Page 571 – Green Prophet

For a small country, there is an astonishing variety of fresh new beers available now. Israeli boutique breweries are sprouting up all over the country – from the Golan to the Negev. Last night at the Beer Expo, we sampled ales and stouts of all colors and characters produced by local small breweries. Jewish beers, Palestinian beers, imported beers, beers flavored with honey and beers flavored with herbs, like The Dancing Camel’s extraordinary rosemary-flavored brew.

More good news is that some of them, including the prestigious Golan Brewery owned by the Golan winery, are committing themselves to more natural and even organic beers. The not so good news is that the organic ingredients will likely be imported from Europe.

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Rising Food Prices Behind Riots in Algeria and Tunisia

Health

Arwa Aburawa

January 13, 2011

Rising Food Prices Behind Riots in Algeria and Tunisia

The recent riots that have rocked North Africa are not just about unemployment and political corruption but also the rising cost of basic food

As violence spirals out of control in Tunisia and the death toll continues to rise, it’s clear that the concerns that are bringing people to the street are ones of basic need. It’s not just about political corruption which seems to riddle various Arab governments- it about the the increasing difficulty people face trying to put food on the table.

Violent clashes in Tunisia between protesters and security forces broke out over the weekend and have killed a reported 21 people so far. The protesters say they are unhappy with rising food and fuel prices, unemployment and corruption as well as the excessive violence they have faced during the unrest. A curfew has been enforced in Tunis in Tunisia to help quell the riots but as climate change disrupts food supplies, will the region see more food riots?

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Gulf States On Track To Build “European-Style” Rail System

Transportation

Tafline Laylin

January 13, 2011

Gulf States On Track To Build “European-Style” Rail System

An extensive network could link the GCC states as early as 2017.

The benefits of railways are getting renewed attention worldwide. Though there are doubts about whether Israel’s light rail will reach completion, and a recent accident caused some to call its trains a death trap, rail projects in the Middle East can reduce carbon emissions and congestion.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States plan to tune into these benefits with an ambitious rail project expected to cost up to $100 billion. The network will link the region, facilitate expanding cooperation between the Gulf States, and improve movement of freight within, according to Gulf in the Media

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LAGI’s “Beautiful Energy” Design Winner TBA At World Future Energy Summit

Cities

Tafline Laylin

January 13, 2011

LAGI’s “Beautiful Energy” Design Winner TBA At World Future Energy Summit

The winner of the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) will be announced at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) next week.

Throughout 2010 we featured several remarkable entries to the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) design competition that inspires energy as art. Making music with the sun was one such entry, and when Abu Dhabi meets sand, sun, and sky was another.

Finally, the competition’s winner will be announced on January 19th at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi, setting in motion the construction phase of the world’s first beautiful power plant. Dr. Nawal Al Hosany, Associate Director of Sustainability at Masdar, will hand over the award.

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Turkey Joins 78 Others to Pass Feed-in Tariffs To Encourage Renewable Energy

Tech

Susan Kraemer

January 12, 2011

Turkey Joins 78 Others to Pass Feed-in Tariffs To Encourage Renewable Energy

Feed-in Tariffs can jump-start renewables faster than any other renewable energy policies. But is Turkey’s high enough to do the job?

The Republic of Turkey has just joined the throng of rapidly growing developing nations that are offering a Feed-in Tariff (FIT) to developers of renewable energy, in order to put more renewable power on the grid. A FIT is a guaranteed payment by the kilowatt-hour, for energy produced. Because these pay just for the power produced, they are risk-free policies for governments to enact, so long as the price is neither so low that they are ineffective, nor so high that the initial investment in building the clean fuel-free energy infrastructure costs ratepayers too much.

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New English International MA Program in Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University

Lifestyle

Karen Chernick

January 12, 2011

New English International MA Program in Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University

The Tel Aviv University campus is about to get a little greener.

Tel Aviv University is greener because of the activity of the campus’s Porter School of Environmental Studies, which is always starting some new eco initiative. Whether it is the construction of the greenest building in Israel, or the cultivation of a community garden, chances are that the Porter School is behind it. Now the school is hoping to get the international community more green as well, by offering a new English-language International MA Program in Environmental Studies, to be launched in fall 2011.

