Artist rendition of what the new Eilat-Eilot Clean Technology Center may look like
Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat, which hosts the annual Eilat Eilot Renewable Energy Conference, will now get a further renewable energy boost by receiving a concession to build a new renewable energy center. The Eilat-Eilot Group which has put on the renewable energy show for the past four years, has been given the concession from the Office of the Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor as reported in Globes.
Have you ever thought of a potato as possibly harmful? Along with tomato and eggplant it has that potential
What do tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and eggplant have in common with tobacco? They are all part of the Nightshade family. Many salads call for their use, including the Middle Eastern eggplant dish Baba Ghanoush, however, despite their various healthy attributes, these vegetables need to be consumed carefully since they can have a negative impact.
Businesses in Dubai interested in reducing their carbon footprint should become consult their food map and source food locally.
Not far from Dubai, the Abu Dhabi eco-chicks arrange nights out and other eco-centric activities that coalesce the emirate’s green minds. They have also created a user-friendly map to make organic and sustainable businesses easier to find. While Dubai might not have the eco-chicks to put them on the map, organic farms are beginning to blossom. As such, local businesses now have the option to source their organic food locally and lower their carbon footprint. One business with an outlet in Dubai, Baker & Spice, which hosted the UAE’s first farmer’s market, has taken the lead.
In an effort to improve awareness of MDGs, a joint UNprogram arms Egyptian children with cameras.
Last week’s UN Development Summit in New York kicked up significant MDG dust. What the Millennium Development Goals – adopted by 188 countries in September 2010 – represent, and whether or not we have any hope of achieving them has become all the more pressing as 2015 rolls closer. Designed to improve the quality of life by addressing issues related to education, the environment, health, and poverty, the MDGs are being adopted with varying degrees of efficacy throughout the developing world.
With over 80 million people relying on the Nile’s historic generosity, Egypt in particular has a poor environmental record that must be improved in order to meet the 2015 goals. In other respects, Egypt has shown encouraging signs of progress. “Sailing the Nile for the Millennium Development Goals” is just one project that is helping to implant MDGs in the consciousness of the Egyptian children, and they are starting with the children.Â
Israeli Air Force Fighter pilots fear collisions with birds more than any other enemy. Birders keep them safe.
Droves of migrating birds strike a remarkable sight as they swirl above head in flocks of some 5,000 birds at a time over the Judean Desert. There are about seven hundred million birds flying over Israel twice every year during migration season, 600,000 of them white storks, explains Noam Attias.
Attias, a birdwatcher for the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, is perched atop a rocky hilltop overlooking the Jordan River Valley. She is also a former air force air traffic controller.
How green is your local beach? Soon you’ll be able to check its ranking.
Israel’s Mediterranean beaches are an attraction for tourists and locals alike. The sand is soft, the water is usually pretty clear, the weather is great… but some beaches can be cleaner (and greener) than others. And the Environmental Protection Ministry plans on telling you which beaches are which. Starting this month, the Ministry has begun a new program, called the Blue-Green Glag, to rate beaches on a scale of zero to four.
Now, the company’s owner has met a strange fate, Israel’s Channel 10 reports. Jimi was inspecting his property on his Segway, and fell 10 meters off a cliff into a river where he met his death.
Jimi, reports Salon, led quite an accomplished life: “He dropped out of high school at the age of 15, and rose from poverty and a life in the mines to found HESCO Bastian. He made millions in defense contracts, becoming richer than Simon Cowell.”
The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority paves the way for sustainable building in the increasingly “green” emirate.
Although green building codes have existed in the United States, Australia and elsewhere for a while, the same phenomenon has only recently been adopted in the Middle East. Israel’s first eco-tower aspires to incorporate, and Intel has already achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) principles. The western codes are voluntary, but Abu Dhabi’s municipality established its own green building code in May this year called the Pearl Building Rating System (PBRS) for Estidama. As of this month, by executive order, all new public buildings must achieve at least one pearl while government buildings must achieve two of five possible pearls.
Although the beaches were cleaned, the Hurghada Enviornmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) raised concerns that elsewhere, out of sight, remnants of the spill were left unattended. That same organization has now released reports that four Japanese dolphins are being held in a tiny swimming pool, until a new dolphinarium is built in Hurghada.Â
After receiving a tip from members of the public, the organization visited a villa where the common bottlenose dolphins were observed in a pool 1/10 the size that is considered acceptable.
The two males and two females are roughly three to four meters long and were brought to Egypt from Japan. However, Egyptian law mandates at least 105 days in quarantine to ensure that the animals are free of disease.
The pool, according to Wildlife Extra (a now defunct site), was filthy, most likely because it does not have an adequate filtration system to cope with the waste produced by the four dolphins. Visibility was apparently no more than 20 cm.
