Powerful Middle Eastern Graphics from Kuwait’s Mohammad Sharaf
Kuwaiti graphic designer Mohammad Sharaf serves up powerful pictures based on current events, salted with modern Middle Eastern humor and instantly provocative.
Nir Meiri’s Marine Light is a Sustainable Seaweed Lamp You Can Eat
Tel Aviv’s Nir Meiri recently unveiled Marine Light – a curious lamp shade made entirely of seaweed wrapped around a spindly metal frame. Eaten by coastal people all over the world and prized for its gelatinous and nutritional properties (see bottled algae superfood), and its use is being investigated for seaweed as biofuel, marine algae is harvested [...]
Why the 400ppm CO2 Milestone is so Important
Charles David Keeling began recording CO2 levels at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory in 1958, back when concentrations hovered at around 315 parts per million. Five decades later and that number has soared to 400ppm and his son told Yale Environment 360 we’re unlikely to stop it from rising any time soon.
Turkey, Iran, Syria Top List for Worst Journalism Countries
The online ‘zine Foreign Policy posted its “worst countries for journalism” with the Middle East grabbing three of the Top Ten slots. As we scour the media, we already see how this fares for environmental reporting which is practically non-existent in the Middle East.
Chillout Cafe: Dubai’s First Ice Lounge Makes its Chilling Debut
Ice hotels are fairly commonplace in northern countries where temperatures regularly fall below freezing, but that didn’t stop the Sharaf Group from opening an ice lounge in the middle of the desert.
Gulf Inventor Creates “Alma” – a 20 Square Mile Saltwater and Dew Collector
Abdullah al-Shehi from the United Arab Emirates has shown his worth in environmental technology by patenting his sea-borne water collector that he hopes will help deliver clean water to desert regions across the Middle East and the world.
2013 Aga Khan Architecture Awards Betters Muslim Communities in Iran, Morocco and Lebanon
The nominees for the 2013 Aga Khan Award for Architecture were recently announced: 20 candidates – half hailing from the Middle East – all vying for a million dollar prize.
UN: Eat Beetles and Crickets to Fight World Hunger
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently issued a report calling for wider uptake of insect for food and feed.
IMF: Cut Energy Subsidies and Reduce Global CO2 by 13 Percent
Climate change is one of the most urgent issues of our time, yet most countries in the Middle East and North Africa continue to subsidize energy derived from fossil fuels. Seeking solutions, The Guardian launched a three part Global Public Leaders Series and sent us this recent lecture by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Kuwait Prepares for the End of Oil
While the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been outspoken about their shift to renewable energy to shore up for when oil supplies start to wane, Kuwait has largely remained in the shadows. Kuwait has the best solar irradiation along the Arabian Peninsula, which means they are well poised to bring solar energy on [...]
Tangram 2022 World Cup Stadium Cools Itself Like a Lizard
Tangram Gulf recently unveiled a naturally-cooled FIFA stadium design for the 2022 World Cup in Doha, Qatar.
Turkey’s Largest Wind Plant to Power 170,000 Homes
Turkey’s largest wind power plant has broken ground and is expected to generate enough clean energy to electrify up to 170,000 homes.
Jumpstarting Solar Power in the MENA Region
The Middle East and North Africa have faced a number of hurdles in getting what experts believe could be the greatest solar power grid in the world off the ground. From Morocco to Egypt to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), obstacles have continued to stand in the way of creating a grand solar project. Until now.
Landfill: Where Dubai’s Building Rubble Piles Up
My last photo blog on Green Prophet featured one of the many sites in the Hajar Mountains from which construction aggregate is extracted. This time I’m showing a different kind of mountain on the outskirts of Dubai. This is a landfill for building rubble.
Ancient Moroccan Granaries Revived as Thriving Civic Centers
Salima Naji has been recognized by the Aga Khan Development Network for her efforts to revive a series of earth buildings in the lesser Atlas Mountains, Morocco.
Oman’s Sustainable GU Tech Campus Scoops Coveted Construction Prize
Oman is a small nation bordering Abu Dhabi on the Arabian peninsula; it has a long coastline and one of the largest populations of endangered Loggerhead turtles on earth. It also subsidizes energy and water, essentially arresting any kind of sustainable development. There’s no incentive to conserve something that comes for free – until now.
Danielle Trofe’s Shifting Sands Use Kinetic Power for LED Lights
The only thing more abundant than sun in the Middle East and North Africa is sand. Used in the production of Markus Kayser’s 3D printer and to make Algerian building bricks, sand is useful for a host of applications – including lighting.
Climate Investment Funds for Super Solar North Africa
Hotter than heck and bone dry, the Middle East and North Africa have an abundance of sun, and leaders across the region are striving to make the most of it. Five North African countries and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan will receive a total of $660 million from the $7.6 billion Climate Investment Fund (CIF) [...]
How ertex Integrates Solar cells into Middle East Buildings
Green Prophet interviews Dieter Moor, the CEO of ertex – a building integrated photovoltaic company which recently completed a roof-based system for the the Sheik Zayad Learning Center at the Al Ain Zoo.
Stuffed Mulberry Leaves RECIPE
Karin plucks mulberry leaves from her backyard and serves them to her family. Long ago, mulberry trees were planted all over the Middle East to feed silkworms. The cottage silk industries have died out, but many ancient mulberry trees remain. Strolling with Karin in her garden this week, I remarked that the big mulberry tree [...]
