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Go Green With Jordan’s New Environment Generation

Arwa Aburawa
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Go Green With Jordan’s New Environment Generation

alisa-ananbeh-green-jordanWe speak with Alisa Ananbeh, a student leader on the environment, on going green in Jordan.

Around six months ago, Alisa Ananbeh took part in a US funded five-week programme to help young people from the Middle East deal with environmental problems. Just under twenty students from Gaza, Jordan and the West Bank travelled to America to learn about the US environmental movement and ways to build leadership on the issue in their own countries. The diverse group arrived at the end of July 2011 and spent time in Oahu, San Francisco, Boulder Colorado and Washington DC. I spoke to Alisa who lives in Jordan about what motivated her to take part in the programme and how she hopes to help Jordan deal its own unique environmental problems.

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7 of the Saddest Wildlife Stories From the Middle East

Tafline Laylin
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7
7 of the Saddest Wildlife Stories From the Middle East

wildlife conservation, animal conservation, egypt, kuwait, wildlife, illegal wildlife trafficking, united arab emiratesAlthough many people in our region revere wildlife, too often we write about egregious abuse. Here are 7 of the saddest wildlife stories from the Middle East, and what you can do to help such harmful practices come to an end.

Many people living in the Middle East believe that it is haram to harm animals, and all kinds of excellent conservation work is taking place in Egypt, Iraq, and elsewhere. But too often we feature stories about rich Arabs who think it’s cool to capture cheetahs and other wild animals and keep them as pets, or about dolphins and lions that are confined to filthy, tiny spaces in order to lure tourists.

Sometimes ignorance lies at the root of animal abuse, while at other times people are simply trying to earn a living, but compassion and biodiversity preservation projects can benefit everyone. Step in for 7 of the saddest wildlife stories in the Middle East and be inspired to help your neighbor re-think his relationship to these magnificent creatures.

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Shark Fin Soup Contributes to World Hunger

Miriam Kresh
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1
Shark Fin Soup Contributes to World Hunger

image-hamnmerhead-shark-long-lineIt’s not a stretch. Vanishing shark populations affect the food chain in a very concrete way.

Karin’s post on shark meat’s high mercury levels made it clear: a bowl of shark fin soup is a  bowlful of poison. But a slower death awaits people who depend on healthy seas.

That means all of us. Because  the food chain’s myriad links go back to where life started –  in that primordial soup, the sea.  Global warming, marine pollution, and overfishing have already destroyed countless ocean ecosystems. Depleted, suffocated oceans can’t nourish life on our planet. Ultimately, sick oceans won’t support the intricate web that we humans depend on for our food.

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Jessica the Hippo Doesn’t Know She is Africa’s Most Dangerous Animal

Tafline Laylin
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8
Jessica the Hippo Doesn’t Know She is Africa’s Most Dangerous Animal

wildlife conservation, hippos, africa, south africa, dangerous animals, animal conservation, hunting, predator, prey

Experiencing the incredible bond between game warden Tonie Joubert and Jessica the Hippo, it’s easy to forget that this is Africa’s most fearsome animal.

Having grown up to fear hippos more than any other creature on the African continent, it was with great hesitation that I approached Jessica’s giant canine teeth and powerful gaping jaw. Just seconds before, Tonie Joubert planted a kiss on the smiling hippo, who washed up on his doorstep in South Africa 12 years ago after devastating floods separated her from her mother.

In the wild, a lone premature calf won’t survive for long, but Tonie and his wife Shirley nursed Jessica to health with baby formula. She now weighs nearly 2, 200 pounds and sleeps on their veranda in the Limpopo province! Jessica is the world’s most famous hippo and perhaps the only one who has forgotten how aggressive and scary she is supposed to be.

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Going Green Ends With Water from the Sea

Green Prophet
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3

desalinated water fish pipe undersea photo
Desalinated water is costly for Israel, and practically no one is talking about the hidden costs.

Making drinking water from sea water has been touted as a solution for water shortage in the Middle-East and elsewhere. In southern Israel, near Ashkelon, a small pilot project has been pumping out 24 million cubic meters of fresh drinking grade water into Israel’s water system since 2005. Currently expanding its output to add another 45 million cubic meters a year, the facility is planning to produce 120 million cubic meters of fresh drinking water annually by 2013. And Gaza’s about to get its own plant too!

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Shark Fin Soup Can Give You Brain Damage

Karin Kloosterman
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10
Shark Fin Soup Can Give You Brain Damage

shark fin soup, mercury poisoning, marine ecosystem, pollution, sharks, wildlife conservation, Gulf, Middle EastGulf experts say that shark meat contains extremely high levels of mercury. The picture above depicts a deformed Japanese boy whose mother had mercury poisoning.

