Reyoutilizer App Simplifies Dubai Recycling
Absurdly tall skyscrapers, overfishing and other environmental issues tarnish Dubai’s green image, but projects such as the new Reyoutilizer app at least makes recycling a bit easier.
cleantech
Morocco to Tender Two More Solar Power Plants
Morocco recently announced that it has pre-selected several solar power producers to build two additional concentrated solar power plants (CSP) in Ourzazate. Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power, which is currently building a 160MW CSP plant in the same area, is among the firms picked to bid.
Yariv Goldfarb Uses 3D-Printing to ‘Play with Poop’
We've seen a lot of really useful applications for 3D printing, but Yariv Goldfarb's graduation project for the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem is not one of them: printing plastic molds in order to "play with poop."
16-year-old Turkish Teen Makes Bioplastic from Banana Peels
Meet Elif Bilgin, the latest in a string of wunderkids from the Middle East and North Africa, who invented a bioplastic made from banana peels.
Masdar Launches the Seychelles’ First Renewable Energy Plant
The Middle East’s leading clean energy developer, Masdar has launched the very first renewable energy plant to be built in The Seychelles – the 6MW Port Victoria Wind Farm.
Alexandria Enters PV Solar Project with a Catholic School in Egypt
Once the most powerful seat of learning in Egypt, Alexandria has some catching up to do when it comes to renewable energy. Which may be why the governor has entered into an agreement with a Catholic technical institute to bolster photovoltaic education and installations.
Eco-Education Starts Young at New Green School in Israel
Thinking and living in tune with nature is a way of life that is best started as early as possible, which is why we think there ought to be more schools like The Green School in Kfar Saba, Israel.
Zaha Hadid Adds Star Power to Qatar World Cup
Qatar’s controversial 2022 World Cup planning got a burst of star power when renowned Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, who was one of Time Magazine’s top 100 most influential people in 2010, was appointed to join AECOM to design the Al Wakrah Stadium.
Shams 1: World’s Largest Concentrated Solar Plant Goes Live
The Shams 1 Concentrated Solar Plant (CSP) in Abu Dhabi is the largest of its kind in the world and it has finally gone live. Green Prophet visited the 100MW plant in the western region of the United Arab Emirates earlier this year as part of a Masdar-sponsored media tour during the World Future Energy […]
Founders of Israel’s Arava to Solarize Developing Countries
Founders of the Arava Power Company in Israel have started a new firm that will focus on bringing renewable energy to countries in the developing world. Whilst Arava has made concrete inroads in their home country, with a 40MW photovoltaic solar farm on Kibbutz Ketura just north of Eilat among their most recent projects, Energiya […]
“Seeding” Clouds Produces 20% More Rain in the Middle East
Water scarcity is not a new dilemma in the Middle East, but as populations grow, desertification spreads and temperatures creep higher, leaders in the region are understandably concerned for the future. Poorer countries like Yemen or the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan are particularly vulnerable, while oil-rich nations can at least use their wealth to explore new […]
German Giant Siemens is Selling Off Solel and its Solar Assets
This is big news in the solar world: German giant Siemens, which recently unveiled photographs of its new headquarters in Masdar City, has recently announced that it’s selling off all of its solar assets, including Solel, an Israeli solar builder that the firm only acquired within the last few years for $418 million. “Due to […]
Urban Kibbutz Reels in Rooftop Solar Investment in Israel
An urban kibbutz in sun-drenched southern Israel invested in a field of rooftop solar panels that are already pumping out more energy than the community needs. Three years ago members of the Migvan kibbutz in Sderot, which receives plenty of untapped year-round sun, made the collective decision to invest in renewable solar energy in order […]
Iran Blows Past Sanctions with Wind Energy
Determined to stay its unpopular nuclear course, Iran is now turning to wind power and other renewable energy sources to blow past sanctions. Last year Karin reported that the current regime plans to produce 5,000 MW of solar energy by 2015, and in May this year, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad put aside an additional $620 million […]
Solar-Powered Doomsday Clock Counts Down to 12-21-2012
Designers from Israel hope to install a solar-powered doomsday clock in Times Square, where it will count down to 12-21-2012. Using cutting-edge technology, including concentrated photovoltaic power and LED lights, the glowing four meter globe is designed to harness humanity’s attention in the lead up to the so-called end of times. But there’s a twist. […]
Inflatable Solar Canopy to Power the Arabian Peninsula?