World Nomads Festival: Tunisian Crafts Make Big City Debut in NYC
For the entire month of May, the French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF) is celebrating Tunisia in the aftermath of the Arab Spring and this weekend it’s souk time – in NYC’s upper east side. From May 8-10, a host of Tunisian crafts and food items will make their big city debut at the Tinker auditorium on [...]
Spring Festival is in Egyptian Air Marked by Petrified, Stinky, Toxic Fish
Sporadic street violence, economic distress and political polarization were mostly put on ice this past Sunday as Egyptians of all classes and religions held picnics, took boat rides on the Nile and celebrated Sham el-Nessim, a holiday whose roots most believe date back to this land’s ancient inhabitants. The event features a stinky fish.
Dubai Set to Grow World’s Largest Vertical Garden
Dubai may not seem like the most likely place for a “miracle garden” but the first phase of the 721,000 square foot flowerfest was unveiled at Dubailand earlier this year.
Green Investment Bank and Masdar Ink Agreement to Link Mideast to Britain
The UK Green Investment Bank and the United Arab Emirates Masdar have inked a new agreement that will see the UAE-based company work toward new investment opportunities in the United Kingdom, taking their expertise in renewable energy to Britain.
Jordan Women’s Guild in Safi has Sustainable Art in the Bag
A tiny collective of rural women at the southern tip of the Dead Sea in Safi is creating art that’s omni-sustainable. Since 1999, with catalytic infusions from a remarkable Canadian painter, this Jordanian sisterhood has been crafting unusual “eco” fabric items bespoke to their salty seaside village.
Fake Organic Olive Oil is Latest Food Scam in Israel
The food industry is anything but shaky around the world these days, from meat glue to horse meat in “beef” burgers. Who are we to trust? The latest scandal is fake olive found in Israel, including organic varieties. Watch out for it anywhere. We sum up where to buy, and what to avoid.
Bahrain Radically Overhauls Energy Delivery and Billing Systems
Bahrain is looking to overhaul its energy management system and announced this week that it was to implement a new “radical” IT system that would help boost energy efficiency in the Gulf Kingdom.
Desert Soccer Pitches Reveal Arab Obsession with Football
Ask yourself: if you lived in the deep desert, where the sand burns your soles at midday, would you run outside and play soccer? No sane person should. But Dick Sweeney has sent us thought-provoking images of soccer posts in extreme environments that reveal just how much Arabs love their football.
“Biggest Loser” Coach Builds a Recycled Materials Green Gym in Israel
When “Biggest Loser” coach Orly Hoffman Bar approached Toledo-Lifschitz Architecture & Design with an idea to convert a vacant space north of Tel Aviv into a sweet new gym, she offered two major constraints: time and money.
Common Sex Book for Orthodox Jews: Is it Kosher?
A quiet little how-to book has been translated into Hebrew offering basic sex education to Israel’s Orthodox Jews.
Green-Wrapped Offices to Transform Turkish Working Class Neighborhood
Whether or not a 100,000 square meter office complex could possibly come with even a net environmental benefit is debatable, but the fact that a design wrapped in green won an international competition for such a complex signals a potential shift in Turkey’s urban planning.
Iran’s Ancient Ice Houses Showcase Sustainable Refrigeration
Refrigeration is perhaps one of the greatest inventions of modern man, but it has come at a price. Not only do they require a great deal of energy to stay cool, but they also rely on ozone-depleting chloro-fluorocarbons (CFCs), or freon (though some countries have phased these out.) As an increasing number of people walk [...]
Toxic Teabag Tech Gets “Silken” Plastic Tea Bags in Hot Water
Health experts have long advocated drinking tea instead of coffee, and the Middle East is awash in both, but modern food technology is heating up health concerns over this ancient brew.
Early Summer Tomato Jam RECIPE
Summer’s arrival brings out all kinds of fruit to simmer up into jam – including tomatoes. Tomatoes as jam? Yes, indeed, and delicious it is, too. I love to make up small batches of tomato jam when lots of different tomato varieties appear in the markets. In the full swing of summer’s harvest, when prices [...]
Enstorage Pioneers 50kW Hydrogen Bromine Storage in Israel
Energy storage company Enstorage Inc. connected a 50 kW Hydrogen Bromine flow battery to the grid at their test site in southern Israel. This began the world’s first large-scale deployment of this promising new energy grid technology.
SmarTap e-Shower Cleans You Green
Thinking about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit: This is how Asaf Shaltiel, the CEO of SmarTap, came up with the idea for an electronic “smart” eco-showerhead that can talk with computers and smart home devices.
Mare Nostrum to Save the Mediterranean Sea from Coastline Development
Over the millennia, the Mediterranean Sea has become much more than a transport hub for empires that control the region: It links nations, feeds countries, and its shores hold some of the world’s most expensive real estate and natural beauty.
Arabs and Jews Cooperate in Israel to Get Drugs Out of the Water
Why should a Palestinian man care if an Israeli woman is taking birth control pills? A new Israeli peace project focusing on shared water resources answers this question.
Blind Shrimp Spared from Extinction at Bible Zoo in Jerusalem
When Noah was told by God to load two of all animals onto a special hand-built ark, there was no mention of the blind shrimp species found only in Israel. There probably was no need to protect the small crustacean living happily underwater – until now.
Flight Attendants as Maids? Airline Should Clean Up Its Act
A Chinese airline attracted a media mess after announcing plans to dress its cabin crew as maids and butlers. Low-cost carrier Spring Airlines unveiled the uniforms as part of a special promotion posted on its corporate Facebook page, according to Shanghai Daily. The airline posted, “We’re mixing up our flights with some fun on-board themes – [...]