If shark conservation isn’t your thing, and you are one of the people creating a worldwide demand for shark fin soup, think about this next time you slurp: filmmaker and activist Jonathan Ali Khan is presenting a new TV documentary in the United Arab Emirates on the health risks of eating shark meat, the Gulf News reports.

Collecting footage for the NGO Shark Quest Arabia, we featured Jonathan Ali Khan here. His new show will document in detail how sharks, high on the food chain in the marine ecosystem, have dangerously high levels of mercury. This metal is linked to brain damage and infertility.

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Newton Becker, a Bright Source for Solar Thermal Energy, Dies at 83

Green Prophet
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0
Newton Becker, a Bright Source for Solar Thermal Energy, Dies at 83

newt beckerConsidered by some as the father of solar thermal electricity generation, Newton Becker, was the founding investor and Chairman of the Board of Luz International – the company that went on to become what BrightSource is today. He died Monday in LA at age 83.

Back when, Luz became the largest solar company in the world by building solar electric generating power plants. From 1984 to 1991 Luz (which was founded in Israel) built and sold nine solar energy nine plants (SEGS I-IX) with 350 MW of capacity, enough to supply the residential needs of 540,000 people in the Los Angeles area.

Newton also invested in and was a chairman of the Board of Directors of “Electric Fuel” during its start-up period 1993-5. Electric Fuel made Zinc Air Batteries for Electric Vehicles – about 400 miles for the EV1 and about 250 miles for a Mercedes Van – and could be refueled with new zinc plates in about 10 minutes. He also made huge inroads for chartered accountants everywhere.

Green Prophet’s 11 Eco Heroes of 2011

Arwa Aburawa
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15
Green Prophet’s 11 Eco Heroes of 2011

Ilana Meallem Professor Onur Hamzaoğlu – TurkeyAzzam iraq
Our VIP list of 11 environment heroes for the Middle East 2011.

If you don’t know these people already, now is the time to start. Top heroes are from Israel, Turkey and Iraq. The year 2011 has been a year like no other in the Middle East. We’ve seen protests against corruption, people have taken to the streets to save salt lakes, promote green transport and ask that renewable energy is taken more seriously. In an effort to celebrate the work of eco heroes from the region, we asked our readers to nominate the people who they felt went the extra mile for the environment in 2011. After whittling down the nominations – we present our editorial pics: the top 11 Green Prophet Heroes for 2011! Drum roll, please:

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Moroccan Fekka Cookies RECIPE

Miriam Kresh
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15
Moroccan Fekka Cookies RECIPE

image-moroccan-fekka-cookiesCrunchy, just-sweet-enough tidbits that perfectly match  a hot cuppah.

Hospitality is a fine art in the Middle East, with traditions to dictate every gesture. A guest will always be offered tea, coffee, and one or more old-fashioned sweets, like kanafeh pastry, or silky malabi, or light fekka cookies. The traditional fekka  is baked twice, like biscotti, and like those Italian cookies, is just sweet enough to satisfy. This easy variation makes nugget-sized cookies that bake up only once.

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Masdar Aims to Become the Guru of Sustainable Building Materials

Tafline Laylin
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1
Masdar Aims to Become the Guru of Sustainable Building Materials

masdar city, energy efficiency, building materials, eco building, green building, sustainable building, green architecture, eco architecture, fraunhofer, solar energyMasdar will break ground on a new Facade Test Center in a few months. It will research the most energy efficient building materials on the market.

Masdar is constantly reinventing itself  in order to ensure that the Gulf’s first genuine low-energy and low-carbon building project succeeds, and its latest reincarnation may well become one of its most useful. The company has teamed up with the leading German research institute Fraunhoefer Gesellschaft to build a Facade Test Center (FTC) within Masdar City, where they will conduct thorough tests to suss out the most sustainable building materials available to builders. This is a groundbreaking project that could dramatically improve the energy performance of construction projects in the Gulf and wider MENA region.

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Technion & Cornell Win Historic Bid to Build a Net-Zero Energy Tech Hub in NYC

Tafline Laylin
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3
Technion & Cornell Win Historic Bid to Build a Net-Zero Energy Tech Hub in NYC

clean tech, venture capital, New York City, Roosevelt Island, Cornell University, Technion-Israel Institute of technology, net zero energy, solar power, geothermal power, environmental education, green design, sustainable designThe groundbreaking net-zero energy NYCTech Campus designed as a collaborative project between Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and Cornell University will also be one of the world’s most environmentally-friendly campuses.

The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology has earned considerable esteem as a world leader in clean technology – a reputation that matched Cornell University’s vision for a state-of-the-art net-zero energy hub in New York City. Representatives of the two learning institutes conducted clandestine meetings in order to create and submit what turned out to be an irresistible proposal for an international competition to design a new Applied Sciences Graduate School on Roosevelt Island.

