Page 655 – Green Prophet

It happened to me just the other night, when I was standing at the counter of the ice cream shop, trying to decide between espresso cardamum and dark chocolate (or both). I felt guilty about my deliberation, and the consequent waste of those small plastic spoons that are used to dish out the samples. How many of those spoons are wasted annually by indecisive ice creams eaters like myself?

But at Iceberg Ice Cream in Tel Aviv, where I was making my decision (and eventually opted for both flavors), none of the plastic spoons go to waste. They are all carefully collected, washed, and handed over to Hasadna… where they are subsequently transformed into fun, beautiful chandeliers.

But that’s not all they make at Hasadna.

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The Story Behind Jerusalem's Royal Rock

Cities

Tafline Laylin

April 3, 2010

The demand for Jerusalem stone comes with a social and environmental cost

We have applauded Jerusalem’s living building, and we have drooled over delicious vegan dishes offered by Eucalyptus Restaurant in the Khutzot HaYotzer artist’s quarter. But nothing defines the city’s visual character more definitively than the prolific presence of Jerusalem stone.

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Lebanon To Waive Taxes on Hybrid Cars

Transportation

Karin Kloosterman

April 2, 2010

Tesla’s electric roadster (above) and Nissan’s LEAF could evade import tax to Lebanon this year.

Israel probably thought it was alone in the region with its plans to lift (and then stiff) taxes from hybrids and electric cars until now: Its northern neighbor Lebanon says it will likely do the same. In the 2010 draft budget, reports the Daily Star, the Lebanon government is factoring in exempting companies and individuals from paying import taxes on hybrid cars. This announcement could boost sales of hybrids and all-electric vehicles, such as Nissan’s LEAF to the Middle East region, especially in oil-less countries where citizens tend to have more modest dealings with environment issues and transport.

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An Ungreen Invention: The Automated Street Meat-Cutting Robot

Health

Karin Kloosterman

April 2, 2010

[youtube width=”560″ height=”400″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H65o8uSmKz8&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]A totally redundant and ungreen invention automates Middle East meat cutting.

We were fooled by Grist yesterday and the news that McDonald’s meals won’t compost for 1,000 years, but this meat-cutting robot, a donor-robo looks like no joke. Designed by Turkish engineers, your Middle East street meat will never be the same, boast developers of the product now being sold at a German expo. Seriously folks?

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Green LEGO? Build Futuristic Solar Cars and Wind Powered Robots

Lifestyle

Tal Ater

April 2, 2010

Green LEGO? Build Futuristic Solar Cars and Wind Powered Robots

Get your kids to build tomorrow’s solar power plant or wind turbine, with LEGO.

LEGO, makers of timeless bricks of wonder, continue their welcome advance into the classroom with the new Renewable Energy Set. The new set lets students experiment with using energy from their own bodies and the three main energy sources – solar, wind, and water – to generate, store, and use power. The set also contains building instructions for a variety of models such as a solar-powered car and a wind turbine.

The renewable energy set, comes with a new activity pack, which lets students explore renewable energy sources; investigate energy supply, transfer, accumulation, conversion, and consumption; and use measurements and data analysis to describe and explain outcomes through hands-on activities and real-life models.

The new set is part of Lego Education, a branch of Lego which aims to provide pre-schools to high-schools, with an educational package for exploring topics such as robotics, mechanics, electricity, math and even Aerospace.

If the last time you saw a piece of LEGO was in your childhood, I encourage you to check out some of the amazing things that can be done these days with the modern LEGO Mindstorms, it makes the LEGO Technics of my childhood look like naive child’s play by comparison. It is great to see the Legos of this generation, are just as relevant today, as they were for my generation.

And if there is a child in your life (your son or daughter, a niece, nephew, or spouse), pull him away from the TV and computer screen, and build something together.

Halal Or Not, McDonald's Food Won't Decompose Faster Than Plastic Bags

Health

Karin Kloosterman

April 1, 2010

Halal Or Not, McDonald's Food Won't Decompose Faster Than Plastic Bags

New disturbing news about the McDonald restaurant chains that have found themselves in practically every Middle Eastern country except for Syria and Iran: With plans to set up a worldwide composting program, the Mc-company canned its plans after learning that its food scraps simply will not decompose. Well, not for the next 500 or 1,000 years at least.

