Journal - Orient Online

Brief view on the water-energy nexus in the Near and Middle East

Mohammed Qader

The region is undergoing continuous population growth and economic development and as a result, the demand for water, energy and food is also increasing. This comes in one of the world’s driest regions; all the Near and Middle East countries to the West of Iraq are water-scarce. Therefore, it is no wonder that the water issue has long been a factor in historical regional conflicts and has the potential to trigger serious tensions in the future. At the same time, the region has a huge potential for renewable energy, as non-thermal technologies could contribute to meeting both the increasing energy and water demands, while at the same time having economic and climate change co-benefits. The water, energy and food issues should be dealt with as three sides of one triangle and not looked at separately. There will be trade-offs among these issues and it is only by integrating policies and applying best practices that current and future deficits can be managed.

Mohammed Qader is a researcher from the Transformation of Energy Systems group at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam. In his work, he focuses on the waterenergy nexus and the potential environmental benefits of renewable energy. Qader moved from Iraq to Germany in 2006 through a DAAD scholarship to do a PhD at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz in environmental geochemistry. After finishing his studies, he then moved to Potsdam to work at the IASS. Prior to that, Qader worked for a couple of years at the University of Sana’a in Yemen and as a junior geophysicist in Baghdad-Iraq at the beginning of his career.

The Journal for politics, economics, and culture of the Middle East published by the German Orient-Institute

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