Arwa Aburawa

(Exclusive Interview) Iraqi Mud Architect Talks Sustainability and Corruption in the Middle East

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Architecture & Urban »

Award-winning architect Salma Samar Damluji speaks to GreenProphet about her mud architecture work in Yemen and why she hates Dubai

The Middle East may be a fascinating place politically but architecturally, it’s on its last legs. Years of corruption and poor governance mean it’s slowly becoming one of the ugliest places on earth. You just need look at at the sprawling mess of glass and metal in Dubai to realise that something has gone awry. Salma Samar Damluji, an Iraqi architect of 30 years says that greed and corruption is behind the fall of architecture and insists that this money rush is destroying the region’s architectural heritage one building at a time.

And no-one knows this more than Damluji. For thirty years she has fought what she calls architectural recolonisation in Egypt alongside Hassan Fathy who championed mud architecture practiced by the falaheen (rural peasants). She has also worked in Yemen restoring and renovating eco-friendly mud buildings in Yemen’s Wadi Hadramout where ancient building disappear over night after a quick bribe to the local governor.

Continue reading: “(Exclusive Interview) Iraqi Mud Architect Talks Sustainability and Corruption in the Middle East” »

Bushra Azhar

Every Cloud has a Green Lining: Can the impending GCC federation work for a greener middle east?

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Business & Politics »

I know I know, the proposed federation of six gulf countries has nothing to do with anything remotely green. I also realize that the ulterior motive is to gain political strength and stability in the region and it is possible that this may even escalate the unrest, given that not everyone is happy with this union. However, if the coalition is indeed modeled after the European union, then maybe it could learn a few green lessons from the European Union and serve as the platform that can promote the cause of green energy and cleantech in the region.

Let us look at the ways this can be done:

Image of Cloud with Green lining via Shutterstock

By making laws:

At the moment there are no country wide comprehensive environmental laws in any of the countries in the region. Something along the lines of The European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL) can really help provide the region with a framework for policy makers, agencies and green companies to exchange ideas, and encourages the development of enforcement structures and best practices.

 

By creating funds for use of Cleantech

The proposed federation can promote the use of new and renewable energy sources in an intelligent manner by providing technical and financial support to those contemplating the switch to greener options. The EU has set ambitious targets to achieve clean energy. There is however full realization that use of available technology is not optimum and in order to push the use of these, Intelligent Energy – Europe programme comes into play.

Continue reading: “Every Cloud has a Green Lining: Can the impending GCC federation work for a greener middle east?” »

Tafline Laylin

Egyptian Brothers Design a Clever Separator for Gulf Recyclables

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Architecture & Urban »

recycling, Gulf, waste, pollution, plastic pollution, waste management

Egyptian brothers Mostafa and Mohamed Nassar have designed a clever two-meter tall waste separator that aims to make recycling in Abu Dhabi and the other Emirates “as easy as pressing a button,” The National reports.Providers of steel solutions for construction, oil and gas industries and manufacturing plants, the Abu-Dhabi-raised pair believe that collecting recyclables can be profitable for landlords. But more importantly, they say, Gulf recycling rates will never increase unless the process is made entirely more convenient than it is currently. That’s where the WMS Metal Industries’ ENVIRO waste separator comes in handy.

Continue reading: “Egyptian Brothers Design a Clever Separator for Gulf Recyclables” »

Miriam Kresh

Easy Trifle Recipe for Shavuot

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Food & Health »

image-shavuot-trifleEnjoy a delicious dairy dessert on Shavuot (but don’t count the calories).

Shavuot, the Jewish festival that celebrates receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai, has always been associated with having a dairy meal. The origins of the custom go back to antiquity, and there are several explanations for it. Some hold that milk symbolizes the purity and sweetness of the Torah; as milk is to babies, so the Torah is to the Jewish soul.

Others give a vivid picture of the gathering of the Jewish nation at the foot of Mt. Sinai, waiting for Moses to descend with the Tablets of the Law. Aware of their ignorance as to the laws of kashrut, and wishing to achieve as high a spiritual level as possible, the Jews refrained from eating meat all the 50 days from the Exodus to Shavuot.

But I’m afraid that there is no commandment to eat delicious, decadent, sweet treets like cheesecake (see our recipe) or the trifle described below. Oh, well. My advice is: elevate eating with a blessing, and enjoy.

Continue reading: “Easy Trifle Recipe for Shavuot” »

Laurie Balbo

Peak Phosphorus Fuels the World’s Growing Bellyache

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Food & Health »

wavellite-mineral-sample-an-element-used-in-the-extraction-of-phosphorusWhisked away down the toilet and into our waterways, we are losing stocks of phosphorus and the result can be very scary. 

