Introducing nitrogen-fixing legumes in desert land could enhance rangeland productivity and help in soil reclamation. However, detailed information about germination and seedling performance of many desert legumes species is still lacking. We investigated these plant characteristics for five native legumes of the Arabian Desert in Qatar: Crotalaria aegyptiaca, Crotalaria persica, Rhynchosia minima, Senna alexandrina and Senna italica. Germination of the species was tested under laboratory conditions using different temperature and light treatments: 15/25, 20/30 and...

Current building regulations enforce building designers towards efficient system design and provision of alternative means of supplying energy. Different green building certification schemes are deployed worldwide to encourage creating a sustainable built environment and the adoption of green building best practices. Micro-generation technologies, low and zero carbon, are either recommended by designers or mandated. A range of constraints including design and technical issues, are currently affecting the wide-scale deployment of micro-generation. For instance, it is...