In the misty folds of the French Pyrenees, something quietly extraordinary is happening.

At a remote site called Comminges in France, Mantle8, a pioneering natural hydrogen exploration company, has unearthed a breakthrough that could shift the balance of Europe’s energy landscape. Their soil-gas readings, peaking at 2,500 parts per million (ppm), have stunned the industry—seven times higher than the standard threshold needed to suggest serious hydrogen potential. If proven on a larger scale, this isn’t just a good day for the company. It’s a potential tipping point for how Europe powers its future.

“The Comminges block represents the perfect combo: an ideal pilot zone to validate our technologies, with a geological setting offering maximum hydrogen potential,” said Mantle8’s Founder and CEO, Emmanuel Masini. “With these highly encouraging early results, we are well on our way to make $0.80/kg hydrogen a reality by 2030.”

It’s not just the numbers that impress— Mantle8’s approach is different. Where traditional explorers search for hydrogen like needles in haystacks, Mantle8 has built what it calls a “hydrogen-generating system” model. Think of it as going beyond the treasure map to understanding the entire geology of the treasure chest, the locks, the keys, and even the pirates who buried it.

Their proprietary method fuses geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and cutting-edge numerical modeling—a first of its kind in the industry. This system doesn’t just find hydrogen; it traces its birth, movement, and entrapment deep underground. The company claims it can predict hydrogen volumes and quality with unprecedented precision, which could save millions in exploration costs and halve development time.

Mantle8 is operating in a space with companies like HyTerra, Natural Hydrogen Energy, and Gold Hydrogen who have made early strides in the race for natural (or “white”) hydrogen. Mantle8’s system-wide exploration model might just put them in pole position.

And the timing couldn’t be more urgent.

Europe, still reeling from geopolitical energy shocks and racing against climate deadlines, and the shutting down of Germany’s nuclear power plants, is hungry for cleaner homegrown alternatives to fossil fuels. Hydrogen—especially natural hydrogen, which occurs underground and requires minimal processing—could be a powerful answer. No electrolysis, no carbon byproducts, just natural H₂, ready to be tapped.

The potential is enormous.The potential is enormous. Natural hydrogen could reshape global energy systems with clean, abundant fuel sourced directly from the Earth. And Mantle8 is building the tools to unlock it at scale.

Currently awaiting the Permit Exclusif de Recherche (PER)—expected by the end of this year —Mantle8 plans to deepen its study of the Comminges block using low-impact exploration tools. The team aims to map entire subsurface hydrogen systems, from source rock to reservoirs, selecting optimal drill sites with surgical precision.

Mantle8, founded in 2024 and based in Grenoble, France, is redefining natural hydrogen exploration through a unique fusion of earth science and artificial intelligence. Led by geoscientist Emmanuel Masini, the company uses proprietary models to analyze and interpret vast layers of geological, geochemical, and geophysical data. Instead of relying on surface clues or isolated drilling, Mantle8’s system maps complete subsurface hydrogen-generating systems—tracing the journey of hydrogen from deep source rocks to trapped reservoirs.

Their tools simulate underground processes, predict where hydrogen is being generated in real time, and assess the volume and quality of potential reserves with unprecedented accuracy. The simulation of underground processes is performed by the third tool, which does not incorporate AI components, a rep from the company tells Green Prophet: Predicting where hydrogen is being generated in real time is the result of the core algorithm – the neural networks are used to accelerate processing and enable analysis across more potential sites, but they are not themselves making those predictions,” he notes.

Relying on experts in their field, “Assessing the volume and quality of reserves is also not done by AI – this too is handled by proprietary modelling tools without any neural network component.”

Backed by €3.4 million in seed funding from Breakthrough Energy Ventures Europe (BEV-E) and Kiko Ventures, Mantle8 is targeting hydrogen production costs as low as €0.77/kg. With competitors like Gold Hydrogen, Natural Hydrogen Energy, and HyTerra in the mix, Mantle8’s tech-led, predictive approach could make it a dominant force in Europe’s race for clean, local energy.

::Mantle8

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Developed by two twenty-year-olds for Microsoft’s Imagine Cup, Reyoutilizer simplifies the recycling collection process. Instead of having users call in their preferences for a collection time, they now use the app on their Androids or iPhones.

