As the resting place of the Abraham and (unfortunately) a hot spot for conflict, the West Bank city of Hebron (or Hevron or al-Khalil, depending on who you ask!) is pretty notorious.
Soon, this city will also become an important part of the Middle East’s ongoing clean energy revolution!
Last week the European Commission signed an agreement with the Patient’s Friend Society Al Ahli Hospital in Hebron to finance a wind-energy production system for over 40 percent of the hospital’s energy needs.
“This will be the first institution in Palestine to generate its electricity from wind power, and it is hoped that this project can serve as a model for others,” organizers said in a statement sent to Ma’an News Agency. “This landmark project will constitute a model for green energy systems in the region.”
In addition to installing a wind turbine that can produce as much as 700 kilowatts of energy to serve the hospital’s needs, the project will study the potential for further wind energy development in the West Bank. Hebron, which is one of the largest cities in the West Bank, is an ideal location for wind energy production because of its high elevation and near-constant winds.
Expanding the renewable energy sector in the Palestinian Territories is important because it will both allow Palestinians to meet their human and economic development needs (consider that this first project is powering one of the West Bank’s largest health care systems!) and to protect the local and global environment.
This is certainly good news, and hopefully the first of many such achievements!
:: Ma’an News
Image: dawnzy58
For more on Palestinian environmental solutions:
Gaza Teacher Promotes Solar Panels During Blackouts In The Strip
European Union to Help Protect Palestinian Environment
Palestinian Eco-Activism is on the Rise
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.