Wildlife Extra reported:
According to the Brazilian Institute for the Environmental and Natural Renewable Resources a minimum of 14 metres horizontal distance, a minimum depth of six metres and a minimum volume of 1600 m³ is specifies for two animals. The volume for four animals should be at least 2400m³. The HEPCA team found the four dolphins in a pool measuring nine metre by nine metre pool that was just four metres deep – a volume of just 324m³, only slightly above one tenth of the minimum required size.
It is unknown whether the dolphins were born in captivity or if they are wild. And releasing them into the Red Sea is out of the question since it is not their natural habitat. Not only would they put the local bottlenose dolphin population at risk of genetic and disease contamination, but if the dolphins are not wild their survival is far from guaranteed.
According to WE, the best that can be achieved is to improve the dolphins’ present conditions: provide more space and cleaner water. Either the pool will be extended or a new facility must be built for them.
“After the Red Sea Governorate learned about the four dolphins, they officially defined their position against holding dolphins in captivity within the borders of the Red Sea governorate. We hope that this will include the cancellation of the planned dolphinarium in Hurghada, before it opens its gates.” wrote WE.
Presently, however, Egypt has no laws governing dolphin capture.
A spokesman for HEPCA told HE: Egyptian waters offer incredible opportunities to see wild marine animals in their natural environment, including one of the most famous marine protected area in the region, the so-called Dolphin House, Samadai Reef. Egypt is actively working towards the conservation of its national environmental treasures; we don’t want the Egyptian Red Sea to send out a contradictory message allowing the captivity of intelligent, social marine mammals, such as dolphins. We will lobby vigorously, for the passing of new laws to make the Red Sea Governorate free from this heartbreaking, inhumane business.
Set to power 1.4 million US homes, the Israeli solar energy company is headed for a public offering, business papers speculate.
The American economy may be in the gutter, but it could be that big crash has set the world up for a new paradigm: investing in and building responsibly managed companies that have the earth in mind – not their CEO’s and VP’s big bonuses. Maybe it’s time to take your cash out from under the mattress: preparing for a US public offering is the Israeli-founded solar energy company BrightSource. The company is to build the largest ever solar-powered steam turbine generator in the world, in California. It hasn’t been without its struggles: environmentalists showed how the original build site for the solar panels interfered with coyote land; recently the company also made plans to relocate a native tortoise.
Now it looks like it’s full steam ahead for BrightSource. The Israeli business newspaper Globes reports that BrightSource has just raised an additional $30 million, bringing its investment total to $300 million.
What could be more refreshing and healthy than a bowl of fresh fruit and yoghurt?
Many people have stressful jobs that leave them little time to relax in the morning, nevertheless breakfast is always important. Making your way to the kitchen, there is always a debate of what to prepare that is both healthy and quick. Various dairy products are popular; from cheese on toast to cereal with milk, but one of the healthier options is a tub of yoghurt.
Fresh corn makes all the difference in these golden muffins – a treat for family and guests.
Right now in Israel it’s the Sukkot holiday, and visiting time as friends and neighbors go sukkah-hopping from one home to the next. It’s time to catch up with neighborhood news, refresh friendships, and relax with people instead of sitting in front of the computer or TV.
For drop-in guests and for family snacking, think muffins. With far less sugar than cake, and baked in a convenient personal size, muffins are a healthy treat – and please easily. This corn muffin recipe is deliciously different because the light, moist dough encloses kernels of fresh corn.
Join hands with your fellows in the Middle East on 10-10-10 and drive down atmospheric carbon concentrations.
There is no better way to subvert the status quo than to join hands with like-minded people on a similar carbon-reduction mission. Bill McKibben is the brains behind 350.org, an international non-profit organization that seeks to reduce atmospheric carbon concentrations to a healthier level of 350 parts per million. Now he is flanked by an army of gentle activists and ordinary citizens who believe not only that the cause is worthwhile, but that cooperative community activity can be really fun, and lead to genuine change.
So, whether you are in Israel, Turkey or the United Arab Emirates, where our very own “Green Sheikh” will be rolling up his sleeves to slow climate change, it is possible to join an existing global work party event, or to create your own. There will be a three-day bike ride to raise awareness of the Jordan River, which is knocking on death’s door, tree-planting, community workshops, and more.Â
The Biolite stove cooks up dinner for a family of 5 using local wood and no electricity.
Jonathan Cedar and his business partner, Alex Moss, were working on a cooking device for campers when they realized they could use a thermoelectric module to generate electricity from some of the fire’s excess heat. That electricity could operate a fan to increase combustion and make the fire cook food more efficiently. There was even enough electricity left to recharge a cellphone battery.
Israeli Air Force Fighter pilots fear collisions with birds more than any other enemy. Birders keep them safe.
A Brit discovers captive dolphins in foul conditions in Egypt.
Set to power 1.4 million US homes, the Israeli solar energy company is headed for a public offering, business papers speculate. 
If Ramadan and Yom Kippur have given you a taste for fasting, why not try the latest eco friendly fast: the oil fast. 
Join hands with your fellows in the Middle East on 10-10-10 and drive down atmospheric carbon concentrations.
