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 that suck the marrow right out of their bones now have a new way to travel and it’s not that expensive: Nile Taxi.
Nile Taxi – Scenic Stress Free Commuting for Cairo’s Residents
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 in turn occupy them. Frankly, we think this is an important thought experiment in a region that pays so little attention to the occupation of its people by crowded, polluted, and poorly planned urban environments.
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 for Science and Engineering. And they believe it can be used to produce a sustainable building material for a limping construction industry. That’s right, they want to turn the dunes into bricks, and they already have a pretty good formula.
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 in Turkey, and the ways it will transform life along the Tigris River. My trip is funded by a National Geographic Young Explorer Grant and the Center for Investigative Reporting.
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 Africa region, MENASOL 2013, this fantastic event explores the role of women in this explosive industry. Hosted for the second time by Nikita Shree, the seminar will be held on May 13th at the Regency Hyatt Dubai Hotel.Â
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 environmental group the Bellona Foundation, the Sahara Forest Project was initially established in 2009.
Inspired by the SFP’s multitiered solution to one of the most pressing issues of our time – water scarcity – The Copenhagen Film Company has been following the group’s progress in both Qatar and Jordan. They are making a documentary called Green Deserts – The Saltwater Revolution – an ode to innovation that hopes to inspire even further forward-looking solutions.Â
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 desert climate, and Muslim communities.
Environmental, economic, social and cultural aspects are woven into the rating systems to include homes, mosques, schools to meet the challenges of Abu Dhabi’s challenging environment: hot and dry! Â Watch these films to learn more about this unique system developed to reduce the consumption of local resources. Any companies looking to work in the United Arab Emirates’ green space should watch these movies to get the basics.
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 impact of the Haj, for example. Efforts like this one to make the Haj green need to be supported, and we look forward to hearing encouraging developments along those lines as a result of Jerusalem Symposium on Green Pilgrimage.
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 my lunch (soup, by the way, not a fork in sight). The HAPIfork is an electronic tool that helps you monitor your eating habits, alerting you with indicator lights and gentle vibrations when you eat too fast. It tracks “fork servings”, which are the round-trip motions between your plate and your mouth. The device also measures the time it takes to eat your meal and the total number of “fork servings” per minute.
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, Israel has had to import most of its energy supplies which became problematic following the frequent attacks against the gas line bringing natural gas from Egypt to both Israel and Jordan. This alone caused Israel to shift its energy attention offshore; and upon reaching large natural gas deposits in the Tamar undersea gas fields, Israel began constructing an undersea pipeline to bring the gas ashore.
Egypt’s Green-Roofed Bio Boat Entirely Wind and Solar Powered
Among nature’s most devoted heroes throughout the Middle East and North Africa, the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) has released renders of a new bio boat that will be used to educate children about the Red Sea’s numerous (albeit largely threatened) bio marvels.
Funded in part by the U.S. Forest Service, which has created all kinds of low impact natural wonderlands in parks across the United States, the boat is slated for completion by summer this year.
Bling for Books: Angelina Jolie Opens School in Afghanistan
Angelina Jolie funds girls’ schools in Afghanistan with the proceeds of her luxury jewelry line.
Hollywood actress and goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR), Angelina Jolie is building girls-only primary schools throughout the country. One particular school, which opened last November, educates about 300 girls and is located outside Kabul in an area with a high population of refugees. In 2010, she opened her first school in eastern Afghanistan, according to the UNCHR. The focus on all-girls’ schools is intended to counterbalance a cultural bias that values boys’ education over girls’.
A Greener Sahara for Elephants and Hippos – 5,000 Years Ago
Researchers keen to understand the role that dust plays in climate change have discovered that 5,000 years ago, what we now think of as the vast, unforgiving Sahara desert home to nomads and camels was once a green grassland where elephants and giraffe roamed, RD Mag reports.
From 11,000 to 5,000 years ago, the 3.5 million square miles of sand and dunes had pockets of water, where hippos cheerfully went about their business. But then, quite drastically, the climate changed, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Columbia University scientists want to know why.
Ali Lamu Upcycles Weathered Dhow Sails into Inspiring Art
“This is not a romance story,” Daniella told me during a recent interview. I met the petite woman at her home on Lamu Island in northern Kenya to speak with her husband, Ali Lamu, whose name is synonymous with a brand of upcycled dhow sails or tangas that are now distributed throughout the world.
Daniella first visited this remote island, formerly an Omani protectorate, with her ex-boyfriend. He moved on but she, now brokenhearted, decided to stay on in order to compile a “reportage” of the local fishermen. Which is where the love story begins. As Daniella spent more time with these men of the sea, the free-spirited Swiss woman couldn’t help but sympathize with their new world stresses. And they in turn looked to her to help.
Ormat to Provide 330 Megawatts of Geothermal Energy in Sumatra, Indonesia
Indonesia has 40 percent of the world’s exploitable geothermal energy potential.
A big congratulations to Ormat technologies of Yavne, Israel for signing a $254 million deal for providing geothermal energy in Indonesia! The first phase of the 330-megawatt Sarulla geothermal power station in Sumatra is due to begin operating in 2016.
Sumatra lies in one of the most geologically active parts of the Pacific ring of fire and is known for numerous active volcanoes. The nearby volcano of Krakatoa was responsible for the largest eruption in recorded history and Sumatra’s Toba volcano was responsible for earth’s largest volcanic eruption in the past two million years.Â