Each household is permitted to make an appointment once a month to have Union Paper Mills – the nation’s first recycling initiative of its kind – collect their recyclable paper, plastic and aluminum cans. If the customer is not satisfied with the time slot the company chooses for them, they have the option of changing their appointment time.

According to The National, the app allows the company to reduce their costs since they can streamline the collection process. They also stipulate that it is necessary to make the fuel and labor expenditures worthwhile by mandating that customers have a sizable bounty for them to pick up.

What paper pulp Union Paper Mills isn’t able to process themselves they sell to similar facilities, along with the aluminum and plastic cans.

Before Dubai came to host two of the world’s “most sustainable” buildings,” it languished in Abu Dhabi’s eco-shadow. Like an older, wiser and certainly richer father, neighboring Abu Dhabi has led the reigns to greater environmental awareness.

But a series of recent initiatives demonstrates that Dubai is concerned to reduce its overall environmental impact – if not for the planet’s sake, certainly to reduce costs. And making recycling easy by offering a convenient pick up service is a great way to compel citizens to recycle.

Trying to figure out what compels people to recycle, Stanford School of Business came up with these two main premises.

“Monitoring actual quantities of material recycled, researchers found that urgent, negative information (loss–framed messages) worked best to get people to recycle when paired with concrete instructions for recycling,” according to their research.

“‘Feel good’ information (gain-framed messages) about what recycling  accomplishes also worked when it was matched with statements about why recycling is important more generally.”

Recycling is still a budding practice not only in Dubai but throughout the greater Gulf region. Let’s hope Reyoutilizer ends up catalyzing some kind of awesome change.

Image of paper for recycling, Shutterstock

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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.

As part of the country’s overall plan to reduce its energy imports and stabilize energy generation in the next couple of decades, Morocco is pushing ahead with a slew of solar energy projects that will eventually produce up to two gigawatts of clean power.

Acwa’s 160MW plant will generate energy at a cost of just $0.19 per kilowatt hour, a competitive price that places the Saudi firm in the front running to build and operate two more plants – a 200MW parabolic trough plant and a 100MW plant using the same technology.

Consortia led by Spain’s Abengoa and GDF’s International Power have also been pre-selected to submit proposals for the 200MW Noor II plant, while France’s EDF was added to the team pre-selected to bid for the 100MW project, Morocco’s Solar Energy Agency (Masen) told Reuters.

“The capacity … will depend on the contractors, who could bid for more than the announced capacity, especially with the 100 MW tower which could reach 200 meters, the highest tower ever seen in Morocco,” sources told Reuters.

Although they have yet to make an official statement, one is expected in the next few weeks, the World Bank, European Investment Bank and Germany’s KfW Bank have agreed to finance the development projects.

Meanwhile, according to Arab News, Morocco’s state power utility, ONEE, has said it will also scatter 10 30MW photovoltaic plants throughout the country to help even out energy supply.

:: Arab News

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We’ve seen a lot of really useful applications for 3D printing, like making homes 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.”

Goldfarb says that he printed the molds in order to form dog poop! The doggy waste came out of the molds in all sorts of funky geometric shapes, and then he hit the town. Israelis like to push the limits in design no matter the shock value. See this getaway dress by Yael Mer for escaping global warming. Mer has a slipper rocker getup for the winter.

Back to the poo: as a comment on how people either don’t bother to notice or completely take for granted the works of urban art and architecture around them, Goldfarb used the unconventional material to break through the city stupor.

He arranged his poop shapes to resemble various landmarks across Tel Aviv, including the soaring Azrieli Center, the large sculpture outside of City Hall, as well as the leaning steel ellipses that are on display in Habima Square.

As part of his graduation project’s design brief, Goldfarb says that he wanted to “Challenge normal social rules and behavior.”

“‘Play with Poop’ helps to raise people’s awareness of their surroundings. the mini poop sculptures were placed in front of several landmarks in tel aviv in the shape of these same landmarks –- reminding the people who walk next to them everyday to take a second look, instead of ignoring them,” Goldfarb says.

It’s unclear whether he achieved his objective, but at least his abuse of 3D printing technology is far more benign than the printed plastic gun that made it past security at Israel’s parliament building, twice, without being detected. Or the 3D printable gun factory made by Cody Wilson in Austin, Texas.

