Dubai police buy $500,000 Lamborghini Cop Car
Dubai police have announced the latest acquisition to their fleet of cop cars: a 700 horsepower Lamborghini Aventador.
Finding Peace In The Little Aya Sophia Mosque, Istanbul
I recently spent a weekend in Istanbul, one of my most beloved cities. My hotel was based in Fatih, the run down section of the old town, and it overlooked the Little Aya Sofya mosque – also spelled Sophia, or Sofia. The morning before I flew, I thought it would be the perfect moment to […]
Israeli Wildflowers Show Environmental Education Can Inspire Change
Today there are a dizzying variety of wildflowers blooming across Israel, welcoming the months of spring. Fifty years ago some of these plant species were on the verge of extinction. With the help of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and the Nature Reserves Authority, the 1965 campaign to publicize the law […]
Amazing Pavegen Tiles Harvest Energy From Footsteps
Paris marathon organizers plan on ripping off its runners! Energy-harvesting tiles placed along an 80 foot section of the Champs Elysee will capture energy from the pounding feet of 40,000 racers. The technology developed by Pavegen offers a tangible way for people to engage with renewable energy generation. The flexible tiles made from recycled truck tires […]
Nile Taxi – Scenic Stress Free Commuting for Cairo’s Residents
Having just returned from Lamu, Kenya, where there is no other way to travel but by boat (or plane or donkey), it seems strange to me that it has taken modern Cairo this long to come up with the idea of a water taxi. But there you have it. Cairenes weary of knotted traffic jams […]
Suspended See-Saw Makes Music from Movement in Morocco
We have to admit that this isn’t anything particularly “green” about this see-saw, but it does harvest the movement of people to make music. And that’s just downright cool. A temporary installation designed for last year’s Marrakech Biennale, The Rise and Fall blends architecture and art to question how people occupy spaces and how those spaces […]
Algerians Mould Bricks from Sahara Sand Dunes
Although the Sahara desert used to be a green retreat for giraffes and hippos 5,000 years ago, it is now a giant, sometimes rolling landscape of sand. A lot of sand. In fact, roughly two thirds of Algeria is made up of sand, according to the authors of a study published in the Arabian Journal […]
Tracking the Impacts of a Hydroelectric Dam Along the Tigris River
Upstream hydroelectric dams have already inhibited the recovery of Iraq’s legendary Mesopotamian Marshes. A massive dam currently under construction in Turkey may wipe them out completely. For the next two months, I’ll be taking a break from my usual Green Prophet posts to report on a transnational environmental issue: the Ilısu Dam currently under construction […]
Watermelon Rind Jam – Recipe
From Iraq with love, a great jam with a surprising ingredient.
Ladies of Solar Unite – at the Women Solar Seminar in Dubai
If it seems like there are just too many men receiving all the glory in the solar industry and not nearly enough women, then you need to attend the Women Solar Seminar in Dubai. Held just one day ahead of one of the most important utility scale solar conferences in the Middle East and North […]
Green Deserts – The Saltwater Revolution (An Ode to Innovation)
We are not alone in our awe of the Sahara Forest Project (SFP), which has already built a pilot project in Qatar that produces energy, clean water and food in the middle of the desert – all without a single drop of fossil fuel. Owned by biomimicry architect Michael Pawlyn, structural engineer Bill Watts, and the Norwegian […]
Estidama Is the Arab World’s Sustainability Rating System: Watch Films on Estidama
These films shown below show the basics of the Estidama Pearl rating system unique to the Abu Dhabi region. We’ve collected a number of films from around the net on Estidama, a LEED-like sustainability rating for communities, villas and apartments in the United Arab Emirates. A system that makes sense for the challenges of the […]
Jerusalem Launches World Pilgrimage Conference for People of Faith
Green Pilgrim Jerusalem hosts a week-long international symposium on greening pilgrimage, with major religious leaders from around the world. Faith and community leaders from around the world will be speaking on ecological, urban and social development as influenced by mass pilgrimage. Our report on the massive urban sprawl that Mecca is becoming illustrates the ecological […]
Are Digital Diet Utensils A Forking Joke?
Eating too fast leads to poor digestion and poor weight control. No brainer. But do we need a digital fork to help adhere to that maxim? Goofing around online, I spot a cool-looking kitchen gadget: a fork that could be a love-child of IKEA and Apple. I click on the video and nearly spit out […]
Will Israel’s Natural Gas Tap Flow to Turkey?
Improvement of Turkish and Israeli ties could make Istanbul a hub for Israeli natural gas deliveries to Europe The discovery and development of large natural gas deposits by Israel in the eastern Mediterranean by local and foreign energy companies such as Delek Energy and Noble Energy has become a game changer for Israel. Up to now, […]