kim…

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Protestors in the former Libyan capital of Benghazi this week demonstrated in front of the Arabian Gulf Oil Co. to demand more transparency. The demonstrators said they were frustrated with how the interim government was spending money, highlighting the growing frustration among post-revolutionary youth in the Middle East. The protests over corruption coincided with one of Libya’s first international oil and natural gas expos since the Gadhafi era ended last year. British and U.S. officials were among those whose visit to Libya happened to coincide…

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The solar scenario over the last few decades has historically been dominated by silicone-based solar cells. Today, over 80 percent of the manufacturing infrastructure around the globe is dominated by silicone—the bulk of it now in China. Of course, China’s solar manufacturing strategies are a huge part of the shift we’re seeing in the market today as others suffer through a glut of materials on the market and rapid crashes in prices of solar cells.The Current LandscapeWhy is silicone dominating? For one, it’s an abundant material, coming…

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The UK government is looking at joint financing of renewable energy projects or trading with other EU countries to help meet its renewable energy targets.The government claims it can reach its 2020 target of meeting 15% of energy consumption from renewable sources through domestic action alone. However, for reasons of cost effectiveness, commercial opportunity and contingency, it could also make use of the ‘flexibility mechanisms’ in the EU’s renewable energy directive.A 2009 report from consultancy Pöyry and trade association…

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All ships used to travel around the world driven by the power of the wind buffeting against their sails. Nowadays cargo ships travel, admittedly much faster, by burning diesel in huge engines to drive propellers, and emit huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. With the current focus on reducing carbon emissions, which has led to hybrid vehicles, it is about time someone started to build hybrid ships.Back in 2008 a hybrid cargo ship was chartered by the US Navy to deliver supplies from Europe to the US. The MS Beluga SkySail used a giant kite…

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A few months ago Donald Trump declared that he would take all possible action to prevent the Scottish government developing wind farms within sight of his £750 million golf resort in Aberdeenshire. He promised to spend as much as £10 million in fighting the plans, which he claims will prove “financial suicide” as it will destroy Scottish tourism. First Minister Alex Salmond has previously refused to be drawn into a war of words, but has just recently made his first jibe at the American tycoon in his address to the Scottish…

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