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Sea Water Hydro Pump from Med to Dead Sea Needs Rethink

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hydro pump dead sea med sea, IsraelOne 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 Protection Minister Gilad Erdan and Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau, Chamber president Uriel Lynn argued that the project would have multiple benefits. Apart from augmenting water flows to the ever-dwindling Dead Sea, Lynn noted the project would improve the environment, tourism and agriculture and produce energy.

The idea is not new.  Known as the “Med-Dead” project, it has been kicked around by engineers and environmental experts for decades.  In response to Lynn’s letter, Minister Landau wrote that his office had been conducting a feasibility study for a similar project, the “Red-Dead” canal, which would connect the Dead Sea with the Red Sea.

UN Office in Jordan Gets the Green Building Gold

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amman leed gold, jordan green buildingThe 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 building certification.

Has The Middle East Turned A New (Green) Leaf?

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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 in Israel, Egypt and Algeria to impressive wind farms in Morocco, it seems that the region is beginning to recognise its abundant renewables energy potential. But can renewables really break into the Gulf market and challenge the dominance of hydrocarbon-based energy?

Recycled Furniture to Be Sold at Israeli Auction Next Week

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"recycled wood furniture"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 works being displayed at international shows of Israeli design such as the Bezalel Academy student show at Milan Design Week.  Entering the local auction market for perhaps the first time though, recycled furniture pieces made by Israeli designers are participating in a sale that will take place at Tiroche Auction House in Herzlia on January 28th.  The auction will include pieces created by Junktion Studio, Tal Gur, Adi Zaffran Weisler, Godspeed, Amir Raveh and Pini Leibovich.

6 Hot Solar Projects from the Middle East and North Africa

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solar energy, solar power, bedouin, arava power, desert, MENA, Desertec, renewable energy, clean energy, clean tech, photovoltaic, PV, solar

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 by reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, but they also send the people who live here both an overt and subliminal message: renewable energy is possible and it is cool. Here are 6 solar-powered projects in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) that make us especially proud – from Desertec’s first 500 MW solar power plant in Morocco to a planned photovoltaic plant  in Israel’s sunny south that Arava Power is pushing on the Bedouins’ behalf. If you need hope for our future, this list could help.

Contribute! Call for Cycling Literature From The Arab World

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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 Arab world to contribute to a special section on cycling in World Literature Today. “Previous anthologies have devoted 90% of their pages to writings by American and European males,” they state. “We will include writings from lands rich in cycling traditions such as China, Turkey, India and Cameroon, by men and women. We are seeking additional poems, stories, sections from novels, essays as well as references to the bicycle in plays, music, and plays.”

Pixel Hotel Tel Aviv Is A Little Love Shack (Photos)

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pixel hotel tel aviv, lifeguard shackFrom Linz to Tel Aviv: the lifeguard loveshack, a future Pixel Hotel in Tel Avi rendering.

Tafline reported last week on the unusual and super neat project of Pixel Hotels. The idea started in Linz, Austria where unconventional and unused urban properties like garages or spaces within galleries – like a trailer in a gallery – is converted into micro-hotel rooms for unconventional tourists. I stayed in a room in a castle in Syria, all alone with my travel mate Kara about ten years ago. And it was a true in your face cultural experience with Syrian ghosts and all, but this new Pixel Hotel concept is a gorgeous green way to change the face of bland and severely overpriced hotel rooms. Read on for pictures and more.

Ethiopia’s New Solar-Powered Cell Phone Charging & Water Service

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solar power, cell phone, water, water issues, ethiopia, desert, water pump, UV technology, clean tech, social designVillagers gather around a kiosk in Afto, Ethiopia to charge their cell phones using solar power and to fill up their jerry cans with UV clean water

Out in the middle of nowhere Ethiopia, fresh water and electricity are hard to come by. It is partly for this reason that the country’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been pushing so hard to implement the controversial Grand Renaissance Dam that will re-write Egypt’s historical control of the Nile River. But DWC, the same people who designed Morocco’s first chemical-free eco pool, have completely transformed life for the villagers of Afto by installing a groundbreaking solar-powered cell-phone charging and water service.

US Leads World in Clean Energy Investment Under Obama

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US-leads-world-under-Obama-solar

It is true that 2012 may be the last year for President Obama’s bold support for clean energy – because in the wake of the Citizens United decision by the bought-and-paid-for plutocratic new Supreme Court, it is the Koch brothers who get to decide  – but oh boy, did he ever get his licks in!