Looking for something new to worry about? Phosphorus hops onto the list of rapidly diminishing natural resources: a dangerous dwindling of something that probably never crossed your mind. Production will likely peak in our lifetime, and be fully depleted by 2100. So what’s the big deal? Phosphorus is the bedrock of food production.

Continue reading: “Peak Phosphorus Fuels the World’s Growing Bellyache” »

Leigh Cuen

Israel Invests in Domestic Solar Power

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Cleantech, Science & Technology »

solar dish ben gurion university

The World Wildlife Fund and the Cleantech Group recently published a report saying that Israel is the second best place in the world to develop green technologies, second only to Denmark. Israel has long been a major exporter of such innovations, a leading developer of water-saving technology, such as its agricultural inventions, and solar power. Now Israel is starting to bolster its own energy infrastructure, utilizing that world renowned expertise at home.

Continue reading: “Israel Invests in Domestic Solar Power” »

Tafline Laylin

Dubai’s Underwater Hotel by Deep Ocean Technology (PICS)

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Architecture & Urban »

design, Dubai, Disqus Underwater Hotel, Architecture, Gulf, Marine, Deep Ocean Technology

When it first emerged that plans for an underwater hotel in Dubai had been revived, Arwa wrote “Dubai has more gimmicks and tacky accolades than a Las Vegas souvenir store so the last thing it needs is more plastic tat. It’s just not good and most of these outlandish projects pay very little attention to the environmental impact of their development.”

Comprised of an above water disc connected to an underwater disc by five legs, a vertical shaft, lift and stairway, the Water Discus hotel “willl allow guests to admire the depths of the ocean while making the most of the warm climate,” according to Deep Ocean Technology, the project’s designer.

This new development follows on the heels of the Hydropolis project that was sunk in 2009 when a financial crisis caused an exodus of expatriates and their investment dollars. But now it seems that Dubai is beginning to recover and has learned absolutely nothing about the impact of too much intervention on the Gulf’s fragile ecosystem. Step in for more renders of this crazy underwater hotel and let us know, should it be built?

Continue reading: “Dubai’s Underwater Hotel by Deep Ocean Technology (PICS)” »

Susan Kraemer

Arava Drags Israel into Solar Century with 58.5 MW Project Licensed, Contracted, and Financed

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Business & Politics »

arava solar investment israel
Is the sun finally rising on Israeli solar?

After a very slow start in solar energy production, Israel is finally beginning to join her Arab neighbors fast-forwarding into a solar future, like the Saudis’ $109 Billion Solar Plan to Power a Third of Saudi Arabia.

Arava Power Company, Israel’s only solar developer to make any headway against the entrenched bureaucratic resistance, now has financing and power agreements for eight solar power projects totaling 58.5 MW, valued at (a comparatively high by U.S. standards) $204 million.

In March, the company was given the go ahead by the country’s Public Utility Authority (PUA) to install a 40 MW project, once it got funding from the Obama administration in February.

(Related: Arava’s 40 MW Solar to Power a Third of Touristy Eliat’s Peak Power.)

But the only project to be approved prior to that was (again, Arava’s) small 5 MW installation that we covered in Bedouin Solar Power Activate! Even that tiny project faced months of bureaucratic battles.

Continue reading: “Arava Drags Israel into Solar Century with 58.5 MW Project Licensed, Contracted, and Financed” »

Tafline Laylin

Track the Sun-Powered Solar Impulse Flight to Spain and Morocco

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Cars & Transportation »

green transportation, green design, solar power, Morocco, MASEN, Solar ImpulseAs I write this, the Solar Impulse is traveling 94.2 km/h at an altitude of 7,016 meters en route to Madrid, where co-pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg will switch seats before leaving for their final destination Morocco. This is the world’s very first sun-powered transcontinental flight and its historic landing in Rabat, Morocco will coincide with the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy’s (MASEN) inauguration of the first of five massive thermo-solar plants in the Ouarzazate region.

Continue reading: “Track the Sun-Powered Solar Impulse Flight to Spain and Morocco” »

Tafline Laylin

Gorgeous WEwood Watches Made of Salvaged Wood on Sale in Egypt

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Fashion & Design »

sustainable design, salvaged materials, fashion, design, Egypt, WEwood, eco-design WEwood watches are the brainchild of an Italian shoemaker who loves watches and two entrepreneurs who are eager to restore the earth we devoured in just 250 years; together they have grown a sustainable, avant-garde business that has expanded its reach from Florence to Los Angeles and most recently to Cairo.

Each unique piece is made of salvaged wood that would have been scrapped otherwise and fitted with Miyota’s state of the art timekeeping mechanism. They are splash-proof and svelte and contain nary a toxic, artificial chemical. Hit the jump to see a few images and to find out how to make one your own.

Continue reading: “Gorgeous WEwood Watches Made of Salvaged Wood on Sale in Egypt” »

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