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Dubai Municipality To Convert 500 Cars To Hybrid Gas Engines

Tafline Laylin
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1
Dubai Municipality To Convert 500 Cars To Hybrid Gas Engines

compressed-gas-vehicleDubai’s Director Of Transportation is among the first recipients of a compressed gas engine vehicle.

Starting with just five vehicles initially, the Dubai municipality plans to eventually outfit 500 vehicles with compressed gas engines with technical assistance from Compressed Gas Technology (CG Tech), The National reports. By burning a combination of petrol and natural gas, these cars will radically decrease emissions. Although the UAE has the seventh largest supply of natural gas in the world, the extraction industry does have its share of challenges, nor is natural gas a renewable resource. Even so, concerted worldwide efforts to reduce carbon emissions will go a long way to at least slowing down what Thomas Friedman calls “Global Weirding” in his landmark book Hot, Flat, and Crowded.

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Sanserif Creatius Carves A Cardboard Table With Arabic Devotion

Tafline Laylin
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0
Sanserif Creatius Carves A Cardboard Table With Arabic Devotion

mustafa-table-valenciaThis beautiful table designed to evoke the genie in the lamp was carved out of layers of biodegradable, corrugated cardboard.

Sanserif Creatius is not the first designer to notice the jewels that comprise ancient Arabic art, design, and architecture. Mey and Boaz Khan made these lovely ecoolers that mimic ancient Arabic detail and ecological awareness, Hassan Fathy built sustainable structures that cherished the genius simplicity of old, and even Foster & Partners borrow extensively from the past. But what is most remarkable about the Mustafá table is the material out of which it was carved.

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Arab Protests Affect World Food Prices

Arwa Aburawa
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Arab Protests Affect World Food Prices

Protests in the Arab world, which were in part influenced by rising food prices, may be adding pressure to global food prices

When the protest in Tunisia kicked off in early 2010, we at Green Prophet highlighted the link between the unrest and rising food prices that meant that many citizens were angry because they could not afford to feed their families.

This led to a wide level of support for the protests, which ultimately led to the fall of the President Ben Ali and later President Mubarak. Now, however, commentators are drawing a link between protests in the Middle East and further rising global food prices.

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that rising oil prices is at the heart of the reason why the protest are driving up food prices.  As Tafline Laylin wrote earlier today, the price of oil has risen 6% to $95.39 per barrel following the turbulence in the MENA region.  This is apparently a six-year high.

As the agricultural industry is heavily reliant on fossil fuels (through machines, transportation and fertilizer production), this means that the rising prices of oil has led to the rising price of food.

With the recent revolt in Libya- a country which happens to be the world’s 12th biggest oil exporter- some commentators states that an impact on oil and consequently food prices is inevitable.

Egypt nudged prices upwards and so further protests will no doubt continue to push up the price of oil and food as they are so inextricably connected.

With the recent wikileak revelation that Saudi exaggerated its oil production by up to 40% this trend is set to continue in the future. It also reinforces the need to diversify our energy mix and seek more sustainable energy that is not so susceptible to market shocks and political turmoil.

: Guardian

::Image via cjb22 on flickr.

For more on political unrest and food prices see:

Rising Food Prices Behind Riots in Algeria and Tunisia

Soaring Food Prices Hit Lebanon

Jordan Joins The Food Protest As Tunisian President Steps Down

Horses: The Silent Victims of Egypt’s Revolution

Arwa Aburawa
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1
Horses: The Silent Victims of Egypt’s Revolution

egypt-horses-victim-animal-rights-protest-revoltAround 3,000 horses have faced hardship and even starvation during the protests which rocked Egypt and toppled a 30-year dictatorship

It’s been over ten days since Egyptians managed to unchain themselves from a 30-year old dictatorship after weeks of gathering in Tahrir Square to tell Mubarak to leave. According to Human Rights Watch just under 300 protestors were killed during Egypt’s revolt but some of the forgotten victims include an estimated 3,000 horses used in the tourism industry who were abandoned in the chaotic days of protest.

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All Eyes On Libya As Oil Prices Rise

Tafline Laylin
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1
All Eyes On Libya As Oil Prices Rise

oilRising oil prices as a result of Middle East unrest could send Americans back to the drawing board.