Last year, the US government gave out more loans for clean energy – than even China, which came second in the rankings.

US clean energy investment rose 33% last year to a staggering $55.9 billion – while in China it increased 1 percent to $47.4 billion, according to a study of the industry’s top 20 lenders by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Chamelic Invents Answer for Desert Solar & Dust!

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dust-desert-solar-chamelic-solutionOne high-tech polymer start-up has developed a coating to solve the problem.

The huge and visionary Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii) plan to ship vast amounts of solar to Europe has one glaring potential weakness. Dust. Deserts have all the sun that is needed to power vast cities, and recently, the 3rd Desertec deal was signed, but they also have dust. Lots of it. And little water to clean it.

Just one month’s dust accumulation in desert conditions can reduce a panels output by 35%, and some even warn that water-intensive CSP is impossible for desert solar.

So developing dust-resistant solar will be the next Big Thing.

Sinbad the Sailor’s Home Threatened by Rising Seas and Bad Development

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sinbad the sailor, arabian nights oman
Ever since the classic The Book Of One Thousand and One Nights, which include tales on Aladdin and the Lamp, Sinbad the Sailor and Alai Babba and the Forty Thieves, the Arabian Peninsula, and seacoasts have never been the same. While the characters may be fictional (or maybe not?), the actual location of these magical tales have fascinated people of all ages for centuries. And these places exist. One of the tales, the actual hometown of Sinbad, may be lost from over-development and rising seas in Oman.

Go Green Ceramic Frying Pans and Pots Slashed to 50% Off

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ceramic pots
An anonymous Green Prophet reader took this photo today at a shopping mall in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Center. Go Green ceramic frying pans and pots are slashed to 50 percent off. This follows the picture that Maurice took last week of the fire sale of ceramic cookware in another shopping market. Clearly Israeli shopping centers are trying to offload these products after suspicious reports of dangers in the cookware were asked by a local investigative TV show.

If the outer coatings are found to have dangerous levels of cadmium and lead, and if these could cause potential health effects, does this make a store liable? They are after all selling these products with full knowledge that the jury is still out on whether or not ceramic pots and pans in Israel are dangerous?

These pans have been marketed as environmentally sound and safe. It is not clear whether or not this brand Naaman was implicated in the testing, but it does appear that the supermarkets are looking to get rid of these items.

If readers have any details about this brand, please let us know.

AORA’s Solar Sun Tulip Says Ola Sol in Spain

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aora sun energy, solar spain

With a 35 meter high sun-ray collection tower and about 50 mirrors positioned to direct the sun, Israel’s AORA is about to flip the switch on its latest solar power plant in Spain. The company created a huge buzz in Israel in 2009 when it was the first solar energy company to connect to the national grid. Since, it has been under the radar, and has recently emerged at the prestigious Platforma Solar Almeria in Almeria, Spain.

The new ultra-high temperature concentrating solar power (CSP) technology it is showcasing there focuses heliostats, small mirrors, onto a sun collecting turbine built on top of the “tulip” pictured above.

Radioactive Material Was Stolen From an Egyptian Nuclear Power Plant

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nuclear energy, egypt, protests, El Dabaa, nuclear power plant, radioactive materialA search is underway to find whoever stole a safe containing radioactive material from Egypt’s first nuclear power station. 

While hundreds of protestors surrounded the El Dabaa nuclear power plant in Egypt last week, someone managed to sneak in and steal some of its radioactive material. One safe containing radioactive material was seized while another was broken open and some of its contents removed, according to Khaleej Times.

Masdar and Siemens Team Up to Develop Sand-Resistant Solar Panels

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solar energy, solar panels, photovoltaic panels, dust-resistant solar panels, Masdar Institute of Technology, Masdar, Kuraymat Solar Power Plant, SiemensSolar panels at the Kuraymat CSP planet in Egypt require precious water resources to stay clean but Masdar & Siemens aim to change that.

When coated with layers of dust, solar panels lose their energy-absorbing efficiency and require a regular cleaning schedule. But spending this precious natural resource on energy when many people in the Middle East don’t have enough water to grow food “is simply not possible,” according to Dr. Anthony Patt.

A researcher from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Dr. Patt explained at a Desertec conference in Cairo last year that CSP projects in North Africa using current technology could use up 20 percent of the total water supply. Instead of abandoning solar altogether as a result, Masdar’s Institute of Technology and Siemens AG have jointly committed to developing a new generation of sand-resistant solar panels better suited to our desert region.