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.
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.
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.
Dieter Moor of ertex solar examines the installation of his company’s solar project in Al Ain. Finally the Middle East is attuned to the numerous benefits of solar energy, and large scale Photovoltaic (PV) and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants are popping up all over the region. There’s Shams 1 outside of Abu Dhabi, the largest [...]
We’ve been hearing about Dubai’s version of Masdar City since 2011, but skeptics have doubted that “Sustainable City” would ever become more than a mirage in the desert. Not anymore, according to local news reports. Diamond Developers has announced plans to officially launch their latest project – a 120 acre green city – at the [...]
If it seems like there are just too many men receiving all the glory in the solar industry and not nearly enough women, then you need to attend the Women Solar Seminar in Dubai. Held just one day ahead of one of the most important utility scale solar conferences in the Middle East and North [...]
Irish artist David Thomas Smith weaves thousands of Google Maps screen grabs into intricate designs mimicking Persian rugs. Look closer, and these symmetrical compositions reveal global landscapes transformed by mankind. Imagine a carpet made up of aerial satellite images of modern infrastructure: concrete roads and rooftops replacing fiber weft and warp. See this artist’s “rug” [...]
Just 37 years old, Arif Mirza is one of the few people in the world who can afford to live on the 35th floor of the towering Burj Khalifa. Never mind the building’s crappy human waste management system, this is luxury that some people dream of having. But Mirza plans to give it all up [...]
First Solar has until recently participated as an associate partner of the Dii initiative designed to develop renewable energy projects throughout the Middle East and North Africa for eventual evacuation to Europe. But now one of the world’s most prolific renewable energy producers has taken on a more serious role as shareholder. Particularly well poised [...]
This is a Chevrolet logistics depot in the Jebel Ali Freezone in Dubai. A rough estimate from studying the site on google earth puts the number of cars at about 8000 (on 12 Aug 2012.) Have a look for yourself at 24°55’40.06″N 55° 6’6.28″E. I’ve heard it said that American car manufacturers in the 1950s started [...]
Want to find sunny Middle East solar opportunities? Think short term investments, and know that higher risks mean bigger rewards, says Belén Galled who talks about MENASOL 2013 CSP and PV solar opportunities in Dubai. A two-day networking and conference in Dubai this May will give equal treatment to both concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) [...]
A Dubai neighborhood that is undergoing a dedicated urban densification plan, Al Quoz may have recently welcomed the first “largest LEED Platinum Government Building,” but it won’t be the last to claim this distinction. “Sustainable Building” is the new 340, 000 square foot headquarters for a branch of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) and [...]
A host of private companies in Dubai and other emirates that have joined a voluntary initiative to reduce their energy and water consumption have experienced enormous success, demonstrating that it’s not impossible to do so. Last week the Emirates Wildlife Society – World Wide Fund for Nature (EWS-WWF) recognized five firms in particular for exceeding energy [...]
Richard Allenby-Pratt’s popular Abandoned photo series still haunts us. Currently based in Dubai, the professional photographer received numerous accolades for extraordinary compositions that depict wild animals meandering through a deserted Dubai. How surreal, and yet not so far removed from the truth, it is to see rhinos and giraffes searching for food amid a backdrop [...]
Abu Dhabi has the world’s 5th highest proven oil reserve and the 6th highest reserve of natural gas. This is a hydrocarbon-based economy that – at first glance – should have no incentive to reduce their carbon footprint. And yet the United Arab Emirates as a whole seems to be taking climate change a lot [...]
Dubai International Airport (DXB) will overtake Heathrow as the world’s biggest international airport by 2015. What’s the environmental impact of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) decade of relentless aviation growth? In 2000, Dubai didn’t warrant mention on a register of the world’s Top 100 airports. By 2010, it had soared to 13th place, reaching [...]
Every year we like to round up a list of our most popular stories from the preceding year. Not only does this give us a sense of closure, but it also helps us better understand what our readers want. This year our readers have been following a range of subjects that affect the health of [...]
Image of the US-researched Aquatic Species Program from Jimmy Carter era The Arab gulf region is continuing to boost its international profile in renewable energy, the most recent initiative aims to use algae as biofuel. Lootah Biofuels in Dubai has recently inked a deal with Singapore-based AlgaOil with the ultimate goal of using algae for oil [...]
Dubai is known for many things, but its beauty is no longer one of them. In the last few decades the once barren desert landscape has evolved into a hurried metropolis where row upon row of often unoccupied skyscrapers, hotels, and malls clutter the waterfront and stifle colorful minds. Perhaps cognizant that buying stuff only [...]
Mid East purchasers of Fisker Karma electric hybrids should be aware of the car’s potential fire risks Wealthy residents of opulent Mid East countries such as Abu Dhabi have been well known for owning various types of luxury vehicles, ranging from solid gold Mercedes sport cars that run on bio fuel to ungreen armored gold [...]
There really isn’t a better market than the Arabian Gulf for Fisker’s luxury electric vehicle, that smooth and opulent 5,000 pound Karma, so it comes as no surprise to learn that one of the world’s most expensive electric vehicles will soon be spotted flying down roads throughout the Middle East. While many western buyers are [...]
It’s easy to poke fun at Dubai for all of its insane excesses, but because we’re big-hearted greenies, we also want to give the Emirate a giant high-five when it does something worthwhile. And the Green Bus is certainly that. Although the merits of bio-fuel are still debatable (depending on the source), this pilot bus, [...]