Thank goodness for the people who are using 3D technology to make the planet a cleaner, saner place.

Or for celebrating religious ones like a 3D printed green dome mosque.

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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. Azza Abdel Hamid Faiad from Egypt made biofuel from plastic, and Arab and Jewish kids are working together on an algae project, but none have been as well rewarded as this 16-year-old from Istanbul.

Bilgin spent two years working on her bioplastic invention after becoming convinced that the starch and cellulose present in banana peels could be used for similar applications as other plastics made from organic materials such as mangoes and potatoes.

It took ten failed experiments before the teen, who told Scientific American that “science is her calling,” created a cohesive plastic material that did not degrade.

Throughout the process, she took heart in words uttered by Thomas Edison years before: “I have not failed,” he said. “I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

The girl’s perseverance paid off, and she won Scientific American’s coveted Science in Action prize, which comes with a $50,000 cash prize, one year of mentoring so that she can further develop her project, and she is an automatic finalist in the Google Science Fair.

In September, Bilgin will fly to the Mountain View Campus in California to compete with 14 other exceptional young scientists in this prestigious competition.

The Science in Action prize is designed to reward students who address environmental, health or resource challenges.

Bilgin said she is happy that her banana peel bioplastic, which will be used to insulate electrical cables or for cosmetic prostheses, will help to divert some of the pollution caused by the production of petroleum-based plastics.

:: Scientific American

Read about other cool teens from the Middle East:

Arab and Jewish Teenagers Grow Algae for a Greener Future

Biofuel from Plastic for this Young Teenager from Alexandria

Egyptian Youth Launch an Environmental Coalition

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Financed by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), the 6MW Victoria Wind Farm will generate eight percent of the energy on Mahé Island, where 90 percent of the population lives.

Masdar built eight turbines that can operate in low wind conditions on two different islands; they are connected by three kilometers of subsea cables and are designed to function well despite the highly corrosive marine environment.

For now, Port Victoria will power up to 2,100 homes and displace 5,500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, but the country has both the potential and desire to meet 15 percent of the island nation’s energy needs with wind power by 2030.

Currently, like many developing countries, the Seychelles relies on dirty diesel generators for the bulk of its energy, and imports of the fuel gobble up 25 percent of the country’s net imports.

This is not the first time that Masdar has helped a less well country gain access to clean energy.

Earlier this year the team delivered Africa’s largest photovoltaic plant in Mauritania. That project covers ten percent of the desert country’s energy demand.

“The United Arab Emirates has been actively assisting developing countries to achieve economic growth and social opportunity through strategic aid and support programs,” said H.E. Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, acting director general of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.

“ADFD aims to achieve the UAE government‘s policy by working with the international community to enhance economic growth in developing countries by financing development projects.”

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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.

Alexandria governor Muhammad Abbas told Daily News Egypt that the city’s partnership with the Don Bosco Institute, an Italian group with Catholic roots, is one of the country’s most important projects.

The idea to install a photovoltaic array on Don Bosco’s roof to provide energy for its own street lighting first arose in 2009, when Egypt imported its first solar cell from Germany, according to DNE.

A group of German, Polish and Italians decided to build the country’s first inverter in order to enable the conversion of DC to AC and 10 power distribution points were installed.

While one rooftop array is hardly going to ease the country’s incredible energy deficit, Don Bosco has worked with both the Egyptian Government and the European Union to officially recognize a practical educational system that it has devised.

Teaching all courses in Italian, the institute offers diplomas and certificates in various technical aspects of solar energy production, and recently opened its first electronics laboratory.

While most of Egypt’s existing solar energy developments have taken place in and around Cairo, like the Kuraymat hybrid solar plant, Abbas expressed a genuine interest in embracing solar.

He said that ” solar energy is clean and renewable and does not give off emissions,” according to DNE.

Previously, Egypt resisted developing their abundant solar resources because of the high cost of solar panels – especially when they are imported.

But now Abbas claims that solar makes sense financially since the panels last for as long as 25 years and require very little maintenance.

:: Daily News Egypt

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Located north of Petah Tikva, The Green School incorporates environmental education into their elementary curriculum to ensure that children develop good, sustainable lifestyle habits early on.

First to sixth graders are exposed to the major issues of our time, such as climate change, water security, pollution and food security, and then they are encouraged to participate in after school activities.

