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Egypt Cuts Tax and Open Land to New Renewable Energy Investments

Joseph Mayton
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Egypt Cuts Tax and Open Land to New Renewable Energy Investments

kuraymat egypt solar thermal power plant
A flailing Egypt still aims for 20 percent renewables by 2020.

Egypt’s Supreme Council of Energy last week pushed forward a new round of concessions aimed at boosting investment in renewable and clean energy in the country. According to the Council, it said it would exempt parts and components used in the production of electricity from customs and tax if they were to be implemented in either solar or wind power operations.

The move is a positive for Egypt’s renewable energy sector, which has largely been quiet since January 2011, when an uprising ousted the former regime from power. Since then, the economic woes in the country have seen numerous projects scrapped, but the Council believes that the new measures will entice investors to go green with their energy needs.

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Nader Khalili-inspired Eco Resort in Oman Wins Big Accolades at WAF

Tafline Laylin
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5
Nader Khalili-inspired Eco Resort in Oman Wins Big Accolades at WAF

green building, Nader Khalili, Cal-Earth, Earth Building, Oman, earth architectureA Nader Khalili-inspired earthen eco resort in southern Oman designed by SSH International won first prize in the Future Projects – Leisure led development category of this year’s World Architecture Festival.

The Kuwait-based firm sought to satisfy three main requirements in this prototype for one of the Gulf’s largest developers, who aims to develop 1 million square meters of land in this pristine part of the country: economic viability, environmental sustainability and social upliftment. The developer agreed, so SSSH sought the green building expertise of the California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (Cal-Earth) originally found by Nader Khalili.  

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Dutch Ambassador Sends off Swarm of Sovev Tel Aviv Cyclists

Tafline Laylin
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Dutch Ambassador Sends off Swarm of Sovev Tel Aviv Cyclists

Tel Aviv, Cycling Race, Sovev, Urban cycling, Jaffa, Israel, Dutch AmbassadorA swarm of cyclists descended upon Tel Aviv on October 5th to participate in the city’s third annual Sovev cycling race, and the Dutch Ambassador was there to give them a grand send off! Wearing a suit, Caspar Veldkamp congratulated Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai for joining over 60 cities in Europe who have signed the Brussels Treaty of the European Cycling Federation (ECF) as thousands of riders set off on three different routes early this morning.

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Dubai to Build Replica of Taj Mahal – Four Times Bigger than Original

Arwa Aburawa
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Dubai to Build Replica of Taj Mahal – Four Times Bigger than Original

Dubai puts itself on the ‘I’m-too-ridiculous-to-be-true’ map again. This time by planning to build a replica of the Taj Mahal and naming it ‘Taj Arabia’

I am not sure how may more of these posts on outlandish Dubai construction projects I can write. I mean I have my limits – although, quite clearly, Dubai doesn’t seem to. Following underwater hotels, artificial islands and the world’s tallest buildings, Dubai is now working on replicating some of the world’s most important cultural sites as part of a 3.8 million square meter ‘Falconcity of Wonders’ project. CEO of Falconcity, Salem al-Moosa told Al Arabiya that the project aims to “engrave Dubai’s place in the minds and hearts of world citizens”. I think that Dubai may be better able to do by not ripping off important heritage sites and placing them in an freakish amusement park of sorts.

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Ode and Farewell to my Daily Cup(s) of Joe

Tafline Laylin
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Ode and Farewell to my Daily Cup(s) of Joe

caffeine, fair trade, Joe, health, lifestyle, ode to joe,Oh Joe. It’s hard to believe that after all these years I finally have to let you go. You have been the only constant in my life for well over a decade. You warmed my soul every morning, filled my various homes with your rich musky smell. And you carried me through those long and lonely university nights when I spent hour after hour pouring over every word of every essay.

On the road, you were always by my side. Together we traveled from New York to Los Angeles, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and we braved mountain passes in the Rockies I never thought I could face. It was harder to find you in Africa and the Middle East. At times, I was too poor to afford your finer self and settled for the instant version of you instead. It always felt like cheating. 