For the first time, the Porter School program will be offered in English and geared towards students from overseas.

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Fighting ‘Ecocide’: Interview With Environmental Lawyer Polly Higgins

Cities

Arwa Aburawa

January 12, 2011

Fighting ‘Ecocide’: Interview With Environmental Lawyer Polly Higgins

Arwa speaks to environmental lawyer Polly Higgins about ‘Ecocide’, corporate eco-destruction, water scarcity and why we shouldn’t give up on climate summits just yet

Polly Higgins is a lawyer on a mission to bring serious environmental destruction to an end. Whilst this may seem ambitious, she insists that using the legal system to outlaw environmental crimes can make a real difference.

Voted by the Ecologist as one of the ‘World’s Top 10 Visionary Thinkers’, she has submitted a proposal to the United Nations to make the crime of ‘Ecocide’- or extensive environmental destruction- the 5^th Crime Against Peace alongside genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression.

I spoke to Polly, who recently published her book ‘Eradicating Ecocide’, to find out more.

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Green Prophet On “Dubai Eye” Radio With Siobhan Leyden

Lifestyle

Tafline Laylin

January 12, 2011

Green Prophet On “Dubai Eye” Radio With Siobhan Leyden

The voice behind the words: one of Green Prophet’s many contributors talked to Siobhan on her weekly Green Team show. LISTEN HERE

Today yours truly was on the Dubai Eye show, gushing about Green Prophet and the Middle East’s most pressing environmental concerns.

In the first half of the show (listen to me talking about Middle East green), Siobhan interviewed Robert Ferry of Studied Impact and the Land Art Generator Initiative, one of the region’s most innovative design houses that focuses on making power generation and distribution beautiful.

In the second half, I rattled on about how I became interested in Middle Eastern environmental issues, and how Green Prophet aspires to provide a community for eco-minded Middle Easterners while simultaneously drawing the international arena’s attention to projects in our region.

We identified water, energy, and fossil fuels as pressing concerns, as well as plastics, and then oooed and aaahed over Studied Impact and the Japanese technology that converts plastics back to oil. And then, Siobhan asked me to identify a buzzword for 2011. I chose “interconnectedness,” the realization of which was on my Christmas wish.

Dubai Eye broadcasts “The Green Team” environment show every Wednesday at 13h00 local time. The show’s host (whose Gaelic name is pronounced Shevaun) is a ten year veteran from Northern England who has her finger firmly positioned on Dubai’s hopping pulse. Tune in today’s Green Team show and stay tuned.

INTERVIEW WITH GREEN PROPHET PART I

INTERVIEW WITH GREEN PROPHET PART II (click here and scroll down)

A few stories covered on the today’s Dubai Eye program:
READ: Lagi’s Guide To Making Renewable Energy Beautiful
Abu Dhabi Builds Aquifer To Hide Desalinated Water
New Machine Converts Plastics Back To Oil

Israel Cleantech Intelligence: Clean Air and 6 More Headlines

Tech

Lisa Damast

January 12, 2011

Israel Cleantech Intelligence: Clean Air and 6 More Headlines

Virent energy, Israel’s green police, renewable energy sources and more headlines related to Israeli cleantech and the environment.

Collaboration between Israel and Virginia is set to grow with Virginia’s plans to meet with and provide financial assistance to some Israeli cleantech companies. Israel’s Clean Air Act that was signed in 2008 finally went into effect and Israeli biofuel and energy efficiency companies are likely to see a rise in investment this year. For these stories and the rest of this week’s headlines, see below.

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Tel Aviv’s “Fast Lane” For Traffic Safety and the Environment

Transportation

Maurice Picow

January 12, 2011

Tel Aviv’s “Fast Lane” For Traffic Safety and the Environment

Commuters will ride for free. But will the toll-run “fast lane” help solve Tel Aviv’s increasing traffic nightmare?

Looking for a faster way to get to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem every day? Instead of being stuck in the daily traffic jam, a daily routine for drivers coming from both Israel’s capital and the bedroom communities of Modiin and Beit Shemesh, why not try the fast lane?