The last time the United States saw their oil prices soar, really soar, was during the three month Arab oil embargo in the early 1970s. Prices hit nearly $12 a gallon and Americans sat in line for hours just to fill their cars. It was then that Jimmy Carter started the initiative that put solar panels on the White House roof (Reagan took the panels down but Obama plans to put them back with encouragement from 350.org). A few decades later, as Libyan protesters suffer against Gaddafi’s heavy-handed reproach, and it seems momentum could unravel the entire region, Americans are nervously watching their wallets again.

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Ezri Tarazi Manifests Israeli’s Conflict Identity With Recycled Design

Tafline Laylin
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0
Ezri Tarazi Manifests Israeli’s Conflict Identity With Recycled Design

ezri-taraziEzri Tarazi’s recycled design also draws important attention to how much conflict informs the Israeli identity.

Any visitor to Jerusalem can attest to a palpable tension, an energy, if you will, that scrunches together hundreds of years of political and religious positioning. That same aura rises above almost every Israeli and Palestinian home. And it is full of conflict. Imagine living in a place where every day war is a perceived threat, where every day people vy for their homeland. Ezri Tarazi attempts to if not reconcile at least recognize the extent to which this energy pervades the country with his beautiful design project currently on show at Tel Aviv’s Paradigma gallery.

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Meet A Few Green Prophets At Energy Conference, Eilat

Green Prophet
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3
Meet A Few Green Prophets At Energy Conference, Eilat

eilat-eilot-renewable-energyGreen Prophet’s Karin joins seminar about media and clean tech in Eilat, Israel. Meet us there.

At least three Green Prophets will be at the Eilat-Eilot Renewable Energy Conference tomorrow in Eilat, Israel. Look for us talking excitedly about new announcements to young start-up companies, and entrepreneurs, and catch Green Prophet’s editor Karin Kloosterman at a media seminar tomorrow afternoon, where with other media experts she’ll be talking about ways entrepreneurs can gain access to international media. She’ll be flying in for the day to report on the event.

Among those on the media panel will be Green Prophet’s friend David Goldman from Expansion Media. He works with clean tech companies around the globe, showing them how to put their “green” face forward. Starting at 3:25 PM at Herod’s (Laurence Hall), meet Green Prophet at the seminar: The Role of the Media in Promoting Clean Agenda Energy. Meet us there to listen and network afterward.

::Eilat

Israel’s IDE Uses Waste Heat in China for “Greener” Desalinated Water

Maurice Picow
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1
Israel’s IDE Uses Waste Heat in China for “Greener” Desalinated Water

ide plant israel aerial view photoIDE’s new desalination plant in China is powered by excess heat from power plant nearby.

Israel has been a world leader in desalination technology and projects by through companies like Tahal and IDE Technologies. IDE has already constructed more than 400 desalination plants in 40 countries, including at least 3 in Israel – the world’s largest reverse osmosis plants. Now IDE is expanding its foreign operations even more by signing a deal with China’s large Tianjin SDIC electricity company to build four additional Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) desalination units, each with a production capacity of 25,000 cubic meters of distilled water per day. The idea is to power the plants using wasted heat from other sources.

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Nuclear Power Continues World Dependence on Middle East Oil

Susan Kraemer
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16
Nuclear Power Continues World Dependence on Middle East Oil

arab oilOut of the frying pan…are uranium reserves to run out in a decade?

In its haste to free itself from oil-powered electricity, during the Arab oil shocks of the ”70s, France switched to nuclear energy. It had been vulnerable in its dependence on the Middle East, and moved to nuclear to free itself of the risk from more oil shocks. Since then, it has been the poster child nation for nuclear energy, getting almost 80% of its electricity from nuclear power. It must be in good shape to weather the bumpy exit from the oil age, right?

Wrong.

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Cooking With Sheep Manure In South Hebron

Tafline Laylin
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4
Cooking With Sheep Manure In South Hebron

yair-teller-biogas-project-coordinatorYair Teller is one Arava Institute alumni who is improving quality of life for Palestinians living in Susya, South Hebron.

