Cars cause more greenhouse emissions than planes, Cleantechnica reports earlier this month.
So while it may be important to offset and reduce our flying habits, Mike Granoff, head of oil independence policies at the EV company Better Place explores how his company’s switchable battery solution can reduce auto emissions today.
Looking to the east, he explains why China will be the tipping point for the EV market. Read on for the interview.
Despite low 2nd quarter earnings, Ormat has secured $350 million in loan guarantees to develop renewable, geothermal energy plants
Israeli-founded geothermal power company Ormat Technologies (NYSE: ORA) failed to meet the market’s expectations when the company presented its results for Q2: a $1.5 million loss was reported, resulting in a $0.03 loss per share. Most analysts were expecting a gain of $0.07, according to a Globes report. CEO Dita Bronicki sited low generation and high operating costs are factors contributing to the results.
Based on the ancient “emmer” a new strain of pest-resistant super-wheat emerges from Israel.
Perhaps harking back to biblical times, or resonating with Israel’s interest in growing crops in the desert, Israeli scientists have cultivated what they believe to be the world’s best pasta wheat. It’s touted as having the best nutritional quality, yield, pest-protection and physical properties of durum that you need to make pasta.
While ‘taste’ is very much a personal sense, the Israeli research project, headed by Dr. Uri Kushnir from the government-run Volcani Institute has also pleased the taste buds of some of Europe’s most discerning pasta experts in Italy and Switzerland. “It’s a high-quality wheat nutritionally and pathologically – being insect-resistant and pest resistant,” says Kushnir, its inventor.
Named after his father who died of cancer in 2002, Joshua Mater established the Michael Scott Mater Foundation (MSMF) to create sustainable solutions to world problems
Just today, reports came in that a suicide bomber killed and injured more Iraqis in Baghdad, soon after the United States committed to its withdrawal from the country, and raising questions about the nation’s ability to rebuild itself. Pockmarked by war, it seems logical that appropriate building materials, biodiversity concerns, and wildlife conservation would stand low on the list of the country’s priorities. But this hasn’t stopped deputy plans officer for the 402nd Army Field Support Brigade, Joshua Mater, from forging links between his alma mater, Oregon State University (OSU), and various ministries and universities in Iraq, in order to foster sustainable development education that will enable Iraqis to rebuild their country when the Americans are gone.
Arak – spirits flavored with anise seed. A seductive (and sustainable) drink loved all over the Middle East.
The waiter comes carrying a tray with a bottle, a small pitcher of water, ice, and lots of glasses. You pour the clear, anise-fragrant arak out of the bottle, only about one-third of the way up in the glass. Add as much water. Wallah! The liquid goes all milky. Dunk a couple of ice cubes in and let your drink sit a minute to chill. Sip, and savor.
You can find good commercial arak at popular prices everywhere in Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and other Middle Eastern countries. But the most appreciated arak comes from distilleries located in mountain villages where the recipe, like many traditional foods, passes down from father to son through generations. It takes yellow grapes grown organically and without irrigation, and the best-quality anise seed, to make the best arak.
It’s an aperitif to accompany many small dishes of savory mezze over a leisurely lunch– or do all those appetizers simply help you drink the arak? In any case, arak has other uses that many don’t know about.
Sun tea is nature’s equivalent of the crockpot… minus the electricity.
We each have our own way of dealing with the Middle East’s harsh sun and humidity during the summer, especially in August. For some it’s sun dresses, for others it’s catching the breeze by the beach, and for some it’s a popsicle. If none of those options do it for you, how about some low-carbon emitting, low muss and fuss herbal sun tea? The formula is simple: take your pick of the multitude of herbs currently available, add to water, and let sit in the sun so it can do its thing.
Glass may be beautiful, but in the Middle East, it’s far from eco-friendly
It’s one thing for environmental bloggers to criticize architects or project managers for designing buildings that do nothing to preserve natural resources or inspire beauty in moderation. Foster and Partners, prolific in the Middle East, and just about anything built in Dubai are among such companies and schemes that have elevated our (green) blood pressure in the past.
