The Gaza Strip seems like the last place in the world where we would hear good news on the environmental – or any – front. Since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip last summer, Israel has imposed a nearly total blockade, resulting in shortages of everything from fuel to water to food and medical supplies.
In the context of this crisis, two innovators from Gaza, Waseem Khazendar and Fayaz Anan, decided to respond to the dire conditions of their community, and in doing so made this corner of the globe a little greener.
Khazendar and Anan created the first Palestinian electric car!
Khazendar and Anan converted a 1994 Peugot 205 to run on 34 standard car batteries. It travels up to 60 mph, and can run for up to 100 miles on a single charge. The car can be charged by a standard electrical outlet for just $1.50 per charge, which is a stark contrast to the $50 per gallon highs that Gaza Strip drivers have paid for gasoline.
And best of all, the car produces zero greenhouse gas emissions!
Four hundred people in Gaza have already lined up to pay $2,500 for the conversion. Because of the Israeli blockade, however, Anan says that they only have the supplies to convert 30 or 40 cars. If Israel allows more materials to cross the border, it might drop the conversion price to $1,700.
The pair are thinking of turning their project into a multimillion dollar business. Khazendar spoke with an Israeli firm about obtaining a patent for their engine. Anan said he would be happy to work with Israelis for business: “Maybe we, Israelis and Palestinians, can save the world together.”
::Christian Science Monitor
Photo: Mohammed Salem/Reuters
Want to learn more about green automobiles in the Middle East? Check out Hybrid Cab Fleet Taking Over Tel Aviv? or The Electric Car Hype Intensifies
Author: Rachel Bergstein
When her vegan summer camp counselor explained to a fifteen-year-old Rachel how the dairy industry pollutes the groundwater in poor rural communities and causes global warming, there was no turning back. Her green fire lit, Rachel became increasingly passionate about the relationship between human societies and the natural environment, particularly about the systemic injustices associated with environmental degradation. After snagging a B.A. in Peace and Justice Studies at the University of Maryland, where she wrote an undergraduate thesis on water injustice in Israel/Palestine and South Africa, Rachel was awarded the New Israel Fund/Shatil’s Rabbi Richard J. Israel Social Justice Fellowship to come and spread the green gospel in Israel for the 2009-2010 academic year. She currently interns for Friends of the Earth Middle East in their Tel Aviv office. When Rachel is not having anxiety about her ecological footprint, carbon and otherwise, she can be found in hot pursuit of the best vegetarian food Tel Aviv has to offer. She also blogs about her experience as an NIF fellow and environmentalist in Israel at organichummus.wordpress.com. Rachel can be reached at rachelbergstein (at) gmail (dot) com.
This is great stuff.
I would wish that innovation such as this would become mainstream regardless of the current political and environmental conditions.
Robert
Just a little nitpick – but an important one, in my view.
There are greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from driving this car, just not from the tailpipe. The electricity to drive the car comes from 70% burning of coal and almost all of the rest from burning oil or natural gas – all fossil fuels which emit substantial GHG. And that’s the good scenario: if the electricity comes from a diesel generator, then the GHG emissions are greater and air pollution is MUCH worse. Just because no emissions come out of the tailpipe, doesn’t mean that they disappear. In fact, instead of being spread out over large areas, they are concentrated in 2 or 3 point sources, usually in areas that have a disproportionate impact on poorer communities.
The benefit of electric vehicles stems from the greater efficiency in centralized power production, and in the greater conversion of electrical energy into drive power.
So on the balance, the electric car is beneficial – especially as the renewable portion increases – but it is not a ZEV (zero emissions vehicle) as some would present it.
And as we always hear in the alternative energy field, there is no one solution to the problem but many. A few months ago it was widely reported (I believe on Green Prophet as well) how the Gazans were making biodiesel from falafel grease (http://features.us.reuters.com/autos/news/L30461830.html). Perhaps the Israeli blockade will serve as incubator for even more wonderful innovation?