It’s now possible to take the new “fast lane” which will enable those traveling on it to reach the main traffic artery of Tel Aviv, the Ayalon Freeway, in only 11 minutes instead of commuter times of up to two hours. The new 13 km stretch will actually be a toll road to cars with less than 4 passengers. Busses and cars with at least four passengers will get to use it for free.

According to estimates in the Marker, between 1,600 to 2,000 cars an hour are forecast to use the lane during busy times. The toll is expected to be between NIS 17 and NIS 20 during rush hour. When the measured speed will drop to below 70p km per hour, the toll cost will increase, due to more cars using the lane. How will this impact the environment?

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10 Israeli Cities Celebrating Environmental Achievements in 2010

Lifestyle

Karen Chernick

January 11, 2011

10 Israeli Cities Celebrating Environmental Achievements in 2010

Was 2010 good or bad for the environment?

Depending on whether you’re a glass half full or glass half empty kind of person, you could reflect upon the year 2010 and see it in either a positive or negative green light. There were some environmental catastrophes, such as the Carmel fire – the worst fire in Israeli national history, but there were also some positive strides. Green Course, an Israeli student-run environmental NGO, has chosen to look at the glass as being half full, and recapped 10 Israeli cities celebrating environmental achievements in 2010.

Here’s what Gil Yaacov, Executive Director of Green Course, had to say about the past year:

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Grapes In Moisturiser Are Sweet For Skin, Not Sour

Health

Tafline Laylin

January 11, 2011

Grapes In Moisturiser Are Sweet For Skin, Not Sour

Esdor’s beauty products contain healthy, antioxidant-rich extracts from grape skins, of which Israel has aplenty, and none of the bad stuff.

Israel is well-known for its wines that were popular among Romans. The industry really took off in 1989 when Baron Edmond James Rothschild started the Bordeau estate Château Lafite-Rothschild. Ironic, then, that the Elah Valley wine industry today is threatened by oil shale ambitions supported by Lord Jacob Rothschild.

There are many ugly beauty products on the market that are full of chemicals better off used in an industrial zone. These don’t get my money. A Spanish firm has patented a product that is infinitely healthier and that, as a bonus, uses grape skins that might otherwise go to waste.

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Segway “Police” Achieve Fame For UAE Corniche Cleanup

Transportation

Tafline Laylin

January 11, 2011

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Segway “Police” Achieve Fame For UAE Corniche Cleanup

Known as the “Corniche Police,” these cousins have transformed Ras al Khaimah’s urban park.

Despite their numerous environmental faux-pas, like the RAK global warming park, the UAE must be credited with its moments of genius. The latest campaign in Ras al Khaimah to clean up the Corniche is one such example. A popular park among tourists and locals alike, in recent years it has acted like a giant trash dump.

In anticipation of increased traffic, and therefore increased rubbish, the Department of Public Works imported four segways from the United States on which employees patrol the park. They were delivered last month, and have revolutionized how the public perceive their treasured green space.

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Ethical Foraging Saves Native Flora

Health

Miriam Kresh

January 11, 2011

Care for wild edibles as if you’d grown them yourself, and they’ll come back year after year.

The Jewish springtime Tu B’Shvat festival is just around the corner on Wednesday night, the 19th of this month. The flowering of the almond trees on that day also signals new green growth on Israel’s dry soil. It’s tempting to go out, field guide in hand, and fill a backpack up with lots of edible wild greens.

But over-enthusiastic foraging can backfire. When plants aren’t allowed to re-seed, or if most in an area get uprooted, there won’t a new crop for next year.The forager will have to search farther afield to find the healthy, tasty wild plants that once grew close to home, while the plants slowly recede and disappear from the landscape.

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Sharjah Launches ‘Environment Awareness Award’

Lifestyle

Zaufishan

January 10, 2011

Sharjah Launched the ‘Environment Awareness Award’ with aims to increase students’ environmental awareness and encourage them to actively participate in environmental activities at school.

Bee’ah, an innovative education initiative from the Bee’ah School of Environment, along with the Sharjah Education Zone (SEZ) and Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services (SCHS) launched the Sharjah Environment Awareness Award.

With over AED100,000 in total prize money to be given away in different categories, the award programme aims to increase environmental awareness among students from kindergarten through to Grade 12, and encourage the youth to actively participate in environmental activities within their schools.

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