This fact was confirmed by scientists, and reported on the environment news site Grist. According to reports, not a single item on the Mickie D’s menu is disposable.

Scary or what?

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Turkey: The World's Most Environmentally-Friendly Country? Maybe, With Water

Travel

Maurice Picow

April 1, 2010

The Oympinar Dam in Turkey shows off one of the country’s precious natural resources: water. Image via nifortescue

Turkey is trying to become “the world’s most environmentally friendly country” in order to up its chances on joining the European Union. Despite its increasing “Islamization” and friendly overtones towards less than conservative countries like Syria and Iran, this Asia Minor nation is currently undertaking a number of programs dealing with fresh water conservation and production, better treatment of solid and liquid wastes, and fighting pollution in lakes and rivers, as well as in the air. A number of Green Prophets have travelled to Turkey and know that its natural wonders are something to behold, and that Turkey has a great number of natural resources, including an envious supply of freshwater.

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Have a Green and Joyful Sizdah Bedar (Persian New Year)

Religion

Karen Chernick

April 1, 2010

Have a Green and Joyful Sizdah Bedar (Persian New Year)

If you are Iranian, now is the time to celebrate the Spring holiday. Make the green holiday, greener. [image via: Hamed Saber]

Spring is celebrated as a time of renewal and regrowth among many religions and cultures that originated in the Middle East. The Christian holiday, Easter, coincides with spring, as does the Jewish liberation holiday, Passover. The Persian New Year holiday, Sizdah Bedar (or, the Festival of Joy and Solidarity), takes places tomorrow and also celebrates the joyous coming of spring.

The holiday, which is marked on the 13th of Farvardin (or, the last day of the Nowruz New Year period), is traditionally spent outdoors with family. Modern celebrations of the holiday include going to parks, having picnics, and throwing sabzeh (or sprouts that people start growing at the beginning of Nowruz) into a river. This act is meant to symbolize the cycle of life.

The holiday sounds very green already, but here are some ways to make your Sizdah Bedar celebrations a little greener:

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ENGEX Conference on Energy, Water, Transportation and the Environment Offers 10% Discount to Green Prophet Readers

Tech

Karen Chernick

March 31, 2010

ENGEX Conference on Energy, Water, Transportation and the Environment Offers 10% Discount to Green Prophet Readers

EngEx, an organization of independent and nonpartisan engineers, believes that “enhanced communication, achieved through unity and constant exchange of research and dialogue, is the means to a solution for energy, water, infrastructure, and climate concerns.”

And it is organizing a conference in order to provide a forum for such communication. EngEx hopes that their conference – which will take place in San Diego between July 29th-31st, 2010 – will contribute to enhancing innovation in the engineering world especially in terms of new clean technologies. It also hopes that Green Prophet readers will attend, and is offering a 10% discount (which you can access here). Or get the same 10% discount, when registering by entering the code: 9900048. It will be a great chance for clean tech entrepreneurs from the Middle East to access US Ministry movers and shakers, and investors.

The conference will be focused on research in the following four fields:
Energy (depleting energy, renewable energy, storage, and the electric grid)
Water (desalination, cloud seeding, wastewater, and pipeline rehabilitation)
Transportation (fuel infrastructure, public transit, roads/bridges, and sustainable planning)
Environment (carbon capture, carbon storage, carbon management, and carbon use/reuse)

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Lebanon Looks to "Smart Grid" and Renewable Sources to Generate 12% of Its Electricity by 2020

Tech

Ira Moskowitz

March 31, 2010

Lebanon Looks to "Smart Grid" and Renewable Sources to Generate 12% of Its Electricity by 2020

Addressing a renewable energy forum in Beirut earlier this month, Lebanon’s Water and Energy Minister Gebran Bassil (pictured left) cited the need for regulatory changes to facility the introduction of renewable energy in the country, but expressed optimism that Lebanon will reach its goal of generating 12% of its electricity through renewable resources by 2020.