It is illegal to catch sharks from the beginning of January to the end of April in the United Arab Emirates and yet thousands of them are landed during that time. Speaking to a delegation of international conservationists at the four day Shark Conservation Arabia workshop in Dubai, marine biologist Rima Jabado explained that during visits [...]
Eole Water from France has developed a water-producing wind turbine and Gulf states are drooling at the jowls to have at least one of their own. The WMS 1000 currently undergoing testing in Dubai following tests in France and Abu Dhabi captures moisture in the air that is then condensed and filtered to standards exceeding [...]
Dubai puts itself on the ‘I’m-too-ridiculous-to-be-true’ map again. This time by planning to build a replica of the Taj Mahal and naming it ‘Taj Arabia’ I am not sure how may more of these posts on outlandish Dubai construction projects I can write. I mean I have my limits – although, quite clearly, Dubai doesn’t [...]
Catch some healing sun with your operation? The Middle East’s healthcare industry is booming. Rising healthcare costs in the United States and increased waiting periods for specialized treatment in Europe are fueling rapid growth in the numbers of medical tourists pouring into the region. Medical tourism, the practice of crossing international borders to obtain healthcare, [...]
The Water Disqus Hotel (WDH) lauded on blogs galore a few months ago is one step closer to reality, and the project’s new investment team has received exclusive rights to build in all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, they told Green Prophet. Comprised of an above water disc connected to an underwater disc by five [...]
Dubai’s dream of exporting fresh camel milk to the rest of the world will soon become reality. Green Prophet’s been doing alot of yakking about camels lately. Prepare to hear a lot more as the camel products go commercially global. Camel milk is a healthy alternative to cow milk; Camel milk is for good for [...]
Camels are a nomad’s best friend but a serious nuisance in Australia, where the environmental ministry recently culled nearly 400 of them en masse. Despite efforts from locals to raise awareness of the numerous benefits of camels, the government has long waged a campaign against feral camels that roam the country’s desert region. The South [...]
The same research laboratory behind the world’s first cloned camel and a hybrid llama and camel called Cama has recently announced that they are genetically modifying camels in order to produce pharmaceutical proteins through their milk. Dr. Nisar Wani from the Reproductive Biology Laboratory at the Camel Reproduction Center outside of Dubai says the project is [...]
More popular in the US than the Middle East, the Brazilian Blowout craze (with its chemicals) did make the headlines in Dubai. I’ve never understood the desire to chemically straighten one’s hair, perhaps because my wavy locks can go either way, and natural tricks for my hair type work just fine. Even so, many curly-haired [...]
We’ve been talking about chronic water shortages in the Middle East and North Africa for a long time. But now a new and troubling trend is beginning to emerge in the region: municipal, regional and national governments are taking more drastic measures to police water consumption. Jordan broke out the big (security) guns to prevent [...]
We probably shouldn’t poke fun at the Dubai Municipality for bribing local residents with cash awards and iPads as part of their recently-launched My City, My Environment recycling program. Because their intentions are essentially good. But it’s so hard to resist when so much that happens in the Vegas of the Middle East (need I [...]
The Gulf obesity epidemic in has come under increased scrutiny recently. Supersized boys and girls are barely recognizable and four of the world’s fattest countries hail from Gulf nations – a staggering number that has increasingly tragic consequences. Just 19 years old, an Emirati boy who weighed 170 kilograms was flying from Dubai to Bangkok to receive [...]
On the grand scale of greenliness, the Radisson Blu scores pretty low, but they are making an effort that is worth writing about. On a recent visit to their branch in Dubai’s Media City, Michael Strauss, a contributing editor to the Green Traveler Guide, found their efforts to go green “sincere.” Committed to scouting out [...]
Let’s face it, eco-friendly clothing is hard to come by in the Middle East. Desire to own the top brand names at whatever financial cost often trumps planetary-consciousness, so there’s little incentive for designers to go green. But for those who still want to look their best without hurting the earth, there is light at [...]
Mohammed Kanoo’s portraits aim to tease out our biases about the Middle East. Above is US President Barack Obama. In his solo exhibition Fun with Fen (fen is Arabic for “art”) currently on display at Dubai’s Meem Gallery, the Bahraini artist Mohammed Kanoo depicts international celebrities dressed in traditional Arab costume. Kanoo’s digitally enhanced photographs are [...]
We’ve never been able to shake the vision of an apocalyptic Dubai – a seemingly inevitable time when the scores of largely unoccupied skyscrapers inching towards the Gulf will be evacuated and swallowed up by the surrounding desert. And now renowned British photographer Richard Allenby Pratt has created a series of images called Abandoned that [...]
Not to be outdone by Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, Dubai will soon begin construction on its own ‘sustainable city,’ where green transportation options include horses. Lest it seem that the new 743,000m2 development project entails a remarkable step backward, solar-powered vehicles are also planned, which is every bit as ambitious (and unlikely) as Masdar’s long-since-abandoned [...]
Residents of the artificial Jumeirah Island villas in Dubai face cooling bills of up to $1,600 a month – almost double last year’s price, according to The National. So British national and long-time Dubai resident Tony Caden decided to install an array of 38 solar panels and a giant 20 tonne chiller. Now completely independent [...]