In the basement of a middle-class home in Jordan’s capital, a homemade energy storage system connects 20 reconditioned Tesla car battery modules to rooftop solar panels, meeting nearly all of the family’s electricity needs and keeping their lights on during power cuts.
“I installed this on my own, although I haven’t formally trained as an engineer. It’s really a hobby,” said the owner of the house, a middle-aged communications professional who asked not to be named.
“It’s cut my electricity bill to a small fraction of what it was,” he said, gesturing towards the stack of modules and inverters.
He bought the batteries from an auto repair shop in Amman that specialises in repairing and reconditioning Tesla batteries – a growing trade in Jordan, where electric vehicles (EVs) now account for more than half of total vehicle imports, according to data from the US International Trade Association.
Jordan’s transport sector accounts for more than a quarter of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, making it a focus of the government’s climate strategy, which seeks to cut emissions 31% by 2030.
But as climate-friendly tax breaks boost sales and help Jordan emerge as an EV leader in the Middle East, the country now faces a looming wave of end-of-life batteries and a lack of formal infrastructure to deal with them.
That is where people like auto repair shop owner Shadi Jameel are stepping in with an entrepreneurial solution.
New life for end-of-life batteries
Besides undertaking battery repair and maintenance in cars, Jameel’s workshop, located in Amman’s Al Bayader industrial area, also sells refurbished batteries to customers for usage in second-life applications such as mobile and stationary energy storage systems, like that installed by the homeowner in his basement.
“We work exclusively with Tesla batteries,” Jameel said, smoking a cigarette as he surveyed the bustling workshop. “We extend battery life and fix issues such as disconnection between modules and cells,” he said.
With about 150,000 EVs on Jordan’s roads this year, and sales forecast to keep growing in the years ahead, Jameel has plenty of supplies.
By 2035, Jordan will have nearly 200,000 depleted high-voltage lithium batteries from EVs alone, according to the Circularity Hub (C-Hub) for Spent EV Batteries. C-Hub was established in 2024 by the German Jordanian University with governmental support to study the issue and shape policies that will enable sustainable management of spent EV batteries and lead to economic growth.
In the meantime, however, there are no formal channels for depleted EV batteries to be recycled or reconditioned in the country of roughly 11 million people – leading to the involvement of a growing informal sector.
In the absence of formal training programmes in the country, many mechanics have taught themselves how to repair and recondition batteries.
“I learned from online videos and by talking to people in other countries that I work with,” Jameel said.
Safety worries
EV batteries that are classed as end-of-life may still retain up to 80% of their original capacity, according to the International Energy Agency, which means they can still be used in second-life applications, such as household energy storage.
“I’ve seen and heard of spent batteries being hooked up to solar systems or other local power setups, often at family farms or vacation homes in semi-remote areas,” said Fadwa Dababneh, C-Hub’s director.
As well as saving money on bills and reducing battery waste, using spent batteries for energy storage stabilises the electricity grid as Jordan aims to get half of its power from renewables by 2030, up from 29% today.
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But the current informal nature of most battery reconditioning raises safety concerns, Dababneh said.
“These setups are typically done by freelancers or hobbyists rather than specialists or businesses formally working in this space,” Dababneh said. “Because they’re informal, there’s limited visibility on how widespread or safe these practices are.”
Two battery-related explosions this year, one in a repair shop and the other during the transportation of a used battery, have spotlighted these risks. While no one was hurt, the explosions have spurred the Environment Ministry to focus on the looming spent-battery crisis.
Prolonging battery life
At the moment, depleted batteries are exported for recycling – mainly to China and Germany, said Mahmoud Zboon, head of the ministry’s Hazardous Waste Department. Otherwise, they can be sent to the sole hazardous waste landfill in the country, where they are held indefinitely.
In practice, many end up in regular landfills, posing environmental and health risks, including the leakage of toxic heavy metals into the soil and groundwater.
Ali Al-Zyoud, chief technology officer at ExelX, a company specialising in battery-regenerative technology, wants to change that.
“There is a lot of potential here in Jordan when it comes to lithium-ion batteries,” he said.
Headquartered in the UAE, ExelX’s centre in Amman works with Japan-based Battery Bank Systems and uses its technology for the diagnosis, charging, and maintenance of different types of batteries.
The technology prevents battery deterioration, restores cell balance and prolongs battery life.