Participants in the forum, which was organized by the McGill Alumni Association of Lebanon, included “decision-makers and stakeholders from the country’s energy sector, governmental and municipal authorities, technology providers in the private sector as well as non-governmental organizations,” according to a report in the Beirut-based Daily Star.

“We are not ready on the technical and legislative levels but we are committed to deal with these issues and get over with them as soon as possible,” Bassil declared. “We need a smart grid in Lebanon,” he added.

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Regional Cooperation Can Save Med Region Billions in Conservation Efforts

Travel

Karin Kloosterman

March 31, 2010

Regional Cooperation Can Save Med Region Billions in Conservation Efforts

Green Prophet has reported on the research of Dr. Salit Kark a couple of months ago. I went on to interview her, and here’s a story about our conversation and her research that aims to save billions in conservation efforts in the unique Middle East region.

An Israeli researcher is playing a leading role in developing a pan-Mediterranean conservation effort which could save more than $67 billion for the 25 governments whose countries are situated around the Mediterranean Basin. Along with her researcher husband and an Australian colleague, Dr. Salit Kark recently wrote a paper that was the cover story in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers sought to determine how much energy could be saved if countries within the Mediterranean Basin were to collaborate on conservation decisions and efforts. After crunching the numbers, they estimated huge cost savings if the governments would merely work together.

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Morocco Looks to $9 Billion Solar Project to Supply 40% of Country's Power By 2020

Lifestyle

Karin Kloosterman

March 30, 2010

Every day is a beach day in Morocco. In a smart move, the country unveils its plans to solar-ize the nation. Image via joaomaximo

Countries in the Arab world are starting to wake up to the potential of solar energy, especially those with no known oil reserves. Morocco is the latest to announce its intentions to solar-ize the country in a $9 billion project, reports the Global Arab Network. When completed, by around the year 2020, Morocco could be supplying about 40% of its entire energy needs by way of the sun. The goals are ambitious, but Morocco’s officials say that the sunny North African country is clearly positioned to deliver: with 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, the country “feels” about 5 kWh per square metre per day.

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Re-Assessing Masdar City

Cities

Tafline Laylin

March 30, 2010

Is Masdar City a beacon for Middle Eastern development? It may take another 10 years to find out.

We have been skeptical of Masdar City and Foster+Partners, the architects responsible for the emergent eco-city’s design, but BBC reporter Tom Reap’s recent article paints a compelling portrait of this dubious venture. Although projected building costs are exorbitant (approximately $22 billion), and the project is being funded by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s vast oil fund, it is worth revisiting the drawing board to determine Masdar City’s merits.

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A Day on Our Planet (Interactive Virtual Tour of Planet Earth)

Travel

Jack Reichert

March 29, 2010

A Day on Our Planet (Interactive Virtual Tour of Planet Earth)

See Virtual Tour of Earth at night.

It’s easy to forget sometimes what all this is for. With Earth Hour behind us and Earth Day coming in a little less than a month it can be overwhelming when we are bombarded by the media: “Do this for Earth Hour” and “If you don’t do that you obviously don’t care enough.” It can get tedious.

You may have come across the maps of earth compiled of satellite photos. As you know, there is no one point in time that Earth is entirely in the dark, or entirely in the light, as presented below. These images were stitched together from the highest quality, and cloudless, photos of every inch of the planet.

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Japan and Saudi Arabia Plan Giant Desalination Equipment Plant to "Freshen Up" Regional Water Supplies

Tech

Maurice Picow

March 29, 2010

Japan and Saudi Arabia Plan Giant Desalination Equipment Plant to "Freshen Up" Regional Water Supplies

Revese osmosis membrane equipment will help quench thirst of oil rich, but water-poor Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has been in the news a lot in regards to building desalination facilities, on which the Kingdom depends for most of its fresh water supplies. This includes what has been hailed as the worlds’ largest desalination facility in the Jubail Industrial Zone, on the shores of the Persian Gulf. But now, something different is in the works, as the Kingdom has reached an agreement with two Japanese companies, Toyobo, and Itochu corporation, to build a plant in Saudi Arabia to construct the equipment used in the desalination plants, making it much easier to construct new water producing facilities as needed.

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