“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
“In the midst of uncertain time, renewable energy remains consistent and steadfast in its expansion,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General. “A more decentralised energy system, with a growing share of renewables and more market players, is structurally more resilient.”
Health insurance is a regulated financial product. Insurers operate under binding contracts, overseen by state insurance commissioners, that legally obligate them to pay claims meeting policy terms. Policyholders who believe a covered claim was wrongfully denied have legal recourse through state regulatory channels.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
Built by Palestinian engineers, the toy-carrying Eco-Playbus is powered by solar and cycling power
Yesterday, 250 children from the Aida Camp in Bethlehem and various Camps across Jerusalem gathered to celebrate the launch the unique Eco-Playbus project. Aimed at Palestinians living in refugee camps, the Eco-Playbus is a traveling vehicle filled with games and toys which promotes the right to play amongst locals who often live in difficult circumstances. As well advocating the importance of play and fun for everyone from the age of 2 to 99, the project also had a distinctly green message.
Huge oil subsidies in the Middle Eastern oil-producing nations mean that residents pay very little for oil.
One big problem in getting everyone to reduce use of harmful fossil fuels is that gas is too cheap some places. The worst offenders pay the least for gas, and it has long encouraged grotesque over-consumption.
Most of Europe has long since adjusted to its high gas prices, with the UK now paying $6.60 for a full gallon, Norway and Denmark; $7.41 and $6.89 respectively. Even in Hong Kong, gas costs $6.87, according to a report published this year by US-based research firm AIRINC that collated global gas price data from around the world in US dollars.
But gas guzzling Americans, currently screeching at the prospect of topping $3, pay only $2.85. Middle Eastern drivers are even worse. UAE residents pay even less, currently just $1.57. Kuwaitis pay only 85 cents and at the very bottom of the Gulf state list, according to Arabian Business, are the Saudis who pay just 45 cents a gallon!
Responding to David de Rothschild’s concerns, IEI attempts to convince Lord Jacob Rothschild that oil shale is good for Israel. Read all about in a letter Green Prophet obtained.
AOL news also covered the story, bringing attention to David de Rothschild’s concern for the potential environmental impact. The eco-explorer wrote to his second cousin, Lord Jacob Rothschild, a new investor in the conglomerate that intends to test its in-situ oil shale technology. That message was then forwarded to Israel Energy Initiatives.
The hornet that captures the sun’s energy in its bright yellow abdomenteaches us that nature knows so much better than we do.
When we cover crazy schemes to manipulate nature – such as the plan to move mini oceans to the desert – I inevitably shake my head at our collective arrogance. These plans completely miss the beautiful truth that nature knows so much better than we do, if only we would stop and listen.
Nature is responsible for the thorny devil that can usurp water from one of the world’s most hostile natural environments; mother nature gave every wetland its own set of lungs (papyrus, for example) to filter out impurities. And it is nature that gave the Oriental hornet the remarkable ability to capture energy from the sun to fuel its daily activity.
In the absence of all the trees burnt during the recent Carmel fire in Israel, a Christmas tree made from 5,480 plastic bottles stands tall in Haifa.
The city of Haifa, in northern Israel, has Jewish, Christian, Baha’i and Muslim residents, and so many religious holidays are celebrated there. In honor of the upcoming Christmas holiday, the Haifa Municipality approached local artist Hadas Itzcovitch about creating a Christmas tree for the city. Unfortunately (and perhaps symbolically) the tree went up the day the catastrophic Carmel fires began in the region. And so as 5000 hectares of natural trees were burning in the area, Itzcovitch’s tree made of recycled plastic bottles stood tall – reminding onlookers to think a little bit more about their environmental impact.
Could the Ormat geothermal project at Sarulla in Sumatra, Indonesia have caused the recent volcano? Worries about Ormat’s geothermal and the volcano in Indonesia are unfounded
Despite the truly apocalyptic danger to the climate that fossil energy poses, it always seems to me that it is renewable energy that gets more than its fair share of worries about its safety. Will solar use water? Will wind kill birds? Does geothermal cause volcanoes? Could Ormat’s proposed 330 megawatt geothermal plant in Sarulla, North Sumatra be unsafe? Last year, our own Maurice Picow posed the query.