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg officially announced this winning partnership at the end of 2011, and classes are expected to begin as soon as September this year. The Technion sent us YouTube clips of the aerial and interior views of the new campus. Take a look after the jump!

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Recycled Furniture by Lebanon’s Niloufar Afnan

Karen Chernick
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Recycled Furniture by Lebanon’s Niloufar Afnan

recycled furniture, "upcycled royal stool"Long live the queen, if she can manage to sit on Niloufar Afnan’s recycled ‘Royal Stool’.

At this year’s New Designers Exhibition in London, Lebanese-born designer Niloufar Afnan decided to poke a little fun at the royal family and demonstrate the possibilities of upcycled furniture.  She exhibited Royal Stool (pictured above) and 46 (shown after the jump) – two furniture pieces that show the possibilities of reusing found objects.  Both pieces are made from found furniture parts and scrap materials that Afnan collected and assembled in new ways, showing us that with a little creativity and problem solving even broken items can be functional again.

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Global Clean Energy Brokers Meet at Abu Dhabi Emergy Summit This Month

Susan Kraemer
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2
Global Clean Energy Brokers Meet at Abu Dhabi Emergy Summit This Month

world future energy summit laying down clean tech pipingPost-Durban World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi is now a huge opportunity for clean energy developers in the Middle East region.

Ever since the European Union adopted the Kyoto Accord and with it the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) which funds renewable development in the developing world to offset carbon emissions in Europe, the developing world has become the driving force behind renewable energy investment. And now that Durban expands the Kyoto Accord, even more so.

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Gazan Farmers Struggle With Rising Salinity & Water Shortages

Arwa Aburawa
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5
Gazan Farmers Struggle With Rising Salinity & Water Shortages

water-gaza-farmer-salinity
High water demand is putting pressure on scarce water resources and destroying the agricultural sector in Gaza

Water shortages are a widespread and common problem for the people of the Gaza Strip, between Israel and Egypt. There just isn’t enough water for the growing population and an Israeli blockade which limits imports and exports means the locals can do little to alleviate the situation. I recently wrote about the stunning water mural project in the Gaza Strip which highlights the serious water shortages in the area in the hope of encouraging political action. The European Union also recently pledged 10 million euros for a desalination plant that would serve Khan Yunis and Rafah. Until these projects can have the desired effect, however, farming on the land in Gaza has become almost impossible.

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Tata Nano Micros – Smart Cars for the Poor Man

Maurice Picow
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1
Tata Nano Micros – Smart Cars for the Poor Man

tata nanoA Tata Nano in India – this made-for-masses cheap mini could be the smart car for the poor man, in countries like Israel, Jordan and Egypt

Ever since India’s Tata Motors Company came out with its Nano micro mini car in 2009, and we featured it here on Green Prophet,  people are still wondering if this tiny little bug shaped car is something that people outside of India might want to own as well. When it came out, it offered purchasers three models: the base model, the CX model and LX (“luxury”) model. When originally test driven in 2009,  the LX model was used since it contained some features that more affluent buyers would appreciate; such as air conditioning, a central locking system, reclining front seats, a heater (not a big deal in southern India but good to have in northern Indian states); and a door lock on the passenger side that is not available on other models.

It’s not a gold plated mercedes, but the Tata Nano could be a good fuel-efficient driving model for the poorer Middle East countries.

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SunZia comes online and America’s 11B, and largest renewable project begins wind power

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The impact is already being felt. California has broken its wind generation record multiple times in recent weeks as SunZia begins feeding electricity into the grid. It’s a glimpse of what a renewable-powered future could look like when large-scale infrastructure finally comes online. Can we start saying goodbye to Saudi Aramco and Arabian Gulf oil? 

Married People Have Lower Cancer Risk, But the Reason is Complex

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According to the research, cancer risk was 68% higher in never-married men and 85% higher in never-married women.

40 more migratory animals need protecting, warns UN group

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The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), governments agreed to extend protection to 40 more migratory species, from cheetahs and striped hyenas to snowy owls, giant otters, and great hammerhead sharks. Too many of them are slipping toward extinction .

When peace returns, will we rediscover Saudi Arabia’s mud-brick soul?

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When the region settles after the American war with Iran, and it will, American and European travelers will come back. Not just for spectacle or headline projects, but for places that feel real. Places that haven’t been engineered to impress and which get into your soul. We predict that visitors to Saudi Arabia will want to see places like Rijal Alma.When the region settles after the American war with Iran, and it will, American and European travelers will come back. Not just for spectacle or headline projects, but for places that feel real. Places that haven’t been engineered to impress and which get into your soul. We predict that visitors to Saudi Arabia will want to see places like Rijal Alma.

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