The Energy and Oil Shale Research Center (EOSRC) was established in January, 2009. The center is intended to provide the area of southern Jordan with the required technology and necessary information to foster research activities in this vital area of the country’s economy. The area of southern Jordan is known for the availability of basic components of the climate, natural resources and conducive geological properties.
Such components make the region a unique area for research and investigation. The EOSRC is located at Tafila Technical University; a leading academic institution in the region. Jordan is becoming increasingly dependent on imported fossil fuels, which is not only emit CO2 and other green house gases but also put us at the mercy of insecure supplies and unpredictable variation in energy prices. So energy forms an integral part of our daily live. Today, a broad array of pressures has converged to make energy one of the most critical issues. Rising concern about energy resource availability, energy prices, increasing pollution, supply reliability and other related effects have merged to create numerous opportunities for an aspiring energy-related research. The centre will be working closely with the faculty, staff, and industrial partners.
The primary function of the center is to conduct research on oil shale and consequences of the production of shale oil, including carbon management and water resources impacts. Additionally, the center will includes an oil shale information office, the information office will receive and disseminate information about oil shale, drawing on the extensive historic collections at our library, and coordinating with related data repositories at the Authority of Natural Resources, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, and international repositories of oil shale information. The government’s action plan focuses on a prioritized set of environmental, water and energy development of remote and desert areas and emphasizes the important of research in these areas.
The center aims to enhance and encourage researchers in Jordan and other countries to pursue studies related to renewable energy and harness the existing power in the desert region .