Micropollution is an issue that is dominating an increasing number of column inches and policy meeting minutes around the globe. But while it’s a concern for everyone, it could pose an even greater problem for countries where water scarcity is rampant – such as the UAE.

That’s because hot and arid climates like that of the Emirates produce very little rainfall, so groundwater reserves are be...

According to recent research conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region suffers the third highest incidence of foodborne infections per capita. It is behind only Africa and South East Asia in terms of its food-disease burden.

Nonetheless, there is a staggering lack of information about the risk factors associated with commonplace pathogen...

The problem of unclean drinking water is one which plagues the global population. According to recent estimates, some 1.8 billion people are exposed to water containing damaging pollutants such as faeces on a daily basis. UNICEF believes that 1,800 children die each day from drinking water-related diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea.

Fortunately, there have been some encouraging breakthro...

Scientists at NYU Abu Dhabi have made history by deploying nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to determine the structure of a nanobody. It’s the first time that such a technique has been used for such a purpose in the UAE and offers significant advantages over previously favoured methods such as X-ray or electron microscopy.

The nanobody in question, Nb23, is a small protein which is only foun...

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), which is the state-owned oil company of the UAE, currently boasts a capacity of 800,000 tonnes of carbon from its carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) infrastructure. However, the firm has announced big plans to ramp up its efforts in the coming years.

In fact, ADNOC has outlined its intention to increase its CCUS capacity by more than six...

The Saudi government-owned oil company Saudi Aramco has announced a target of gathering 11 million tonnes from its carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) programme by 2035. That puts it on a par with a similar goal outlined by QatarEnergy, who have also earmarked the same figure by the same date, while the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in neighbouring UAE is hoping to achieve a ...

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The UAE’s Petrolyn Chemie has announced it has signed a deal with three South Korean companies to build a green ammonia and hydrogen plant worth $1 billion. Built in two phases, the plant will eventually achieve a capacity of 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen and ammonia per annum, significantly boosting the country’s environmental credentials.

As a source of power that is generated without p...

Researchers from the UAE have discovered that the presence of certain bacteria in the gut may lessen the severity of Covid-19 symptoms in sufferers. Carried out as part of a collaboration between the Khalifa University of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi and the University of Sharjah, the study builds upon previous work linking the composition of the gut microbiome and coronavirus intensity....

The UAE has penned a deal with Levidian Nanotechnologies to deploy its LOOP10 technology at a site in Abu Dhabi. The decarbonisation system captures waste gas at the point of emission and converts it into usable commodities, thus significantly enhancing the eco-friendly credentials of the site in question and the country as a whole.

The project is set to encompass 500 such LOOP10 systems and...