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 – [...]
Renault Gives Up on Israel’s Swappable Electric Car Batteries
The Israeli EV company Better Place hasn’t been having an easy ride. Despite nearly a billion dollars in investment Better Place has failed to really convince the Israeli public that a swappable electric battery is the way to go. Its partner car and battery builder Renault have also lost the faith in Better Place
Animal Welfare Disaster in Egypt Forces Australia to Suspend Live Exports
Live animal exports to Egypt from Australia have been suspended after Animals Australia – a leading animal rights organization who has exposed cruelty in the controversial export trade – revealed new evidence of widespread animal cruelty in the North African country.
10 Best Beach Holiday Beaches in the Middle East
You might not be able to strut around in a thong or sun tan topless in the Middle East (unless you are at the Naked Dead Sea), but there are many beautiful beaches in the region that just don’t get enough fanfare. That’s why we have rounded up ten of the most sublime sandy destinations.
Israel Arrests Ten 269life Animal Rights Activists, 300 Protest in Tel Aviv
As part of their campaign to make “the walls of slaughter houses transparent,” a guerrila animal rights group in Israel recently scattered the heads of decapitated animals in public places throughout Tel Aviv and surrounding neighborhoods. Last week police arrested ten 269life activists in connection with these rather visual public protests, which included dyeing the [...]
Superpower “Laxative Nut” Jatropha Tree Could Solve Egypt’s Fuel Crisis
In Egypt, people often have to line up for hours to fill their cars and trucks with diesel fuel – particularly during summer months when it comes at a premium. Concerned to ease these shortages, as well as pollution and climate change, Egyptian agricultural engineer Wadad Khaireddine is pushing to grow a desert full of [...]
Iranian Recycled Stone Apartment #1 Among 2013 Aga Khan Architecture Award Nominees
Every three years, the Aga Khan Architecture Award acknowledges projects relevant to Islam that are culturally, environmentally and socially superior. Accompanied by a generous $1 million prize, it is among the world’s most prestigious architecture awards. Apartment #1 by Tehran’s Architecture by Collective Terrain is one of 20 projects nominated, and though it faces stiff [...]
Thula Fort Restoration in Yemen Nominated for 2013 Aga Khan Architecture Award
To the outside world, Yemen is an obscure distant land where Al Qaeda terrorists hang out and men sit around chewing khat, but to its own residents and others familiar with the Middle East, the land harbors a treasure trove of historic artefacts (and so much more). Not only does Yemen have one of the [...]
Chickpea Farmers Wanted in America for Hummus Invasion: Move Over Tobacco!
As hummus, a staple of Middle Eastern cuisine, gains popularity among Americans seeking healthful snacks, tobacco farmers open their fields to chick peas and Pepsico undertakes to develop new hummus food science with an Israeli company, Strauss. Both businesses see massive potential in developing American chick pea strains for a number of good reasons, some perhaps less good. [...]
Ask Geoff – How To Grow A Forest Garden & Free Permaculture Videos
Permaculture teacher Geoff Lawton who is currently based in the Middle East answers all your growing questions Permaculture power couple Nadia and Geoff Lawton, currently based in Jordan, have released a series of great (and free!) Permaculture videos online. The videos are basically a how-to guide of applying Permaculture principles, things to consider before buying [...]
Loggerhead Turtles: Omani Kids Hit Masirah Island to Protect World’s 2nd Largest Population
Oman is a small and increasingly popular country that borders Abu Dhabi, the home of Masdar City and the Shams 1 concentrated solar power plant, and it is hosts the world’s second largest population of Loggerhead Turtles. Listed as vulnerable by the International Union of Conservation (IUCN), these marine turtles can weigh anywhere from 300 [...]