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Sun Soak and Dive Holidays in Sinai’s Sharm el sheikh

Karin Kloosterman
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Sun Soak and Dive Holidays in Sinai’s Sharm el sheikh

ras hasatan sharm egypt, sinai

The political news from Egypt doesn’t look promising: Cairo and the Sinai Peninsula appear to be more unsettled than ever, with questions about how the military and police maintain the law of rule. That said, brave travellers are still heading to Sinai, the only place in the world where you can do nothing and feel like you are having the most spiritual experience on Planet Earth.

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Urban Kibbutz Reels in Rooftop Solar Investment in Israel

Tafline Laylin
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1
Urban Kibbutz Reels in Rooftop Solar Investment in Israel

cleantech, Sderot, solar power, renewable energy, rooftop solar, urban solar farm

An urban kibbutz in sun-drenched southern Israel invested in a field of rooftop solar panels that are already pumping out more energy than the community needs. Three years ago members of the Migvan kibbutz in Sderot, which receives plenty of untapped year-round sun, made the collective decision to invest in renewable solar energy in order to save energy, make a small but meaningful contribution to a cleaner environment, and create a long-term savings account for the kibbutz, Ynet reports.

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Abu Dhabi Behind Matt Damon Anti-Fracking Film

Tafline Laylin
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1
Abu Dhabi Behind Matt Damon Anti-Fracking Film

fracking, oil, Gulf, Abu Dhabi, media, film, United Arab EmiratesPerhaps floored that a subsidiary of the state-owned Abu Dhabi Media, Image Nation, could be behind such a high-quality production as Promised Land, a new anti-fracking film written by and starring Matt Damon and John Krasinski, western bloggers are drawing conspiratorial connections between the production company and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

The theory goes that Abu Dhabi financed the film, which was also produced by Focus Features and Participant Media, because if the fracking industry fails, western states will be forced to continue purchasing oil from OPEC (as if there was ever any risk that a single drop would go to waste.)

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Beirut Cyclists Try to Revive Dead Trains and Trams

Tafline Laylin
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Beirut Cyclists Try to Revive Dead Trains and Trams

Beirut, Traffic, Pollution, Public Transportation, Lebanon, ActivismMore than 200 cyclists took over the streets of Beirut Sunday demanding a sustainable public transportation system for Lebanon.

Haunted by the pollution poisoning their city’s car-clogged roads, more than 200 cyclists took over Beirut last week Sunday in an effort to demand a revival of its once-decent public transportation system.

The seven kilometer (5 mile) activist ride from the new waterfront to Mar Makhael train station, which is littered with the bones of retired busses and trains, occurred exactly one year after 14 non-government organizations established the National Coalition for Sustainable Transportation, spelled out a dual message: public transportation is crucial to combat pollution and traffic, and biking is cool.

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Middle East Immune to Pork Crisis? Think Again.

Faisal O'Keefe
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Middle East Immune to Pork Crisis? Think Again.

pigs cute picture pigletsReduce one food source and increase pressure on others.

We’re all going to die!  Only a lot later and with healthier arteries according to political satirist Stephen Colbert’s side-splitting riff on recent reports that the global bacon supply is “cooked”.

Britain’s National Pig Association released data recently showing that European pig herds are declining “at a significant rate” in a trend mirrored around the world.  Nothing sinister at play here, it’s chalked up to conscious decision-making by individual farmers as they react to rising feed prices.  Those price spikes, in turn, can be pinned on global warming and growing competition for corn and soybeans from processed foods and biofuels. Think this doesn’t matter to pork-eschewing folks in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Gulf states? 

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Israel Closes Down Bodies Exhibition Early

Miriam Kresh
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Israel Closes Down Bodies Exhibition Early


Legal, or a human rights violation? The “Bodies” exhibit raised a storm of controversy in Israel.

