Ziad Tassabehji is one of the most influential men in the new green Middle East. Until now he’s kept pretty quiet about his involvement in Masdar. He came from the dot-com market with a boom and a bust, but in the Arab world. Ziad Tassabehji (pictured above with his son) has always been an entrepreneur […]
This image taken in the western Gambella region of Ethiopia shows irrigation canals being dug by the agricultural firm owned by Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi. Last week BBC News reported that 70,000 indigenous people have been forced to relocate in the western Gambella region of Ethiopia to new villages that lack adequate resources for […]
Greensoil, an investment firm from Canada will fund Israeli agritech companies with a reported $12 million. Cash from Canada will be funding clean technology companies in Israel. A new Canadian fund called Greensoil looks to build Israeli agritech companies with the launch of a $12 million CAN fund. Greensoil investors say they will invest in […]
Abu Dhabi’s 75% government-owned National Energy Company TAQA has just created its first-ever division to specialize in investing in renewable energy. The new unit, Energy Solutions, will invest in wind, solar, thermal and hydro power, according to a report at The National. TAQA first evidenced an interest in clean energy in 2008, and it has committed to a $1.1 billion […]
Egypt is now close to awarding a contract to build a 1,000 megawatt wind farm, to be up and running in 2016, that it first announced last year. A wind farm this size has few equals worldwide. Egypt has some of the best wind power potential in the world, and its government is beginning to tap into this source of free fuel in earnest, since passing its plan to get 20% of its electricity from renewables by 2020, in order to stave off climate change.
For Mohammad Sabir Khedri, compiling the pages of this enormous and intricately detaied holy book was a 5 year labor of love. A master calligrapher has lovingly unveiled the world’s largest Quran in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to a Reuters report released last week. The giant holy book measures 7.5 by 5.10 feet, weighs over 1,000 pounds, […]
Turning trash into art and employing women who have never worked for pay before — two difficult tasks that Turkish company Çöp(m)adam accomplishes at once. Turkey’s recycling culture is largely unseen. Recycling is usually carried out by poorly compensated workers who salvage reusable materials from trash collected by the municipality and take them to recycling centers. […]
Lebanon boasts one of the world's most sophisticated hiking trail networks, which traverses 75 towns and villages.
New study shows connection between fluoride consumption and hardening of the arteries. Our previous post on fluoride brought up some startling facts on the dangers lurking in our water. Water laced with fluoride, that is. The list of ills associated with fluoridated water is long and scary: Alzheimer’s, asthma, cancer, arthritis, thyroid dysfunction are among […]
One alternative to the Red-Dead Canal is the Med-Dead Canal hydro pump. The massive hydro pump idea has been around since the 70s and has questionable environmental outcomes. The Israel Chamber of Commerce recently requested that the government reinvestigate a project to connect the Dead Sea and Mediterranean Sea. In a joint letter to Environmental […]
The World Health Organization gets LEED Gold certification, a first for the Hashemite Kingdom. It’s like the Olympics, but in green building codes: The new Amman headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) just grabbed top kudos for green building: Certified Gold under Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a world standard for green […]
Investment in renewables grew 104 percent in 2010 in the Middle East and North Africa region- is this a step towards a renewables revolution? According to data from the United Nations Environment Programme, new investment in renewables in the Middle East and Africa region grew 104 percent in 2010 to $5billion. From inspiring solar projects […]
Select pieces of recycled, eco friendly furniture will be sold at an auction house in central Israel next week alongside paintings and other fine art. Sustainable furniture design has been creeping into the Israeli art world over the past few years, with eco friendly furniture being exhibited at Jerusalem’s Design Week recently and other recycled […]
We have listed 6 big and small solar-powered projects in the MENA region that have inspired us in the hopes that it will do the same for you. Big or small, solar-powered projects in the Middle East and North Africa are transforming our region. Not only do they hold promise of slowly improving air quality […]
Are you lyrical about your two-wheeler? If so, contribute to a literature project on the humble bike It seems that the majority of people serenading the magic and innocence of cycling are American and European males. In a bid to change this, professors Elamar Schenkel, Alon Raab and Jinhua Li are asking writers from the […]