MIT student Otto Ng proposes to solar-power the Arabian peninsula with more than 10,000 square kilometers of Powerscape – a tensile solar-collecting canopy comprised of inflatable mirrors. The problem with solar power, says Ng in a TED presentation, is the great amount of space required to produce the same amount of energy as a conventional […]
Saphonian Blade-less Wind Turbines Save Birds and Energy
While solar advancements continue apace, wind energy technology has remained fairly stagnant over the years, making it in most cases less viable than fossil fuels or nuclear energy. It’s expensive, harmful to birds and bats, deeply inefficient and comes with a host of annoyances such as noise and vibration. Responding to what they perceive as […]
Tarfaya: Africa’s Largest Wind Farm in Morocco is a Go
Africa’s largest wind farm to date is slated to begin construction as soon as a long-delayed financing agreement is completed, according to Wind Power Monthly. Morocco’s state utility Office National d’Electricite (ONE) awarded a $350 million, 20-year PPA contract for the 300 MW Tarfaya wind power plant to a consortium consisting of the local firm Nareva and […]
Eliodomestico is a Solar-Powered Desalination Device for the 99%
What’s hotter than Italian-designer Gabriel Diamanti talking about a solar-powered desalination device for the 99%? Not much, except for the Eliodomestico that he built during his graduate studies at the Milan Polytechnic in 2005. Following extensive travel to parts of the world that can no longer take fresh water supplies for granted, like Saudi Arabia, […]
Lapka iPhone Device Will Tell You if Your Food is Really Organic
These days it’s impossible to trust anything. We go to the store or market and buy what we believe is an organic head of lettuce but it’s virtually impossible to know whether that label meets our own standards for healthy food. Which means that we could be consuming nasty chemicals without even realizing it. Unless […]
China’s Trina Solar Wants to Spend $200 Million in Jordan
The disruption to Jordan’s natural gas supply from Egypt has finally awoken a sleeping giant: renewable energy. Long focused on oil shale and nuclear energy instead of renewable sources, the Kingdom has recently entered negotiations with no fewer than 20 international wind and solar-energy suppliers. These are mostly small or medium-sized firms that will provide […]
Israel’s bSolar Designs Promising Double-Sided Solar Cell
Bifacial solar panel can boost energy yield by 50%. Researchers have been trying to develop double-sided solar cells that can capture both direct and reflected sunlight for the last forty years, and now an Israeli startup believes they have come up with the winning formula. bSolar, a venture-backed project founded in 2007, showcased their bifacial […]
Hassan Fathy-Inspired Regenerative Home Planned for Buddhist Center
Scott Howard is among a growing number of people working on building projects that are not only eco-friendly, but actually help to regenerate natural systems. Once built, the Regenerative Home in Colorado will hopefully produce its own food in an entryway greenhouse and vertical garden, process all of its own waste, capture and recycle water […]
Morocco to Welcome Solar Impulse Pilots Tonight
We would give anything to be in Rabat as the world’s first solar-powered transcontinental flight comes to an end at roughly 11pm local time. Despite the relatively late hour (chosen to avoid dense air traffic), delegates from the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) and others will be at the airport to congratulate pilot Bertrand […]
Briton Replaces Gulf Developer’s Costly Cooling with Solar
Residents of the artificial Jumeirah Island villas in Dubai face cooling bills of up to $1,600 a month – almost double last year’s price, according to The National. So British national and long-time Dubai resident Tony Caden decided to install an array of 38 solar panels and a giant 20 tonne chiller. Now completely independent […]