So it’s deeply refreshing to learn we’re not alone, that architects and environmental planners such as Romi Sebastian, who works in Qatar with the Fortune 500 company AECOM, are also frustrated with architectural practices that defy ecological logic.
When the controversy subsides and construction begins, “Park 51,” otherwise known as the “Ground Zero Mosque,” will be LEED certified
Green mosques are sprouting up all over the world. We brought news of the first eco-mosque in Cambridge, but now in the midst of the chaos and controversy surrounding the Ground Zero Mosque, organizers have revealed that the community centre will also be the first green-certified mosque in the US. The mosque, which has been renamed ‘Park51’ to reflect its green credentials, will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, and in addition to building bridges between different communities, will spread the green message of Islam. Arwa spoke to Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, who first broke the news of the project’s environmental aspirations, to find out more.
We question the efficacy of a UN sustainable development panel chaired by the man who “showered off HIV” and including the Foreign Minister from Oil-Rich UAE
Culture plays an enormous role in how the environment is perceived and treated. We learned this week how devout Muslims, as a result of their tradition of generosity during Ramadan, inadvertently contribute to increased methane with their 500 tonnes of leftover scraps; meanwhile, the drive to fuel western consumer culture has sapped the diversity of life so crucial to healthy life. As such, any program tasked with creating a model of sustainable life must include representation from as many cultures as possible. At least, this may be behind the recent decision to appoint Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE’s Foreign Minister, to a new UN panel.
Will Edison’s invention be relegated to ancient history as LED goes mainstream?
Before the light bulb, invented by Thomas Edison in 1879, the nights were saturated in darkness and human activity limited to what could be achieved by candlelight. Now if the lights go out because of a power surge, we’re up in arms, raging at utility companies for their incompetence. And electricity’s environmental toll is immeasurable. Cleaner alternatives, such as LED, have been slow on the uptake, but the recent $15 million investment by the Taiwanese LED chip producer Epistar in the Israeli start up Oree could be a sign that LED technology will secure a place for Edison’s then-revolutionary technology in ancient-history.
A search for a cure to his own health problems led to a whole new profession for Dr. Shaul Eger – including a recipe for olive oil chocolate.
Thirty years ago Dr. Shaul Eger, an Israeli physiologist specializing in animal husbandry, was told by specialists that his heart arrhythmia was incurable and that he might die. He turned to ancient Jewish sources, where he read about the health benefits of olive oil. “I realized I had a problem, so I went back to my ancestors – to the Bible,” Eger says.
He was particularly inspired by the Jewish doctor Assaf Harofeh (Assaf the Physician) a Mesopotamian believed to have lived in the sixth century, whose works opened Eger’s mind, and heart, to a new remedy.
Harofeh writes that olive oil staves off mental illness and other ailments including those which afflict the heart. “We know from the Bible and Rambam [a leading 13th century Jewish scholar and physician] that olive oil is good for the memory,” says Eger, citing the Jewish law book, the Talmud, where it is written that those who drink olive oil will retain their memory for 70 years.
Just a spoonful of olive oil
“I found a lot of scientific basis for using olive oil” says the scientist, “… and I started to consume it.” Eger adds that his Arab neighbors near Yokneam Moshava, a village close to the Carmel region in Israel’s north, agreed about the oil’s health benefits.
At the time, while olive oil was a mainstay of the diet of Israel’s Arab population, Jewish Israelis hadn’t yet discovered it, so he bought it unrefined from his Arabs neighbors. “It was awful – the quality at the time [was low] because it was made in the traditional way, on stones.
“From a sanitation point of view it was a disaster. The acidity was high, the peroxide value was terrible.”
Still, he swallowed the stuff.
His self-prescribed remedy was a spoonful of olive oil a day, and within six months Eger was up to eight spoons a day. His arrhythmia disappeared. Before taking the olive oil, Eger says of his arrhythmia: “I suffered from it badly and had two bad experiences where I blacked out.”
But after drinking the olive oil, his entire outlook and career path were transformed. He decided to quit his job at the Ministry of Agriculture and make his own olive oil. Eger believes that he was one of the first Jews in modern Israel to grow olive trees and harvest the oil, “on the same land and in the same climate that made olives 3,000 and 4,000 years ago.”
