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Dive Into WATEC – A Not To Miss Water Clean Tech Conference in Tel Aviv This November

Tech

Karin Kloosterman

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July 24, 2009

Dive Into WATEC – A Not To Miss Water Clean Tech Conference in Tel Aviv This November

The world economic chill is not cooling global warming, says organizers from the international water tech symposium and conference WATEC. This is part of their announcement for the 2009 conference happening this November in Tel Aviv.

I’ve been to a couple WATEC conferences in the past — they happen once every 2 years — and if you are looking for innovation and water solutions for your company, community or state, this is the place to be.

Some 150 ministerial delegations, company directors and business people are expected to visit the 5^th International Water Technologies and Environmental Control Exhibition – WATEC Israel 2009 – on November 17-19 at the Trade Fairs and Conventions Center in Tel Aviv.

At the same time, an international conference will examine the need for a sustainable economy to reduce environmental damage, for the benefit of future generations. The conference will address the problems and challenges facing different countries – more efficient water consumption, limiting environmental pollution and the increasing use of alternative energy sources.

Will You Be A Middle East Climate Refugee? Escape To An Underground Desert Living Unit

Cities

Dan Bloom

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July 22, 2009

Will You Be A Middle East Climate Refugee? Escape To An Underground Desert Living Unit

Can’t stand the climate change heat? Why not move underground?

For Reynard Loki and Jennifer Daniels, the future might lie, for some people in places such as Israel or Australia, in what they are calling Underground Desert Living Units, UDLU for short.

Loki began working on the idea in March 2008, and he later found Daniels to do the illustrations.

When asked how he was inspired to create UDLU, Loki said a news article titled “Exotic climate study sees refugees in Antarctica” got him thinking about where such refugees might live. Another news article titled “Global Warming Threatens Australia’s Iconic Kangaroos” spoke of climate models showing up to a six-degree rise in Australia’s temperature by the year 2070.

The article predicted that large swaths of Australia will become dry and parched.

And then a radio interview with British scientist James Lovelock about New Zealand serving in the future as a “lifeboat” for climate refugees in the southern hemisphere convinced Loki that the idea of UDLU might be useful to think about and envision.

“You’ve seen it happening in Australia already: Desert is spreading and things just won’t grow,” Lovelock told a New Zealand radio station reporter last year. “The island nations like New Zealand will be spared that kind of damage.”

IQWind and 7 Israel-related Cleantech Headlines, Week of July 12, 2009

Lisa Damast

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July 22, 2009

IQWind and 7 Israel-related Cleantech Headlines, Week of July 12, 2009

During the past week, IQWind raised $500k from U.S. investors and N-Viro launched a clean soil facility in Israel.

Israel’s water situation was compared to Tanzania’s and Shari Arison (pictured left) made the news about looking to increase her solar-energy holdings.

For these stories and the rest of this week’s 7 headlines, check below.

Water Rich and Water Poor – A Tale About Israel and Tanzania

Tech

Maurice Picow

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July 21, 2009

Water Rich and Water Poor – A Tale About Israel and Tanzania

Israel is very small country, as compared to most African countries, such as Tanzania.

Yet despite this vast land difference (Israel has a land area of 8,019 sq miles compared to Tanzania’s 364,900 sq miles) Israel has been able to utilize 95% of its renewable water resources, estimated at 1,800 million cubic meters, and grow a significant part of it’s own food.

Tanzania has significantly more fresh water resources available, including more than half of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest fresh water lake; Lake Tanganyika, and part of Lake Nyasa (otherwise known as Lake Malawi).

Yet despite this, Tanzania has a chronic food shortage due to a severe water shortage problem, and millions of children suffering from various physical ailments attributed to malnutrition. Can Israel help them?

N-Viro International Smells Lucrative Sewage Sludge in the Center of Israel

Tech

Liat Racin

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July 21, 2009

N-Viro International Smells Lucrative Sewage Sludge in the Center of Israel

Dan region’s sewage sludge smells like an appetizing business venture for N-Viro International.

The Ohio-based environmental and materials operating company, which pioneered the conversion of sewage sludge into commercial soil fertility products, is expected to open a new N-Viro Soil manufacturing facility to serve Israel’s Greater Tel Aviv region by the end of this year.

Lebanese Expats Build Suburbia in Bint Jbeil

Cities

Daniella Cheslow

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July 20, 2009

Lebanese Expats Build Suburbia in Bint Jbeil

According to Lebanon’s Daily Star, the war-ravaged southern town of Bint Jbeil is remaking itself as a suburban summer getaway for expatriates who left over the last three decades of strife.

Suburban living has made deep imprints across the Middle East, particularly in the shopping malls that have sprouted up in the West Bank and the mega-mall planned for Israel’s Beer Sheva.

In the war of 2006, Bint Jbeil was a major flashpoint between Hizbollah and Israeli troops; Hassan Nasrallah delivered an incendiary speech there. But the violent history starts earlier: Bint Jbeil was invaded by Israeli troops in the 1978 Operation Litani. From 1982-2000, Israel occupied southern Lebanon, including Bint Jbeil, following the country’s civil war. The Daily Star reports that thousands of Lebanese left the country during the 1970s and 80s to start anew in the American Midwest, particularly Dearborn, Michigan. Since 2000, they’ve come home for summers spent in villas that remind them of their adopted home:

BGU Makes Green Plan for Bedouin City of Rahat

Cities

Daniella Cheslow

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July 19, 2009

BGU Makes Green Plan for Bedouin City of Rahat

As a geography Master’s student at Beer Sheva’s Ben-Gurion University, this semester I took a class in environmental law and policy with Alon Tal (we profiled him here). Our final project was to work on a green plan for Rahat, an Israeli Bedouin city that suffers from serious issues of garbage control, shade, green spaces and environmental awareness.

The Jerusalem Post’s Ehud Zion Waldoks covered our final meeting. As a member of the open spaces team, I went on a field trip to Rahat with Ahmad Amrani (left) who is trying to green the city. Rahat is not the first Bedouin locale to take on the environment; Darijat is Israel’s first solar village.

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