Israeli leaders have started hosting a preparatory meeting for the 2012 Earth Summit (Rio + 20), the UN Conference for Sustainable Development, to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The preparatory meeting is now taking place today through to October 27 in the Maccabia Village in Ramat Gan.
Lightexture’s lamps are beautiful and energy efficient. Sustainable designers interested in the field of light fixtures often focus on making the lamp base out of recycled or repurposed materials, and don’t necessarily think about energy efficient light. We’ve seen lamps made out of industrial pipes and chandeliers made out of ice cream spoons, but when […]
Israeli clean tech innovators comprise 8 percent of the world’s best clean tech companies according to this 2011 award. It’s the third year running that the Cleantech Group has put together its Global Cleantech 100. Last year, 7 Israeli companies were on the list. This year we see some repeats, with 8 on the list […]
Regional Etsy shops unite to form old-fashioned collaborative studios, online. Etsy, the online handmade and vintage shopping platform, has done amazing things to help people buy handmade, eco-friendly and local products. Artisans who are marketing their own products can easily set up online shops on the site, and on the buying end, Etsy has made […]
Call me Olivias de Maurico: This Syrian olive tree is loaded with fruit, most of which will fall to the ground, unpicked. The autumn olive harvest is still in full swing, and those of you who are now enjoying picking and preserving this ancient Middle Eastern fruit are surely aware that this year’s crop is […]
BrightSource Energy is making a big bet on CSP while others switch to PV The third huge US solar project from BrightSource Energy is its largest yet. At a whopping 750 MW it is the size of three or four US coal or gas plants. Its Rio Mesa Solar Electric Generating Facility in California will use the solar tower technology it inherited from Israel's Luz, its parent company (Luz Rises Again as BrightSource for California) in which a field of mirrors on poles reflects sunlight onto a tower to create steam to drive a turbine to make electricity. But it comes at a time when many utility-scale solar companies are switching to PV (photovoltaic) solar - those traditional rooftop solar panels that most people associate with solar - from Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) such as this. Why?
Scientist Harold Vinegar says there is a huge quantity of oil shale in Israel and, despite protests and risks, he still wants to extract it A project to explore the Elah Valley of Israel (pictured above) for oil shale has been underway since 2008 and despite protests from locals and environmental campaigners, those behind the […]
Bono’s ONE organization advocates inviting hungry people into your sukkah this holiday time. Bono and Sukkot. These are two words that you have probably have never seen in the same article, let alone in the same sentence, but the U2 frontman is breaking ground by drawing connections between between important social causes and Jewish symbols. […]
Navies crowd into once placid waters as Turkey presses Cyprus on gas reserves Turkey has a corvette, frigate and helicopters escorting its exploration vessel, the Piri Reis, as it explores for gas and oil. The US has quietly dispatched an aircraft and Russian naval vessels have been seen patrolling. News reports say US reconnaissance planes […]
A coal utility in Israel and the global leader in solar panel production form a joint project Everybody knows that China is the world leader in cheap solar. By contrast, Israel has barely begun to tap the global solar market. Yet the world’s largest solar panel producer in China, Suntech, has invited Israel’s state-owned electric […]
Mosaic artist Ruslan Sergeyev and the “My Wave” recycled ceramic art creation on Netanya promenade. Festival includes a mosaic of lost socks. Photo by Igor Sarni Israel’s eight-day Sukkot festival, now ongoing, often includes a number of motifs and local themes which give emphasis to projects that help preserve the environment. This year is no […]
A new international airport is slated to be built in Israel’s pastoral Jezreel Valley. Concerned activist Hadas Marcus explains why plans should be scrapped – for people and the birds. Perhaps you are not aware of a major storm brewing, one that will affect many people living in Israel. Precious time is running out. If […]
While the political debate on the future of a Palestinian state fails to make any progress towards peace, local grass root initiatives, led by the overlooked Arab women, are quietly making a difference on the ground. The story of “Kayan” an Arabic word for ”being” offers inspiration and insight on a small but growing movement […]
Ever wonder how the ancient Jews lived during their 40 years of wandering in the desert? When the Jews left Egypt, God commanded that they wander in the desert until the original slave generation had died out, leaving mature younger people with the free man’s mentality. Making and breaking camp often, circling the arid Sinai desert […]
Turkish PM Erdogan at the UN: His way or no way There’s a lot more for southern Cyprus to be alarmed about these days concerning its commitment to explore for natural gas offshore. First of all, there is the environmental factor dealing with undersea drilling off Cyprus, which could be damaging for an island so […]