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Israeli EV Company Better Place Reports Millions In Losses

Shifra Mincer
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3

better place electric car denmark ash tray
Better Place is not doing as well as everyone expected, with financial losses running in the millions.

The idea seemed flawless: battery-powered cars that could run on 100% electricity and could be recharged almost instantly by swapping batteries at special charging stations. But despite all the optimistic predictions, Better Place, the Israeli company that has been trying to build the world’s first operational infratructure for electric vehicles (EV), has been facing a series of obstacles in moving ahead with its technology.

Israel Corp., which holds 32% of the company’s shares, reported that Better Place lost over 1.5 billion NIS ($433 million) since 2009, 760 million NIS ($204 million) of which was lost over the course of 2011 alone, and deployment of battery recharging and swapping stations has been delayed in both Denmark in Israel from the scheduled date this April to the summer.

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Saudis Could Export Solar for the Next Twenty Centuries

Susan Kraemer
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4
Saudis Could Export Solar for the Next Twenty Centuries

solar-Saudi-Arabia

Every square meter of Saudi Arabia produces an extraordinary 7 kilowatt hours of energy daily in each 12 hours of sun power. If the Saudis were to use up each days solar energy supply, or 12,425 TWh of electricity, it would be a 72 year supply.

Put another way, in just one day, enough solar energy hits Saudi sands to power the kingdom for 72 years, according to a study made by the World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology.

That is an extraordinary resource. It is significantly more than the rest of the world. For example: as a Californian who used a typical 15 kilowatt hours of energy a day, this means my entire home could have been fully solar powered by just 2 square meters – or about 3 feet by 6 feet – of solar panels in Saudi Arabia!

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Absurd 24 Carat Gold-Plated iPads to Sell for $5,500

Tafline Laylin
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0
Absurd 24 Carat Gold-Plated iPads to Sell for $5,500

electronics, technology, Steve Jobs, iPad 3, Apple, natural resources, Gold, Gulf, Oil, Gold and Co. London encases electronics in 24 carat gold-plating; their best market? The Gulf, naturally.

It’s impossible and rude to speak for the dead, but we find it hard to believe that Steve Jobs would have wanted anything he designed covered in gold. But this is the Gulf and we’ve seen stranger things, including a white gold Mercedes and water bottles covered in swarovski crystals. Gold and Co. London will display their 24 carat gold-plated iPad3 at Damas Jewelry at the Dubai Mall, after which it will be auctioned for charity.

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Buy My Ex Wardrobe in Dubai

Shahi Hamad
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2
Buy My Ex Wardrobe in Dubai

Dubai-based initiative My Ex Wardrobe for selling and buying womens clothes

In today’s world, the privileged among us tend to live in a world of endless possibilities: endless food, endless clothes, even endless travel destinations. Some of these are great (the travel options) but some things are better in small doses to avoid waste.

One day Sian Rowland living in Dubai was clearing out her wardrobe when she realised just how much excess clothes she had. Things she no longer wore, skirts that didn’t fit and dresses with the label still on. Most woman have found themselves in this situation with more shops that we can keep up with and all too easy access to fashion, most woman (and men too) will find themselves only wearing 20 percent of the many item that crowd their ever-expanding wardrobes.

It was then that Sian and two of her sisters Teagan and Becky, all now living in Dubai, decided to start the initiative “My Ex Wardrobe” which in their own words: not only allows people to de-clutter their wardrobes but gives clothes a second chance at happiness.

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How To Make Paper from Potty

Karin Kloosterman
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How To Make Paper from Potty

I catch up with Applied Clean Tech to know more about their recycled toilet paper project Above: recycled poo pellets that serve as raw material for recycled paper

It will probably take a certain market approach and finesse to get people to accept, let alone truly appreciate, recycled toilet paper. But Refael Aharon, the CEO and founder of Applied Clean Tech, is convinced that his company has landed on a sort of goldmine. It has refined the process of turning the cellulose in sludge — toilet paper, fecal matter and washing machine lint — into new paper.

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Ceramic Fry Pan Company Neoflam Sues TV Show for False Report

Karin Kloosterman
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3
Ceramic Fry Pan Company Neoflam Sues TV Show for False Report

kolbotek frying pan neoflam, mom hitting panFrying pan company Neoflam smacks TV show with libel law suit

There was consumer chaos a few months ago in Israel when a local investigative report TV show Kolbotek, not unlike 60 Minutes in the US, tested ceramic frying pans and pots for potentially dangerous levels of toxic chemicals like cadmium and lead. The report was scathing. According to the show’s report several new companies on the market did not make the grade. Even though the interior surfaces of the pots and pans were clear, questionable amounts of toxins on the colorful outer surfaces could potentially leak into the food, especially if they were scratched, the report said.

One company Neoflam, based in Korea was singled out and as soon as the report was issued, local sales collapsed. The marketing manager for Neoflam Oren Hamama emailed Green Prophet hoping to set the record straight. He says that Neoflam’s products do pass all international standards testing bodies, and in response to the Kolbotek report Neoflam is suing the Israeli TV show for about NIS 5 million (about $1.5 million USD).

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Tourism Boycott Heats up as Namibia Prepares to Kill 91,000 Seals

Tafline Laylin
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9
Tourism Boycott Heats up as Namibia Prepares to Kill 91,000 Seals

Namibia, seal hunt, Hatem Yavuz, animal cruelty, wildlife, activism, boycott, tourism, conservation

Activists have launched an international campaign to boycott key Namibian industries ahead of its annual slaughter of 91,000 seals.