Born in 1944, before Israel became a state, Eger wanted to farm the land, but he also wanted to be a scientist. He had earned a PhD at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his studies were focused on cattle, but after tasting the healing properties of olive oil, he switched gears. “I learned by myself, and got into a niche, in a subject I found to be very complicated, interesting and significant to human health,” he recounts. “Olive oil is a tricky raw material. It’s easy to produce, but easy to spoil – it’s so delicate. In terms of medicinal value, it’s potent. I decided I was going to deal with this.”
The married father of three (who says he almost became “unmarried” as a result of his olive oil passion), has three grandchildren, and has planted 1,000 olive trees, whose fruit he reaps today.
Investing money in science, Eger’s efforts have yielded a number of new products which he hopes will make Israeli olive oil competitive in the global market. With around 160 olive oil producers, Israel currently supplies only about one percent of the world’s total olive oil and according to Eger, the Israeli oil has no relative advantages in cost and taste.
So Eger chose to manufacture health products, with his oil as the key ingredient. One example from the line of Dr. Eger Olive Oil Products is a non-dairy, low-sugar chocolate spread.
Together with Prof. Ishak Neeman of the Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa, Eger developed a technology for water-free, preservative-free, trans fatty acid-free solidification of oils. The ensuing margarine substitute or spreadable olive oil is solid and stable at room temperature. It can be used to make puff pastry, diaper rash cream or lip balm to treat herpes cold sores. The Eger line also offers beauty products for the face and skin.
A firm believer that people should not eat cheese and dairy products, Eger hopes to share his life experience, and cure, with the world.
Olive oil has fatty acids, good anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties, he says, concluding, “It has the optimal composition of fatty acids, and five percent of its micro-ingredients are so important to our health.”
More Green Health News:
Ancient Kaballah Recipe Helps Doctor Fight Cancer
6 Herbal Teas – A Natural Way to Cure What Ails You
An Easy Vegetarian/Vegan Iftar Menu For Ramadan
Six “Green” Reasons To Drink Camel’s Milk
Collecteco gallery displays an impressive collection of eco design and art in central Israel.
Green Prophet has witnessed the occurrence of several environmentally-themed exhibitions in Israel over the past few years. Most recently, Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard was taken over by designs of green futuristic homes, but in the past the city has also witnessed a pop-up upcycled design store and an ecological art exhibition titled “White Trash”. But, we must admit, we have not yet seen an entire gallery devoted to environmentally friendly and ecologically inspired art. Until Collecteco.
A weekly Green Prophet series that looks at the Arabic “green” blogosphere and online communities.
After looking at “The Forum of the Ornithological Society of Kuwait and at the Saudi Green Blog, we are continuing our trip through the Gulf Countries and arrive this week at the Oman Eco Group Blog. This blog has been active since July 2008 and is administered by the Environmental Co-Op Group (ECO-Group). This group, as written in the blog, “has been the first environmental group founded in Oman consisting of teachers and students.” Its aims are to “make people aware of the environment” and to “share ideas and experience with people around the world in the field of environment & discuss environmental issues.”
Ruptures in natural gas pipelines like this one could cause a gas-fired power plant to shut down.
Ashkelon’s planned gas-fired power plant is being hailed as the first Israeli electric power plant to be powered exclusively from natural gas. It is also touted as being able to generate 800 MW of electricity at full capacity. But despite all of this fanfare, will the new, privately owned power plant in Ashkelon be environmentally friendly enough to be considered as a big improvement over existing coal and oil fueled plants?
Officials in Abu Dhabi launched the “Think before you waste” campaign to help prevent food from piling up in landfills during Ramadan
While Muslims are encouraged to internalize the principles of charity throughout their lives, during the ninth month of Ramadan, this philosophy is kicked into overdrive. Muslims demonstrate with even more intensity their devotion to Allah by abstaining from food, excessive sleep, and material pleasures. But each night, after the sun sets behind the mosque, dining rooms throughout the Arab world are transformed. Several recipes are realized in heaps, and guests are encouraged to pile up their plates. The more food, the greater the family’s generosity. Unfortunately, there’s a dark side to this abundance.
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