Turkey’s massive wind resource has long been recognized. Now China’s wind giant Sinovel has signed an agreement to supply turbines to build 600 MW of wind projects in Turkey, in what could be the company’s largest overseas deal to date. In the deal sealed this week in Beijing when Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan visited China’s […]
100 eco-minded individuals will gather in Israel next weekend to brainstorm creative technological approaches to environmental challenges. Have you ever dreamed about brainstorming with 99 other eco-minded individuals to find clever solutions to our various environmental challenges? If so, this may be for you. TentTech is an invitation-only gathering of 100 artists, scientists, designers, agriculturalists, […]
There are 250 rescued animals living at the BETA animal shelter just outside Beirut; too many for fancy villa owners. It should come as no surprise, after seeing the video of the Ethiopian maid Alem Dechasa being beaten by her employer, that Lebanon also has a deplorable animal rights record. We recently featured the devastating […]
Sa’ar Stream waterfall near the Banias: Israel’s natural beauty at its best Like other Middle Eastern countries, Israel continuously suffers from a chronic water shortage, which is most often seen in the water level in it’s historic water supplier, the Kinneret or Sea of Galilee. But due to above average rainfall this past winter (the […]
Patriarch Bartholomew I, of the Istanbul-based Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate, stands outside the rundown former orphanage. Atop the highest hill on Büyükada (“Big Island” in Turkish), the largest of the picturesque “Princes Islands” in the Marmara Sea off the coast of Istanbul, stands a sprawling, abandoned structure rumored to be the largest wooden building in […]
Israeli designer Hadas Ilani makes unique shoes out of pine needles! We absolutely love these awesome elven shoes called Needle and Thread by Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design student Hadas Ilani. Displayed at Ventura Lambrate during Milan Design Week 2012 as part of the academy’s “Design Bonanza” installation, the shoes are made out of locally-sourced […]
Five men and four Bactrian camels travel 1500 km through India, but it doesn’t go quite the way it was planned. If there are two things we love (apart from the planet), it’s camels – because they are the desert dweller’s best friend – and adventure. Do the two go hand in hand? Absolutely. And […]
Climate change is here and it looks like there is no way back. Scientists and policymakers are increasing concerned about extreme weather and climate events. These include extended waves of abnormally hot or cold weather, unseasonal temperatures, changes in precipitation and wind patterns, along with more dramatic occurrences like unprecedented blizzards, cyclones sudden downpours, sudden […]
As we learn from Starbucks and their new sustainable approach of using a red beetle to color their pink drinks (that’s instead of oil tar), when you follow dietary laws for any religion, sometimes the least healthy option is the one you have to take. In the midst of the Jewish holiday of Passover, Jews in […]
We speak to Mario Cucinella the architect behind Gaza’s eco schools about building under conflict, water, education and bringing hope to a desperate region Early 2013 will see the launch of a green school which will collect rainwater and regulate internal temperature using thermal technologies. Whilst such a project would not be noteworthy in Europe, […]
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 […]