Windows are one of the most significant costs in building projects or home renovations. Next to that are the bills homeowners have to pay for heating and air conditioning. Solving two problems under one roof — literally — is an Israeli company Alubin that has developed all-season reversible windows. The solution is also good for […]
Despite the ongoing conflict in Israel, a three-day international conference on renewable energy planned for February is going ‘full steam ahead,’ according to organizers. Far from the range of Hamas rocket strikes, the three-day Eilat-Eilot International Renewable Energy Conference will take place in the southernmost city in Israel, from February 17-19, at Eilat’s Herod’s Palace. […]
Green Prophet recently interviewed Achmed Khammas. Achmed grew up in Syria and now lives in Germany, and he tells us about the new popular online resource he built: The “Book of Synergy,” and his vision and research in renewable energy, environmental activism in Syria, and personal views on Middle East peace. My full name is Achmed […]
On Thursday, January 15, several organizations are joining together for a forum titled “Greening of Jerusalem.” The event is bringing together local cleantech companies, investors, Jerusalem government officials and the Jerusalem public in a joint effort to make the vision of a cleaner, more sustainable world possible and to make Jerusalem and Israel the center […]
(This AP photo shows a concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in Spain which reflects light to a central tower to produce power. A pilot project using CSP is underway in Tehran.) Does a country that “promises” to wipe Israel off the map have a right to create nuclear energy for “power?” I must admit, […]
(Example of a pellet stove from Canada, and the chips and pellets they burn). Pellet stoves take condensed biological matter –– wood or biomass pellets –– to create a source of heat for residential and industrial spaces. They burn slower, for more time and can lower the heating bills. Environmentalists see pellet stoves as a “green” […]
No stone is left unturned in our desperate search for energy sources to wean us from our dependence on fossil fuels. Sources of primary renewable energy, like solar, wind, and geothermal are the primary focus, but some overlooked sources are also getting attention, because every little bit counts. We’ve seen reports on generating electricity from […]
(Photo from recent CleanIsrael meetup). Last Monday evening, the Arison Lobby at the IDC in Herzliya was full with founders of clean technology startups, VCs , investors, researchers and other cleantech professionals who gathered for the first Cleantech Startup Showcase, organized by CleanIsrael in conjunction with the new Institute for Renewable Energy Policy and Applied […]
Coincidentally, Green Prophet spoke earlier today with Zohar Zisapel, a founder of RAD, the company that owns RADVISION, a NASDAQ-traded company. Zisapel, who says he’s looking to solar and green tech, will appear soon in a story we’re writing for ISRAEL21c. Today we have a guest post from RADVISION’s Sagee Ben-Zedeff, on the greenness of […]
Yissum, the Technology Transfer Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is launching a 1 million U.S. dollar program to support the development of outstanding cleantech inventions by scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The launch will take place on December 25th at the Givat Ram campus of Hebrew University and feature a keynote […]
Events and frenetic discussion, both academic and activist in nature, have continued apace here at the 2nd Drylands and Desertification Conference here in Sde Boker, and I’ve taken an afternoon off to process the previous days proceedings. (You can see yesterday’s recap of the conference here.) The theme of day 2 was titled ‘the role […]
Israel’s pioneering Desert University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), is currently hosting the 2nd biannual ‘Drylands, Deserts and Desertification‘ conference at their deep desert outpost at the Sde Boker Campus. Day 1 has focussed upon Life and Soil Degredation in the Drylands, and has seen a wide range of experts presenting fieldwork and research […]
Planted in Israel’s Negev Desert is an academic oasis of scientists and their students. They are studying a natural resource that may be more valuable than oil in the not-so-distant future. That resource is water. Dr. Ofer Dahan from the Department of Environmental Hydrology and Microbiology at Ben Gurion University is one of the 26 […]
The significant role of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in developing the study of movement ecology has achieved international recognition through extensive coverage in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a leading American scientific journal. Movement ecology is a developing academic pursuit, combining expertise in a variety of fields, including […]
Though Green Prophet is skeptical about Shai Agassi‘s Project Better Place, we are watching the developments of the project with interest. This week, the prototype of the electric car recharging station was unveiled in Israel. The prototype was designed in San Francisco and developed in Israel with the cooperation of Nekuda DM. The station features […]
The chemical pesticides used in modern agriculture and in the home are poisoning our planets’ animal life, waterways and ecosystems. They enter our bodies, and can even affect unborn children. Helping humanity break from this nasty cycle of destruction is an Israeli company, BotanoCap. The company envisions a future where organic produce will be the […]
Those who have been following the Red-Dead canal proposal, and all its controversies, know that a lot is at stake. The Dead Sea is dying because natural estuaries, such as the Jordan River, Ein Gedi bottled spring water and rainwater are not making it to its shores. Politicians think that by carving a tunnel from […]
Convening at the Ben Gurion University’s Sede Boqer campus on December 14-17, over 350 people from 40 countries are expected to meet and map out ways to combat desertification around the world. The four-day gathering is the largest international conference ever held in Israel focused on an environmental topic, and probably the largest international academic […]
Flash floods are the most common natural disaster in the United States, and a big killer in the Middle East too (see Relief Web’s report on Yemen). And OneWorld blog here on the Yemen flash flood which recently displaced more than 20,000 people. Because of the unpredictability of flash floods, they’re a leading weather-related cause […]
Thanks to a local Qatari blog, Qatar Visitor, Green Prophet recently learned about potential desert seawater greenhouse construction in Qatar. What exactly is a desert seawater greenhouse, you might ask? We had to look it up, too. According to the Seawater Greenhouse Company’s website: “Seawater Greenhouse is a unique concept which combines natural processes, simple […]
Besides the wonderful team of people I get to work with, one of the best aspects of working with the newservice ISRAEL21c is that they le” me report on environment news and breakthroughs. Their support of the environment started about 5 years ago, when not a single paper in Israel was covering the beat. One […]
Not much different from political views or soccer favorite, people are very conservative when it comes to their laundry, or at least on how to dry it. Those who favor laundry lines claim that the tumbling electric dryer damages the clothes, (the residues left in the filter prove that), consumes electricity, which is bad for […]
Israel touts some of the world’s best solar technology advances (see our extensive solar energy company guide here), but its Middle East neighbor Dubai, says it is planning to set up the region’s largest solar energy manufacturing plant. They are expected to start producing by the last quarter in 2010, and will manufacture photovoltaic panels […]
Businesses play a huge role in our everyday impact on the environment. The way that businesses conduct themselves – ranging from what services or products they provide, to what means they use to provide them, and what kind of energy consumption habits they have – all effect their carbon footprint. And since we live in […]
Industrial and municipal waste doesn’t go away when we flush it down the drain. It takes an enormous amount of energy for treatment plants to process it, while massive environmental and financial costs go into disposing of the leftover sludge. Now, two Israelis are about to change the way we look at wastewater, by turning […]