Despite the relative luxury of Tel Aviv and parts of Jerusalem, many people throughout Israel and the Palestinian territories continue to eek out a meager living with no access to basic amenities such as water, gas, or electricity. In Susya, South Hebron, the Nawaje family have to fork out $15 for a tanker of water and up $20 for cooking gas which doesn’t last long. To help ease their struggles, talented alumni of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies installed a bio-gas system that not only provides cooking fuel but also fertilizes agricultural projects and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

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Jerusalem, 3/29: TED-Inspired Environmental Peacemaking

Tafline Laylin
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0
Jerusalem, 3/29: TED-Inspired Environmental Peacemaking

solar-panels-middle-eastSpeakers from Israel, Jordan, and Palestinian Territories will converge to make enviro-peace in this Ted-inspired event.

The Guardian emphasizes the importance of cross-boundary cooperation in order to solve the pending water calamity that could grip the Middle East in a near-permanent state of discontent and suffering. No stranger to such challenges, Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians have long struggled to make environmental peace amidst ongoing political disputes with the help of group such as Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME). Now a new TED-inspired event will take cross-border discussions yet another step forward.

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The Water Behind Middle Eastern Woes

Tafline Laylin
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2
The Water Behind Middle Eastern Woes

camel-drinking-holeHow governments respond to water woes will determine the future stability of the Middle East.

It’s impossible to point to any one issue and claim it as the final explanation for the protests unnerving leaders in the Middle East. Weeks ago one Tunisian man set himself on fire when he was told he couldn’t sell his wares, and his fire has raged on since. But the root of today’s discontent, and the root of tomorrow’s continuing trouble, will have a close correlation with water. Siting the same document we reported on last week, Blue Peace, The Guardian reports that in time water will be of more geopolitical consequence than even oil. Because, quite frankly, we’re running out. And thirsty people can’t be stifled.

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Dating an Environmentalist? 5 Tips For Avoiding the Pitfalls

Karen Chernick
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4
Dating an Environmentalist? 5 Tips For Avoiding the Pitfalls

"environmentalist romance green compromise"This guide is a must-read for anyone dating a “green” person. If you want to keep them till next Valentine’s Day, read on.

The most recent Valentine’s Day may have reminded you that it’s a harsh dating world out there. Whether you’re lucky enough to meet someone through a chance encounter at the coffee shop, free dating sites, or even through unorthodox methods such as Chinese astrological sign alignment – once you’ve met someone special you probably want to do everything in your power to make it work.  Easier said than done, though.  This can be especially tough sometimes when your love interest is a hard core environmentalist and has some less-than-conventionally-romantic habits. You may love your baby for having those strong beliefs, but watch out before they become deal breakers.

As with all relationships, the name of the game is compromise.  For those of you that just starting dating an environmentalist (or “greenie”), watch out for these five potential deal breakers and figure out how to resolve them:

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Interview With Dubai’s Most Innovative Design Couple

Tafline Laylin
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0
Interview With Dubai’s Most Innovative Design Couple

Studied Impact Design, Land Art Generator InitiativeRobert Ferry and Elizabeth Monoian working in their Abu Dhabi Studied Impact Design studio.

Robert Ferry and Elizabeth Monoian have made the United Arab Emirates their home, for which we are very grateful. Their teachings, their design studio Studied Impact, and their public initiatives such as the internationally-acclaimed Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) have coincided with a thrust to incorporate more renewable energy sources into the region’s portfolio. As we have noted time and again, Abu Dhabi is leading that paradigm shift, with brilliant innovators such as this extraordinarily-talented American couple making a crucial and heartfelt contribution. They talked with Green Prophet about their vision.

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Qatar Plans To Make Barren Land Arable To Increase Food Security

Tafline Laylin
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1
Qatar Plans To Make Barren Land Arable To Increase Food Security

barren-land-agricultureQatar will secure 70% food security in the country by exploiting the latest technology to make its barren land arable.

Roughly as large as Connecticut, Qatar relies almost exclusively on imports for food with only 10% of the country’s edibles produced within its own borders. Unlike other Gulf countries that are usurping African land to expand their agricultural capacity, Qatar intends to transform its own barren land into an agricultural powerhouse. According to Gulf in the Media, the National Food Security Program (NFSP) committee has established a five-stage plan to first identify and then overcome challenges to achieving food independence.

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