Private sector challenges
According to Al-Zyoud, ExelX has extended the lifecycle of more than 500 Tesla batteries over the past three years.
“Battery replacement is expensive. A regenerated battery only costs 20% of the price of a new one. So this also offers financial benefits to EV owners,” he said, adding that Jordan urgently needs training programmes and collection centres to ensure safe battery storage and prevent dangerous disposal.
Zboon, the government official, said the private sector has been attempting to invest in the establishment of collection centres. But hefty initial investment needs and lack of standardisation in battery technology were challenges.
A strategic brief recently released by C-Hub proposed a robust battery-tracking and traceability system, saying that would enable formal private sector investment to capture value from the battery lifecycle.
Informal workshops should also be regulated and financial incentives would encourage that, Dababneh said.
“Bringing informal repair shops into the formal system would be very beneficial, particularly in terms of ensuring safety and quality,” she said.
The post Self-taught mechanics give second life to Jordan’s glut of spent EV batteries appeared first on Climate Home News.
Self-taught mechanics give second life to Jordan’s glut of spent EV batteries
After witnessing and hearing stories of Pacific islands’ vulnerability to climate change, senior climate officials have promised to strengthen efforts to limit global warming to 1.5C, despite an expected overshoot, and to help the region adapt to rising seas and other impacts.
More than 30 world leaders, ministers, climate negotiators and international development bankers travelled to the sinking atoll nation of Tuvalu on Tuesday before attending the pre-COP31 talks in Fiji, where schoolchildren told them about the effects warming-driven droughts, heatwaves and storms are having on their education.
Australia and the Pacific nations hoped to use the pre-COP to reinforce the urgency of tackling climate change to the officials from around 50 countries who travelled to the region. Fiji’s climate minister, Lynda Tabuya, told a closing press conference on Thursday they had wanted to “bring decision-makers to the climate frontlines”.
Many of those decision-makers said they had been moved by what they had seen and heard this week, and their speeches emphasised the importance of limiting global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, a key goal of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
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In September, a UN report acknowledged that the 1.5C threshold will be breached but said temperatures could still be brought back down to that level by the end of the century with stepped-up climate action.
A month ago, Türkiye‘s COP31 President Murat Kurum told a press conference in the northern Turkish city of Trabzon that limiting global warming to 1.5C “does not really look possible”, adding that “around 1.5C, that will be a success”.
But after seeing the “anxiety” of children and mothers in Tuvalu caused by rising sea levels, Kurum told reporters in Fiji that 1.5C is a “matter of survival – the survival of cultures, history, memories, your homeland, your homes – it’s that important.”
“The 1.5C target is in jeopardy and we do not have a single minute, a single day to lose,” he added through an interpreter.
Jacobo Ocharan, head of political strategies at Climate Action Network International, warned that “words of concern will not protect anyone”. “The Pacific has shown the world what is at stake. Now governments must show they are ready to act,” he said. “[COP31 in] Antalya must deliver decisions that change people’s lives for the better.”
$1.5 billion for 1.5C
In Fiji, Kurum echoed the call of Australia and Pacific nations for contributions to the fledgling Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF), which aims to use the returns on its investments to fund community climate adaptation projects like water storage, building sea walls and protecting homes from storms. “$1.5 billion for 1.5 degrees will save the Pacific,” he said. “It’s that easy. Life will continue in Tuvalu. Children will be smiling again.”
Sitting next to him, Fiji’s Tabuya said she was “encouraged” by his words. “$1.5 billion for 1.5. We will hold COP 31 to that,” she said. The PRF has been promised just under $200 million so far – including about $15 million pledged by European and Pacific governments at pre-COP – and is aiming for $500 million by COP31. It has a longer-term target of mobilising $1.5 billion in capital.
After Pacific leaders on Tuesday aired a litany of concerns about the barriers to accessing the global climate finance system, Kurum joined in at Thursday’s press conference. “Justice in climate finance is essential,” he said. “Resources must reach those in need in a timely and accessible manner, not through a lot of red-tape, and we cannot accept that the same countries should always bear the burden.”
Plan for easier access to climate finance
Australian climate and energy minister Chris Bowen, who is COP31’s president of negotiations, also lamented that “the countries that need the finance the most get it the least”. He said he would ask governments and multilateral development banks to support an access to finance plan for small island states and the world’s poorest nations, launched by Australia on Thursday.
