The eastern squat toilet is the world’s perfect eco-toilet. Come and look inside. Some people think they’re primitive, but I love them. The hole-in-the-floor Middle East squat toilets can be found in Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Egypt –– and likely in other Middle East countries I’ve yet to visit. They’re used in China too. Not […]
Marine research on the Red Sea will be more serious, thanks to new ship. With pirates, environmental pollution, increasing water traffic and a collapse of coral reefs, a new research ship with its course set for the Red Sea port of Eilat is good news for us to hear. According to Hebrew University in Jerusalem, […]
Working or praying too close to CFLs? They may cause skin cancer to warn Israeli health officials. A big “green” confession: I never did replace all the bulbs in my home with compact fluorescents (CFLs), those swirly-shaped bulbs which use much less energy and therefor produces fewer greenhouse gases. It was the quality of the […]
I am one of those people who has set up her life to spend as little of it as possible commuting. I grew up with a father who commuted two hours a day traveling to the car plant in Oshawa, Ontario, leaving the family back home with two hours less of our father each day. […]
They are on investors’ hit lists and the green tech media is keen to monitor their progress. Key policy makers from the United States urge them on. Israeli solar technology innovators are channelling and shaping the sun’s energy and breaking the world’s dependence on oil. With organizations like the Cleantech Group, an international business development […]
Planting green roots in the Muslim community in America, this video points out the Islam-inspired Green movements in Washington and California. Like the Jewish eco-groups established for years already in the US, we see over here in Israel how the green values from America translates well to Israel. America’s environment culture has a positive knock-on […]
Model of the new Design Museum Holon building, designed by Israeli-UK designer Ron Arad. Design inspires art and craft. It can make life easier, more beautiful, sinful or divine. Design can also reflect the values of a place. It asks questions and explores cultural values. It can invite new green building materials, and make our […]
When rain pours down on our city streets, it feels cleansing. It looks cleansing too as the water pounds into the pavement and strips oil from the roads, small bits of plastic and paper from the sewer grates, and ice cream stains from sidewalks. But urban rain is anything but clean and fresh, and it’s […]
Ausra’s first solar energy installation in America. The company is now heading to Jordan in the Middle East. Jordan likes the look of nuclear energy: a report this week says the Middle East country has unearthed a large uranium reserve. Some say that nuclear energy is a renewable energy source, but in this Green Prophet’s […]
More news under the sun: Ormat, the geothermal energy company (NYSE:ORA) founded in Israel has entered into a $195 million deal with Sunday Solar, reports the Cleantech forum. Ormat’s Israeli subsidiary plans on working with Sunday Solar to install $195 million worth of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in Israel. It’s Ormat’s first commercial project in […]
Taga’s “transformer” bike-stroller converts quickly to match the pace and space of urban living. But one Green Prophet reader asks: Where are those kids’ helmets? If you liked reading about Taga’s hybrid bike-stroller on Green Prophet, here’s an update: Urban parents are all too familiar with the hassles of driving and parking in the city. […]
“Parasitic” energy harvesting systems. An Israeli company shows it can collect energy from Israel’s highways. Think of the volume of traffic on your city highways. It’s just going to waste. But hopefully not for long: an Israeli company Innowattech has found a way to take the mechanical energy created by cars to convert it to […]
(Bechtel International, Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf), Oil Drill-head; about 1950. Kuwait or Saudi Arabia.) They say the world is a global village. If so, and if the environment is a global concern, more emphasis needs to be put on helping countries like Kuwait where their marine life, its atmosphere and soil levels, according to the […]
It’s getting really hot over here in the Middle East – at least when it comes to solar energy investing and buying. Siemens, reports Haaretz today, just bought Israel’s solar energy company Solel yesterday for a scorching hot price tag of $418 million USD. The news between Siemens and Solel was already bubbling back in July, […]
There had been rumors about it earlier this weeks on Globes, Israel’s financial newspaper. But the story was took down, I guess because of a leak before the deal was sealed. Now General Electric (GE) has unveiled its good news finally, according to ABC News, that it is investing in the Israeli solar technology company […]
Putting picnic trash in the can or taking it home with you for disposal is a type of education a lot of people in Middle Eastern countries are lacking. I’ve seen families at city parks and in the forests leave behind mountains of trash after their BBQs, shaking out the picnic cloth to leave behind […]
Basil grows like a weed. That’s my conclusion after planting a sprig of it 4 months ago. It’s late summer, early fall now here in Jaffa, Israel, and the basil (or basilicum as locals call it) is ripe for the picking. But how many leaves of basil can you garnish your salad with? Or eat […]
Going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land doesn’t mean you have to stay in a stable. Catering to the rich and famous, including celebrities like Sharon Stone and Donna Karan, Mizpe Hayamim (“Lake View” in English) is Israel’s most luxurious hotel, spa and organic restaurant located on Mount Canaan between the mystical city of […]
It looks like yet another investment firm has set up to power solar energy in Israel, taking advantage of Israel’s guaranteed feed-in tariff rates for the next 20 years. According to the business paper Globes, Enlight Renewable Energy (yet with no website in English), is looking to secure financing, yet has won the rights to […]
(Waiting for flights at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel). There’s no denying that wall of Mediterranean heat that hits you like a brick when you disembark at Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv. Soon, Israel’s major international airport will take advantage of all that sun and be partially powered by solar energy. That will make […]
Clean tech investor David Anthony from 21Ventures explains how clean tech entrepreneurs get funding. A plucky little country, is how the late Princess Diana once described Israel to Shimon Peres. About the size of New Jersey, Israel has a disproportionate number of clean tech companies and investment in clean technology compared to its size. And […]
If the Swiss do business with them, they must be doing something right, reasons Eran Tagor, CEO of PowerSines. Founded in 1980 it’s doing more than impressing the discriminating Swiss. With a staff of 55, the company supplies two main products to municipalities and businesses across the globe: the LEC (Lighting Efficient Controller) for retail […]
For Jews in Israel, there is probably no better time to reflect on one’s place in nature and the health of the environment than during Sukkot, the Festival of Booths or the Jewish harvest festival. When I lived in Jerusalem, I could see the small make-shift sukkahs (huts) erected everywhere outside my window – each […]
(Sunrise over the Dead Sea taken from Israel side). The German solar manufacturer SOLON has just signed an agreement with the Israeli investment house Pretium Renewable Energy to do business in the Israeli photovoltaic market, according to the New Energy World Network. The move comes when many other international giants including Siemens and Veolia are […]
Boycotting and destabilizing a country’s business heart for political reasons is fine in my books. But boycotting art, schools, or the environment? Spain, with which Israel has a number of high profile collaborative environmental projects in solar energy and in water, have decided to boycott a solar science project from an Israeli academic team because […]