Israelis are no strangers to making art from live naked humans. Green Prophet’s coverage of Spencer Tunick’s  photo events showing hundreds of social and ecological activists standing nude in the Dead Sea proves that “prudish” doesn’t describe the Israeli public.

But now Israelis are looking at dead Chinese people stripped of most of their flesh and preserved in liquid silicon in the “Bodies” exhibition, now open in Tel Aviv.

Some consider it art. Some consider it educational. And indeed, the exhibit has been presented at major cities worldwide. But because there’s no proof that the people whose bodies are displayed knew or consented to it before death, some consider that the exhibit violates human rights According to Jewish thought, where human remains are treated with careful respect, it is a desecration.

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Irish Environmentalist Easkey Britton Surfs Iranian Waves [VIDEO]

Arwa Aburawa
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3
Irish Environmentalist Easkey Britton Surfs Iranian Waves [VIDEO]

iran surf easkey britton environment irelandEaskey Britton, a surfing champion and passionate environmentalist, became the first women to surf the Iranian waves

When Easkey Britton walked into the sea in southern Iran with a surfboard in hand, curiosity brought out not only the locals but the police. Luckily for her and Marion Poizeau, the filmmaker who was documenting her journey, the police only wanted to alert them to the rocks on the beach and make sure they were okay. Assured of their skills and safety, Britton was then allowed to do what she does best and subsequently became the first woman to surf in Iran.

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HavvAda Artificial Island Made from Giant Globs of Dirt From Istanbul Canal

Tafline Laylin
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3
HavvAda Artificial Island Made from Giant Globs of Dirt From Istanbul Canal

artificial island, Istanbul canal, HavvAda, Dror Benshetrit, urban developmentDror Benshetrit designs a Net Zero artificial island off the coast of Turkey.

The HavvAda artificial island was designed as an antidote to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s proposal to build a canal between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara. The project has scores of critics, who worry about the environmental and regional impact opening up this waterway could have.

The 48 km canal, which could be completed as soon as 2023, would provide an alternative Mediterranean access route to the cluttered Bosphorous waterway, but it could also displace as much as one billion cubic meters of dirt. Developers commissioned renowned designer Dror Benshetrit to envision a solution to this problem. Read on to find out what he came up with.

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Google Street View Goes Under Sea

Brian Nitz
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Google Street View Goes Under Sea

google maps street view under water sea turtle great barrier reefIf you can’t afford your own private submarine, or are afraid of diving, there’s always Google:  Google has already taken their street view maps to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and many other places in many lands. Now they are venturing out into that other seventy percent of the earth, the sea.

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Morocco’s Hydroelectric, Wind and Solar on Track for 2020’s 42% Green Goal

Joseph Mayton
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Morocco’s Hydroelectric, Wind and Solar on Track for 2020’s 42% Green Goal

morocco sun, hands, moroccan flag, renewable energy

Saudi Arabia gives Morocco a sunny boost, but Joseph looks at Morocco’s bigger renewable energy picture: an aim to use 42% renewables by 2020.

With worries growing that Morocco’s ambitious solar energy plans are on the decline (Morocco has plans to generate 2GW of solar energy by 2020 under the Morocco Solar Plan), Saudi Arabia’s International Company for Water and Power (ACWA Power) is leading a consortium to help erect a 160 megawatt concentrating solar power plant near Ouarzazate in Morocco. The Moroccan Solar Energy Agency (MASEN) believes that the new partnership will put solar energy back on track toward meeting goals of producing massive amounts of solar energy by the end of the decade.

According to solarserver.com, Aries Ingeniería y Sistemas and TSK EE will join ACWA for the design, finance, construction, operation and maintenance of the plant, at an estimated development cost of USD 1 billion. The companies plan to begin work on the plant by the end of 2012 and complete the plant near the end of 2014.

What makes the new consortium unique is that it is looking to create a solar power plant at nearly 50 percent less cost than other plants. According to ACWA, they will produce electricity at $0.188/kilowatt, much less than the $0.239 offered by two other development consortia.

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