“If the Israeli government can ever formulate a binding peace accord with the Palestinians, both entities could have access to enough natural gas reserves to satisfy their energy needs for at least 100 years.” This statement was made a few years back by a representative of British Gas, one of the world’s largest energy exploration […]
Israel’s water crisis has been in the news a lot lately. We have all heard how low the Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee) is, and seen suggestions on how to save water this summer. Although it receives much less media coverage, water scarcity has also become a major issue in the Palestinian Territories. This past […]
One of the wonderful elements of the open market is that we actually do have the power to make changes. You don’t like the way a store treats its customers? Tell your friends to complain. If that store is smart, it will change it’s ways. This can be applied to environmental products as well. If […]
Last week in Haaretz, Naamah Lanski reported on the new green police in town. They’re about a meter tall, can’t read or write yet, and you better not throw away plastic bottles (or any other recyclables), leave lights on, or even pack lunches in plastic bags around them. That’s right. Israel’s kindergartens are going green. […]
Should Israel’s premiere environment preservation group support settlement activities? Regarded as one of, if not the, most respected environmental NGOs in Israel, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) has a lot to be proud of. Perhaps best known for its tours and field schools, it also works on grassroots community initiatives […]
Anyone who has ever experienced Bedouin hospitality will know that the kettle is always on in a Bedouin home: brewing either the strong bitter coffee, or a special infusion of sweet tea, brewed with desert herbs. If you delve a bit further, you will hear that although the Bedouin know all about life and survival […]
Every Israeli knows what the Sea of Galilee’s (a main source of Israel’s drinking water) red line means. It’s bad. It means Israel is running out of water and we’re all in trouble. So when the Israel Water Authority came out with a campaign about two weeks ago saying that Israel’s water levels were deteriorating […]
Last month Green Prophet wrote about the controversy over the so-called “Peace Canal” or “Peace Valley” lauded by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in his recent trip to Israel. A huge man-made canal carrying water north from the Red Sea was envisaged as the centrepiece of the joint Israeli-Jordanian initiative, backed by claims of breathing life […]
Sea pollution closes the beaches in Bat Yam. (Credit: Zalul Environmental Association) For a long time now, Israel’s water resources haven’t been getting the respect they deserve. Out of the 16 rivers that flow into the Mediterranean Sea, all 16 are polluted – many to the point that you wouldn’t even let your dog go […]
Lycored has been in the natural food coloring business for some time and realized the amazing anti-oxidant properties found in tomatoes could be used in the cosmetics business. The company has recently developed an alternative sunscreen that you ingest. This is good news for bleaching corals, transexualizing fish, and for our health — it is […]
Leaders from Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority concluding talks in Tokyo yesterday with the announcement that they plan to start building an agro-industrial park in the Palestinian Territories by next year. The agro-industrial park could provide jobs for up to 6,000 Palestinians in the West Bank. According to Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, the […]
Desalination plant in Israel Earlier this week, Michael Green wrote about Shimon Peres’ “Peace Valley” project, which will create a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, as well as a huge tourist complex in the Arava dubbed the “Las Vegas of the Middle East.” Although the Peace Valley is relatively new, plans […]
There are lots of green businesses out there – cleantech businesses, organic farmers, environmentally conscious designers, and plenty more. But what about businesses with no clear environmental agenda? What’s a software company or a furniture manufacturer that wants to go green supposed to do? Hire a greener. A business greener, that is. Erez Steinberg, an […]
From creating the world’s most popular puzzle website (and a Time Magazine top 50), Israeli-British entrepreneur and hightech whiz Gideon Greenspan decided to change gears and put a focus on the environment. A couple of years ago, Gideon (who is based in Tel Aviv) was looking for a way to offset his travel and was […]
Summer is here, the pools are open and the sea is beckoning. Let’s pack our bags get our swimsuits and go for a swim. Going to the pool or beach with your little ones can be great fun, a fabulous way to cool down and relax with the kids and helps build their confidence in […]
The Israel cleantech world is buzzing over BrightSource and its subsidiary Luz II. The companies recently invited the press to visit the world’s first operating solar thermal field in the Negev Desert, for creating clean and efficient solar energy. The 12,000 square meter test site will generate 1.5 MW of electricity. Cheaper heliostats, no need […]
Last week, I visited the town of Umm El Fahem with staff members from Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME). FoEME is a trilateral Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian environmental organization that brings environmentalists together to work on issues of shared regional concern. As the Summer 2008 FoEME intern, I am assisting with the Pro-Aquifer […]
While Israel has some of the world’s most promising clean technology companies in producing renewable energy — consider the geothermal power company Ormat [ORA (TLV)]and its geothermal power station in Nevada or Solel’s solar energy plant in the Mohave Desert – proving viability on Israeli turf has been a sore spot for inventors and would-be international […]
(Prof. Avi Kribus) Center will explore clean energy production through transformational technologies and unique multidisciplinary approach Natural resources everywhere are rapidly being depleted. Traditional energy sources, like oil, have become hostages to a weakening world economy. The future, it seems, may depend on renewable energy ― new technology that bridges scientific disciplines and commercial opportunities. […]
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the organic baby in the baby carriage. Today we would like to welcome, the guest post of Avi Yacove who has just helped give life to Baby Organic, a new online baby’s clothing store based in Israel. Writes Avi: Baby Organic came to mind as an idea […]
It’s one thing when designers take brand new ready-made materials and transform them into something else. It’s another thing entirely when designers take old ready-mades and reincarnate them in order to avoid waste. Reincarnation is what Israeli designer Doron Sar-Shalom is all about. His designs, which consist mainly of lamps, are constructed out of unlikely […]
As part of our mission to foresee a green, environmentally-sound future for Israel, its neighbors and the world, we’ll be occasionally featuring blogs from the regional blogosphere that also care about all things green, especially those in Arab countries where green issues are relatively undeveloped. Last week we featured environmental blogs from Lebanon and Jordan, […]
Last month, hundreds of Tel Aviv residents spent their Friday afternoon marching up Rothschild Boulevard in support of the Clean Air Act, stuck in the Knesset for the past three years. Knesset lawmakers must have been paying attention – last week the act passed its first reading. Video by Daniel Cherrin and Jesse Fox.
Yesterday was much like any other summer day in Israel: sunny, hot and dry. But for Alon Tamari, CEO of SolarPower Israel, it is not one that will be forgotten in a hurry: “It’s a historical day, there’s no other way to put it.” Along with the summer heat came the long-awaited announcement that the […]
It’s one thing to be a polluter and another to have the chutzpah to not pay your fine. According to Haaretz, Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection is having such a hard time collecting fines that they are now issuing a tender to help collect and handle debts totaling NIS 60m. It’s a sad story, really, […]