The idea that Brits love their tea is proving to be full of beans. The average Londoner drinks 2.3 cups of coffee a day, and the resultant spent coffee grounds end up in landfills which damage the environment, and – given the British landfill tax – is a costly means of waste disposal. Now those grinds […]
A century-old fermentation process to transform plant material into a propellant, could eventually replace gasoline. In 1914, thirty-five years before Chaim Weizmann (pictured center beside Einstein) would become Israel’s first president, he discovered a fermentation process for harnessing bacteria to produce large quantities of useful chemicals. For this discovery, Weizmann was called the father of industrial […]
A woman fills up car in Haifa with methanol and gasoline fuel mixture. More bang for her buck? Photo: Haaretz/David Bachar Alternative car fuel mixtures have been talked about for years. Many gas stations in the US incorporate ethanol into their blends, all the way to fuel made from human and animal “poop”. More recently, […]
Despite the many wounds that cripple cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian governments, Arab and Jewish teenagers work side by side to further algae research in Israel. Established in 2008, the Micro Algae Educational Project packs two important imperatives into one succinct program for high school students: ecology and social healing. Conducted in the Eco […]
Known as the ‘Queen of Mean’ because of her tyrannical behavior towards just about everyone who crossed her path, Leona M. Helmsley was also a convicted felon who set up a $12 million trust for her Maltese Trouble. That amount was reduced to a more reasonable $2 million to ensure lifelong care for the dog, […]
Abu Dhabi cars to run on compressed natural gas. The Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) has converted 20 vehicles in its fleet of 500 to run on compressed natural gas (CNG). It’s part of their commitment to reduce harmful emissions and their press release says they’ll convert about 20% percent of the total fleet […]
Late this February Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist, along with Israel Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, hosted a competition to honor Israel’s leading cleantech start-ups. Among the 12 competition finalists, was UniVerve, an Israeli biofuel company that specializes in using microalgae to create oil. UniVerve has gained international recognition for its microalgae technology, […]
Making alcohol from sugars is easy; maybe the third oldest profession in the world. Making butanol from zebra droppings is another story. Processors have made ethanol from cornstarch and sugar for decades, but using food products to make biofuel raises demand for staple commodities like corn and seed oils with disastrous impact to the food […]
Etihad Airways operates first biofuel powered delivery flight with Boeing and Sky Energy Etihad Airways from the United Arab Emirates scores a double play in the Green World Series: Becoming both the first airline to fly on biofuel directly from the factory and the first biofuel-flying Gulf carrier. Not yet on its fuel-efficient Dreamliners, Etihad’s new […]
One day, giant algae biofuel farms like this prototype may help solve world fuel and food needs Interest in creating biofuels from algae is increasing. We’ve covered Isaac Berzin from GreenFuel who rejuvenated NASA’s original idea; then there is Iran creating biofuel from algae (they didn’t answer our emails though); and Seambotic an Israel company […]
Algae based bio-fuel may someday be an important fuel source Los Angeles based Origin Oil has recently announced its intention to up-list its stock exchange shares as a result of the development of a new large scale oil extraction from algae process that could result in the process of up to 1100 liters (300 gallons) […]
Is biofuel from the Jatropha tree- which Jordan is experimenting with- really as green and sustainable as we think? In a recent article, I debated whether we should encourage the Middle East to embrace biofuels as a real and sustainable alternative to the region’s current dependence on gas and oil. It followed an announcement from […]
The Jatropha plant may produce bio-diesel for cars but, like other biofuels, it also leads to a rise in food prices due to competition for land space From solid gold biofuel Mercedes in Abu Dhabi to biofuel-producing algae lakes in Iran, it seems that biofuels are destined to play a part in the region’s future […]
Governor Deval Patrick tour through Israel and the UK is aimed at fostering stronger “green” partnerships. During a ten day trip that commenced in Israel on March 7th, delegates of The Massachusetts Innovation Economy Partnership Mission 2011 are meeting with Israeli and UK business leaders and government officials. The focus of these meetings will be on expanding […]
Is using human fat as lipo-diesel going too far in the name of environmentalism? In general, most people look for ways to trim the fat. Trim some fat out of your diet, or your budget, or, if you’re “green”, trim some fat out of your carbon emissions. But how do you know if you’re going […]