Ormat Technologies Inc. (ORA (NYSE)) is a provider of alternative and renewable energy technology based in Reno, Nevada. But the company was founded by Israelis who started solar thermal energy in Israel. The Bronickis. The company has built over 150 power plants and installed over 2,000 MW. As of February 2016 Ormat owns and operates 697 MW of geothermal and recovered energy based power plants.
“One small problem – there is a chance that Ormat’s technology might cause a volcano eruption”.
Now that there has been a volcano, a little over a year later, was it in fact due to geothermal drilling? Was Ormat’s Sarulla plant connected with the recent earthquake of Mt Merapi, in Indonesia? Could it be Ormat’s fault?
No, actually. Even if geothermal does provoke volcanic activity, the project has not been built, yet. Because of pricing disputes, only finally resolved in 2010, field development and power plant construction has yet to be started.
The price had doubled by this year from the original estimates when the project was initially proposed in 2005, to US$1 billion. PLN, the Indonesian electric company that was to buy the power had previously agreed to pay $0.0464 per KWh in a power purchase agreement, but with the cost rises since 2005, the consortium of developers that included Ormat was no longer able to offer power at that price. The new deal was finally signed in April 2010 for $0.0679 per kWh for 30 years, just under 7 cents.
So, a non existent (yet) geothermal project cannot cause a volcano.
But the second reason is just simple geography. Even if the geothermal project had been begun, it is a good 2,313 kilometers (1,437 miles) from where the volcano erupted.
That is about twice the distance from Jerusalem to Mecca.
The plant will use Ormat’s Geothermal Combined Cycle Units (GCCU) which are more efficient than conventional steam power plants. These will capture the steam from the wells and produce energy throughout the day without any interruptions, and geothermal fluids are to be re-injected in the underground wells to avoid depletion of the gases. In a highly sustainable design, the steam itself will also not be released into the atmosphere, but will be recycled back through the ground.
Indonesia, a developing nation, highly dependent on its oil for electricity, is to be commended for encouraging clean energy development.
Like other nations in the “ring of fire,” it has high volcanic risk. And yes, that usually goes together with greater geothermal potential. From California, Japan, New Zealand and Indonesia,where there is volcanic activity, there is geothermal potential. In Indonesia’s case, enough to produce 27,000 mgw of electricity for a nation sorely in need of new electricity sources.
In a gloomy forecast that predicts scanty – and more expensive – produce in the coming months, Ifrah says that raging winds ripped 900 dunams (99 acres) of tunnel greenhouses apart, exposing vegetables to freezing rain and wind in hilly regions, and to wind-driven sand in the Negev. Damage to crops will affect local prices and diminish exports to Europe.
The Volt is already “charging” towards customers, and hopefully success
Finally, after months of speculation, marketing hoopla, and just plain old media hype, the first GM Chevrolet Volt electric cars went out to waiting Chevy dealerships and the customers who ordered them months before. The Volts, containing an electric engine as the main power driver, with a small gasoline or biofuel “range extender” engine to charge the car’s lithium ion battery pack when it runs out of “steam”, can enable the vehicle to travel as much as 379 miles before recharging the batteries and refilling the car’s small fuel tank according to sources at GM.
When comparing this car with other electric models, including the Renault Fluence all electric car using Israel entrepreneur Shai Aggasi’s Better Place’s exchangeable battery pack system the new Chevy Volt is more like a hybrid car than one whose total power is based on electricity only.
Sadly, the source of the recent Golan fire in Israel (before the Carmel fire) may have been an “eco-friendly” Rainbow Festival participant.
Environmentalists can get it so horribly wrong sometimes. They may decide to buy certified organic out-of-season produce from thousands of miles away instead of buying local and seasonal. Or they may ditch their small, second-hand, highly fuel efficient cars in favor of a brand spanking new Prius. And a few weeks ago, sadly, a participant at a Rainbow Festival thought she was being more eco-friendly when she decided to burn her toilet paper instead of leaving it in nature… and caused the dry grasses in the area to catch on fire immediately.
A sense that deserves to be protected, at least according to the UAE Architectural Heritage Society that has been pushing for a federal law to protect remaining Emirate buildings before they are swiped off the face of history.
With so many flat roofs across the Middle East, surely the region is ripe for a bit of rooftop gardening?