The difference between this and other schools that teach students about the importance of maintaining a small carbon footprint, using alternative fuels, and treading gently on the earth, is the design by Knafo Klimor Architects that affords a hands-on learning experience.

Heated and cooled with geothermal energy, The Green School is organized around a central green courtyard, where outdoor classes often take place.

There’s very little distinction between the indoor classes and the external environment thanks to a plethora of large windows that allow children to gaze outside as long as they want (no cave here.)

The school also promotes water conservation – a mentality that is instilled in most Israelis early on – by harvesting its own rainwater and treating grey water. Green roofs that crown the buildings conserve energy, improve air quality  and encourage biological diversity, while double glazed windows further enhance energy efficiency.

For all this green goodness, the school received LEED Gold Certification.

:: World Architecture News

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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. 

The modular 45,000 seat stadium will incorporate Islamic architectural elements to match one of the oldest inhabited settlements in Qatar – just south of Doha.

A design that embraces the city’s cultural heritage, the stadium will act as an urban oasis complete with an aquatics center, a spa and commercial space.

And, perhaps most importantly, it will incorporate a host of cooling technologies and renewable energy to ensure that both athletes and visitors are safe during the Arabian Gulf’s vicious summers.

(That being said, there is still a chance that the 2022 World Cup will be switched to winter.)

Since Qatar won’t really have any need for a 45,120 seat stadium when the sporting event comes to a close, the building’s modular second tier can be removed, slashing the total capacity to a more humble 25,500 seats.

Zaha Hadid is not known for her ecologically-sensitive design, but she does add some serious star power to the World Cup that has been subject to criticism from the start.

After accusations that Qatar bribed their way through the historic bid, critics warn that the first such event to be held in the Middle East will be dangerously hot.

But contractors such as AECOM have promised that they have the necessary technology to deliver solar-powered stadia that will maintain a comfortable interior environment.

Work on Al Wakrah Stadium is set to start immediately.

:: Designboom

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With 258,000 mirrors on 768 tracking parabolic trough collectors harnessing the sun’s energy to power a steam turbine, the plant developed by Shams Power Company occupies an area of 2.5 square kilometers or 285 football fields. Now that it is live, it is expected to generate sufficient energy to power 20,000 homes and divert 170,000 tons of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere each year.

It cost $600 million USD and took three years to build Shams 1 about 120km outside of Abu Dhabi. It features the most current parabolic trough technology, which made the most sense at the time that the project was conceived, and includes a natural gas-powered booster that maximizes the steam generation’s efficiency.

Masdar owns 60 percent of the plant, while Total and Abengoa each have a 20 percent stake in what Masdar claims is the largest plant of its kind.

“The inauguration of Shams 1 is a major breakthrough for renewable energy in the Middle East,” said Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar.

“Just like the rest of the word, the region is faced with meeting its rising demand for energy, while also working to reduce its carbon footprint. Shams 1 is a significant milestone, as large-scale renewable energy is proving it can deliver electricity that is sustainable, affordable and secure.”

Probably more than any other Gulf nation, the United Arab Emirates has employed an aggressive strategy to scale up its renewable energy portfolio.

Not only are several solar power plants in the works, but in January the government-backed Masdar initiative announced plans to develop desalination plants that are powered by clean energy to further reduce fossil fuel consumption.

“Abu Dhabi is investing and incubating a new energy industry, domestically and internationally,” said Dr. Al Jaber.

“Through Masdar, the UAE is redefining the role it plays in providing the world with energy. From precious hydrocarbon exports to sophisticated renewable energy systems, we are balancing the energy mix and diversifying our economy – moving toward a more sustainable future. Today, the UAE is the only OPEC nation delivering both hydrocarbons and renewable energy to the international market.”

Now that Shams 1 is online, renewable energy produced by Masdar accounts for 68 percent of the Gulf’s capacity and 10 percent of the world’s CSP capacity. This is in part due to projects that Masdar has partnered with abroad, including the Gemasolar CSP plant in Spain.

“The Middle East holds nearly half of the world’s renewable energy potential,” said Santiago Seage, CEO of Abengoa Solar. “The abundance of solar energy is an opportunity to integrate sustainable, clean sources of power that address energy security and climate change. The region needs more projects like Shams 1, and we look forward to pushing the boundaries of future energy.”

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