Who doesn’t want to jump onto the carbon offset bandwagon when you see Coldplay advocating it? I mean come on, that’s a cool bunch of guys, and if they are doing it, it must be the right thing to do. As interest in environmental issues has grown, so has the alluring, politically correct, celebrity-sanctioned model […]
Oil refinery in the Haifa Port. Though Israeli electricity prices rose nearly 9 percent at the end of last month due to reported natural gas shortages, Israel’s energy ministry has decided that Israel will export half of the natgas it pumps from its offshore reserves in the Mediterranean Sea. Called the Zemach Committee, and led […]
Half as tall as the Burj Dubai, this soaring tower (if realized) could absorb some of Cairo’s crowds. How to deal with Cairo’s crowds is a complex dilemma that IAMZ Design Studio has approached with this soaring Father and Son Skyscraper. Inspired by the relationship between a father and son, the young Egyptian architect has […]
Within 50 years, water trapped hundreds of thousands of years ago will be depleted by Saudi desert farms using pivot irrigation. Water is a non-renewable resource in the Saudi desert, which only receives one inch of rain a year, so it makes sense to use existing resources very, very carefully, right? For ancient desert dwellers, […]
Able to store enough heat to generate power that can last well into the night, Masdar’s Gemasolar, built in Spain last year was state of the art in solar thermal energy storage, able to reach temperatures of over 500°C. Now a U.S. startup funded by the Obama administration energy department with a $3.3 million ARPA-E grant has […]
Dubai is considering biological control: camels to dine in Dubai’s Ras al Khor wildlife sanctuary overrun by mangrove trees Too many mangroves is not a good thing – at least not at the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary in Dubai, where they were introduced in 1990. So an ecologist at Dubai’s Wildlife Protection office has […]
Saudi Arabia has lots of open land, and lots of sand which is rich in silicon; which is needed to make polysilicon for the solar industry. This year, the Kingdom has announced its second polysilicon manufacturing partnership, this time with Germany’s Centrotherm Photovoltaics.A year ago, Saudi Arabia had announced a $1 billion solar joint venture […]
We travelled to Zazen Boutique Resort on Koh Samui, Thailand and were pleasantly surprised at their pioneering eco initiatives on an island without much awareness. I just read a New York Times article: Billionaire, If Only for a Day, where a middle class writer slipped on the shoes, and lifestyle of the very rich for […]
This guest post by Daniella Dimitrova Russo the co-founder and executive director of Plastic Pollution Coalition gives us reasons to still worry about buying BPA-free products. What is the connection between obesity, reproductive and other endocrine-related conditions, heart disease, and cancer? Recent studies point conclusively towards one ubiquitous chemical that is used in everything from […]
The most advanced country in the world for "legalizing it" for medical reasons, the main reason Israelis can smoke cannabis to feel better is this man Rafael Mechoulam.
A wastewater treatment plant in Israel rolls out the brown carpet for holiday tourists We’ve seen the most foul waste treatment plants come out smelling like roses after reclamation programs, and energy generated from human waste is no longer surprising to anyone who hears about it, but we never really thought that our most refined […]
A bit ridiculous? Change your font size by one point and save trees…? It’s called the Minus One Project, and it is a very neat example of a practical project with one very specific objective: it encourage offices, schools, homes and everyone else to lower their font by one size before printing. Maybe not the perfect idea […]
Age-old agricultural techniques in the West Bank help conserve rare plants that might otherwise have perished, according to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. A new survey shows that farmers following traditional practices in the south Hebron Hills have sustained a large number of rare plants. According to plant researcher Yair Or, the fieldwork turned […]
Could you ever imagine patios like this one built with composite materials? If you’ve been thinking about building a hanging garden on your urban Middle East deck, patio, or porch, spring is the perfect time to start planting your seeds. While people living in crazy and compact Middle East cities like Beirut, Tel Aviv, Cairo […]
A Lebanese man takes on a bucking bull at Lebanon’s very own dude ranch… do you think he made 8 seconds? If you’ve always dreamed about cowboys and Indians, stop. They fought and killed each other and it was grisly. But the southwestern ranch lifestyle is entirely less violent and now it’s possible to taste […]