The plan says that while there has been progress in making it easier and quicker to obtain international climate funding, “multiple persistent challenges have continued to limit access to climate finance for developing countries”.
It adds that the amounts available are insufficient to meet climate goals and stresses the need for “grant-based and highly concessional financing”, especially for adaptation and responding to loss and damage. The plan proposes an annual high-level forum on climate finance access to track implementation.
The pre-COP summit closed with an emotional plea from Fiji’s host minister Tabuya. Fighting back tears before finally succumbing, she asked delegates to “carry something of the Pacific with you”.
“Remember the people you met, the stories you heard and why we gathered. This pre-COP draws to a close tonight. Our responsibility does not,” she said to applause.
The post Pre-COP draws attention to Pacific’s climate plight and 1.5C goal appeared first on Climate Home News.
Pre-COP draws attention to Pacific’s climate plight and 1.5C goal
Climate Change
Australia’s climate credibility tested at Pacific Pre-COP talks, as High Court fossil fuel ruling puts government on notice
NADI, FIJI Thursday 8 October 2026 — As the Pacific Pre-COP talks wrap up and Australia prepares to take the reins of COP31 Negotiations in Türkiye next month, Greenpeace Australia Pacific says the government is on notice over fossil fuel expansion and exports, and must accelerate action to align with a 1.5°C pathway.
Following yesterday’s landmark High Court ruling that the climate impacts of coal and gas exports must be considered by New South Wales planning authorities, Greenpeace Australia Pacific is calling on the Albanese government to find the “courage, leadership and grit” to chart a new course away from fossil fuels.
High res images and video from yesterday’s ‘Keep 1.5C Alive’ flotilla in Nadi can be found here
Speaking from Nadi, Shiva Gounden, Head of Pacific at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:
“The outcomes of this week’s talks are a drop in the ocean given the scale of need, and urgency of the crisis our communities are facing. It is like taking a glass of water to a burning house if we do not urgently act to address the root cause of the existential threat facing Tuvalu, Fiji and all Pacific countries: fossil fuel expansion.
“The Electrification Pledge must end fossil fuel dependence, not be an end in itself — its ultimate success depends on ensuring electricity comes from renewable sources that displace fossil fuels and align with a 1.5°C pathway. It must be underpinned by justice and backed by finance flowing from polluters to communities.
“Limiting global warming to 1.5°C is a non-negotiable survival line for humanity and Australia must act. The landmark climate advisory ruling from the ICJ is clear — 1.5°C is the moral, the scientific and the legal limit. Continuing down the fossil fuel path, and failing to align efforts with limiting warming to 1.5°C, is a breach of our international legal obligations, and risks making Australia liable for future reparations from climate-vulnerable nations.”
Also in Nadi, Dr Simon Bradshaw, COP31 Lead and climate expert at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “The Pacific was never going to be a mere backdrop for Australia in its role as incoming chair of the COP31 climate talks, but where its credibility and commitment to climate leadership would be tested.
“Here we see communities fighting for their survival and doing everything possible to hold the line on returning warming to 1.5°C. When governments profess to take their concerns seriously, only to then throw more fuel on the fire, the pain and sadness is visceral.
“This week the High Court of Australia recognised what the Federal Government refuses to — that Australia is responsible for the climate damage of our fossil fuel exports and if governments don’t act, the courts will intervene. The message is simple: this is not someone else’s problem, it is ours.
“We must now follow other countries in developing a national roadmap away from fossil fuels that ensures a managed wind-down of fossil fuel production, including exports, in line with our legal obligation to help return warming to 1.5°C.”
ENDS
Media contact: Kate O’Callaghan in Nadi on +61 406 231 892 (Whatsapp/Signal)
A Dutch NGO has filed the first climate complaint under the European Union’s trade rules, arguing that New Zealand violated the environmental provisions of its free trade agreement with the bloc by weakening its climate regulations.
The case will test whether binding climate provisions in the EU’s free trade deals can be enforced to hold governments accountable to their climate obligations, experts told Climate Home News.
The EU-New Zealand free trade agreement, which came into force in 2024, was the first in the world to include legally-binding climate provisions and possible sanctions for violating them, as the EU seeks to use its trade partnerships to advance greater environmental protection.
Under the deal, both parties committed not to weaken their environmental law to promote trade or investment and to “refrain from any action or omission that materially defeats the object and purpose of the Paris Agreement”.