Last week was the annual ‘Made in Palestine 2012’ fair showcasing local Palestinian innovations. Now in its seventh year, the fair was co-sponsored by the Swedish NGO Diakonia and by Al Nayzak, a Palestinian organization. There were two exhibitions, one in the West Bank, at the Ramallah Cultural Palace exhibition hall, and one in the […]
A woman fills up car in Haifa with methanol and gasoline fuel mixture. More bang for her buck? Photo: Haaretz/David Bachar Alternative car fuel mixtures have been talked about for years. Many gas stations in the US incorporate ethanol into their blends, all the way to fuel made from human and animal “poop”. More recently, […]
A family was found dead on Thursday in Istanbul, reports Turkish daily Today’s Zaman, after carbon monoxide fumes from their coal-fired heating stove leaked out and poisoned them. Since 2002, carbon monoxide poisoning has claimed approximately 350 lives in Turkey, according to Turkish Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin. In the southern province of Gaziantep alone, 2,771 residents […]
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its neighbor the United Arab Emirates have been included in the Ernst & Young Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices, which evaluates the renewable energy markets of 40 countries across the globe. Two of the top oil producers on earth, the KSA and UAE each possess the requisite capital and […]
Israel’s high court has ordered the state to come up with an alternative to a separation fence that would have threatened valuable agricultural land in the West Bank. The fence was planned for an area near Battir that Palestinians have been farming for hundreds of years using traditional techniques, but in a historic provisional ruling, […]
Holiday shopping can be challenging but need it also be horrifying? In Jordan, import duties bloat retail prices. Clay pots and intricate mosaics are too unwieldy to mail, and puppies gestate in less time than it takes for a package to ship back to the States. With these limits on local shopping, I turn to […]
Fancy the chance to win an all-expenses paid trip to attend Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in the United Arab Emirates? Well, here’s how. Masdar, the renewable energy company based in Abu Dhabi, has launched an international blogging contest to raise awareness of the critical issues of water security and energy. “This is your chance to […]
In a well-meaning effort to rid Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other emirates from plastic bags, the United Arab Emirates government has banned the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags. Instead, it will be mandatory for business across all seven emirates to offer their clients the biodegradable variety starting 1 January, 2013. But critics worry that these […]
Despite the many stereotypes about residents of Gulf countries, many people prefer creative, sustainable boutiques to shopping in big glitzy malls, though their options are typically fairly limited. Which might explain why Bahrain’s Market 338 has become such a popular destination. Inaugurated by Al Riwaq Art Space, the temporary souq in Manama’s Adliya district started with […]
NASA issued a video "told-you-so" in advance of the much-hyped Mayan calendar "end of the world" prediction.
Turn to the ancients for a green building technique that lets you play like a child. Mesopotamian mud bricks still do the job, for free. Mesopotamia was the ancient collective of settlements tracing the Tigris–Euphrates river basin. It spanned modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and smaller parts of Iran. Modern school kids learn this […]
Whether your sandy reminiscences are wet or dry, two artists have devised ways to make your memories tangible. My brain inextricably links sand to sea thanks to 25 summers spent on a New Jersey barrier island. Middle East experiences have me now connecting the grainy stuff to locations and memories largely devoid of water, such […]
With free water and electricity, and the world’s largest carbon footprint, is Qatar’s new stance on solar a bona fide shift towards fossil fuel alternatives or are they simply catching the latest fashion? Qatar aims to raise the share of solar power in state electricity generation to 16% by 2018, an official told The Jordan Times, […]
Even a non-food plant substance like algae may not be that efficient for fuel says Nobel Laureate We like to report on about various ways to produce biofuels from plant and other organic substances. These substances have ranged from using “turd timber” to produce biofuel from human and animal excrement to growing algae on large hydroponic […]
What can graphic design do to help tackle environmental degradation? Well, these Iranian designers think a lot. Exploring the nexus where art and nature meet, Iranian designers look at the environmental problems riddling their cities and the innovative ways they can resolve them. Whether it’s reducing the use of cars, discussing the place of graphic […]