Recent reports that people in the Gaza Strip are embracing rooftop gardening has got us thinking about the urban gardening phenomena and it’s relevance to the Middle East. Whilst growing your own maybe something greenies love to do, there is a real incentive for those who have not bought into the green-agenda to take part too. That’s the beauty of urban gardening: it works on lots of levels and has multiple benefits. So as well as helping to reduce air pollution, keeping the city cool during hot summers and warmer during cold winters, the rooftop crops can help those living in poverty stave off starvation and even generate a decent income.
Spice up your breakfast egg with this easy recipe from Saudi Arabia.
Eggs are back to being the heroes of the breakfast table. Today’s wisdom decrees that one large egg daily gives you healthy amounts of protein, vitamins and minerals – all for about 72 calories. The cholesterol in the yolk, it’s said, doesn’t raise blood cholesterol significantly; in fact the nutrients in whole eggs may protect your heart. We’re among those who never gave up a daily local egg (see why buying local eggs is important here) and are happy to find science backing up our taste.
Eggs fit easily into any meal. Seasoned with the Middle-Eastern spice combination of pepper, paprika, and cinnamon (see our post on Middle-Eastern spices here), they’re delicious in a mezze course or as a protein snack in the middle of the day. Try this unusual recipe next time you want to jazz up your daily egg.
Spiced, Hard-Boiled Eggs (Aijet Beytat)
4 servings
Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Place the eggs in a medium pan and cover with cold water. Cover, place over a medium flame and bring to a boil. Cook the eggs for one minute, then remove from the flame. Allow the eggs to sit in the hot water for 15 minutes.
Cool the eggs quickly by putting them in a large bowl of cold water (save the water later for washing dishes or for your house plants). Shell them. With a fork, prick them all over.
Heat the olive oil (or butter) over a medium flame. Saute the eggs, turning them over frequently, till they’re a warm golden color with some brown spots – about 5 minutes. Remove to a serving dish.
Mix the spices and sprinkle them generously over the eggs. Serve.
Can you guess where this winterland is located? In Dubai! In the middle of the desert.
In a recent post, Pablo from Treehugger (a site we deeply admire) concluded that Ski Dubai’s indoor ski slope is not that bad. He based this conclusion on a beautifully calculated analysis of the facility’s energy consumption compared to what people would spend to travel instead to the Alps.
The trouble is, Pablo forgot to address Dubai’s infamous water shortages. A lot of energy goes into desalinating Dubai’s saltwater to produce fresh water, which, according to Ski Dubai, is necessary to produce snow. Add to Pablo’s calculations the energy required to produce the water, and the irresponsibility of using so much water in a country as desperate for it as Dubai, and Ski Dubai looks less and less attractive.
Could the stories of a lost city of Atlantis, first noted by Herodotus and Plato, have some basis in fact?
A “Persian Gulf Oasis” may have been host to humans for over 100,000 years before it was swallowed up by the Indian Ocean around 8,000 years ago.
A once fertile landmass now submerged beneath the Persian Gulf may have been home to some of the earliest human populations outside Africa, according to an article published today in Current Anthropology, by Jeffrey Rose, an archaeologist and researcher with the University of Birmingham in the U.K.
Rose’s hypothesis introduces a “new and substantial cast of characters” to the human history of the Near East, and suggests that humans may have established permanent settlements in the region thousands of years before current migration models suppose.
Is using human fat as lipo-diesel going too far in the name of environmentalism?
In general, most people look for ways to trim the fat. Trim some fat out of your diet, or your budget, or, if you’re “green”, trim some fat out of your carbon emissions. But how do you know if you’re going too far? Some would claim that over-the-top ‘carborexic’ behaviors constitute going too far environmentally, and others would claim that if you want to get rid of your love handles you should just foot the bill for a gym subscription instead of paying for lipo?
And if you’re going way way too far if the fat trimming process, you may be a plastic surgeon using your patients’ fat to produce lipo-fuel for personal use. Is that an ecological solution or guilt-free way to offset the procedure of lipo, or is it just an insane idea?
Built by Palestinian engineers, the toy-carrying Eco-Playbus is powered by solar and cycling power
Harsh winter storms have damaged crops in Israel to the tune of $5.5 million, according to Meir Ifrah, CEO of the Vegetable Growers Association.
