Middle East Countries embrace renewable energy

There's a revolution sweeping the Middle East that has nothing to do with street uprisings or Twitter protests. It's a clean energy upheaval with international implications that could transform the Arab world from North Africa to the Persian Gulf.

Solar plants are cropping up in Jordan and Morocco. Wind farms are being built in Egypt and Tunisia. Eight Arab nations and the Palestinian territories have a renewable energy target, and at least five more are taking serious steps to promote the domestic use of clean energy. Some of the most surprising movement is happening in oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Climate change, is not the primary driver for this. Rising oil prices and growing energy demands mean depleting reserves. Thus, there is a new need to diversify.

"The oil era is definitely dwindling and coming to an end," Jordanian Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Khaled Toukan said.