Not long ago we wrote a story about Hatem Yavuz, the “King of Seal Killers,” and our readers were outraged. An Australian man with Turkish heritage, Yavuz is now responsible for 85% of the world’s seal market. The Canadian seal hunt with haunting images of bloody ice? He harvests the majority of those animals for their fur. The lesser known hunt in Namibia? Much of it can be traced to Yavuz.

I interviewed him for a story that was published today in The Ecologist; he claims that his operation is the ‘best worst option out there,’ but animal rights activists disagree and have launched a campaign to boycott all of Namibia’s key industries until the government ends the annual, brutal slaughter of 91,000 seals for their fur and body parts.

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China Plans to Tap 600 MW of Wind Power in Turkey

Susan Kraemer
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1
China Plans to Tap 600 MW of Wind Power in Turkey

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 capital, not only will China supply the turbines, but the lions share of the financing as well: 60% will be provided by China Development Bank.

Rather than a single large wind farm, the deal would be split up into more than 10 smaller projects, but the turbines would be Sinovel’s 1.5 MW, 3 MW and 3.6 MW, according to Li Lecheng, senior vice president at Sinovel.

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Apply Now for the 3-Day TentTech Sustainability Tech Camp in Israel

Tafline Laylin
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2
Apply Now for the 3-Day TentTech Sustainability Tech Camp in Israel

sustainable design, clean tech, events, desert, energy, water issues, earth building100 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, and other interdisciplinary innovators that takes place in Beerotayim, Israel next weekend. The goal is to develop earth-friendly projects in four categories: water, energy, shelter, and communication in a power and water-scarce environment. More details after the jump.

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Owners of Fancy Lebanese Villas Sue to Close Down BETA Animal Shelter

Tafline Laylin
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7
Owners of Fancy Lebanese Villas Sue to Close Down BETA Animal Shelter

animal rights, conservation, CITES, animal cruelty, Lebanon, BETAThere 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 massacre of thousands of endangered fruit bats in a cave, and frequently learn about other animal abuses in a country that is not a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Formerly an architect, Helena Hesayne left her career to care for Lebanon’s abused animals nearly a decade ago, CNN reports, but now fancy villa owners are trying to shut down the shelter that she help to found.

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How to Road Trip in the Galilee and Golan Heights in the Spring

Maurice Picow
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1
How to Road Trip in the Galilee and Golan Heights in the Spring

Sa'ar Stream waterfall near the BaniasSa’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 Sea rose 2 meters!), Israel’s green areas, including the Galilee region and Golan Heights, are decked out in Mother Nature’s annual spring greenery and floral displays.

This lush beauty was revealed to us during a day long spring foliage tour to these areas this week.

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Historical Greek Orphanage Will Become Environmental Foundation

Julia Harte
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Historical Greek Orphanage Will Become Environmental Foundation

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 Europe.

Once an orphanage owned by the Greek Patriarchate, the building has been empty since 1964 because of worries about its structural integrity. But soon the space will house a international civil society foundation devoted to environmental work and research, according to recent remarks by Bartholomew.

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Hadas Ilani Makes Elven Shoes out of Pine Needles

Green Prophet
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0
Hadas Ilani Makes Elven Shoes out of Pine Needles

pine needle shoes, Bezalel Design Academy, green design, Milan, eco-design, sustainable designIsraeli 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 pine needles and depict a combination of playfulness and respect for nature, as well as an incredible attention to detail.

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A Camel Film With Big Heart: Collective Moments of Madness (Review)

Tafline Laylin
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5
A Camel Film With Big Heart: Collective Moments of Madness (Review)

Documentary, travel, nature, camels, India, adventure, Collective Moments of Madness, Kamahl Film

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 not only in Morocco and Dubai, but also in India.

Collective Moments of Madness is a heartful documentary about five international travelers who planned to trek 1500 km with Bactrian (double humped) camels through the Himalaya Mountains in Northern India all the way south to the Pushkar Camel Festival in the desert. But as we discovered recently in Tunisia, even the best laid plans go awry, and the camel odyssey was fraught with unexpected challenges that began with ominous words from an Indian Oracle.

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Time to Adapt to Climate Change

Dr. Yosef Gotlieb
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3

climate change effects on cityClimate 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 floods and extended droughts.

Attempts to curtail climate-altering phenomena, which is known as mitigation, has been the focus of international protocols (Montreal, Kyoto) and gatherings (such as the failed Copenhagen Summit of late 2009). While the international community can claim modest achievements in some areas, for example, pacts that have led to a decrease in the use of ozone-reducing substances, reducing the emission of greenhouse gases has been far from encouraging. Accordingly, there is a second focus in the climate change literature, dealing with adaptation.

It is sobering then, that the focus of a special report entitled Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation released last week, by The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is not on how climate change can be forestalled. Rather, it deals with what societies will have to do to adapt to such change.

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10 Surprising AC Water Uses Cities Are Ignoring

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All air conditioners release water. That's Physics. Cities like Los Angeles pour billions of water down the drain every year. And while home owners who are savvy to water reuse are finding ways to use AC water in the garden (here are 5 ways to use air con water at home), or in art studios (it's basically free distilled water), cities could save water in meaningful ways by using creative ideas. These are solutions you can send to urban planners and those running smart city accelerator programs. Pick one of them and you might win the grant! 

Hormuz 2026 Conflict Poses an Energy and Food Security Dilemma in a Warming World

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