Joshua interviews Israel’s most influential and accomplished environmentalist, Dr. Alon Tal. Where is Israel at in terms of environmental protection? Get the scoop here. Israel has introduced several environmental protections in the last few years, but many problems remain. Although massive social protests swept Israel over the summer, environmental issues were not at the fore. […]
We interview urban designer Wassim Melki who envisions a sustainable future for Beirut’s skyline. Beirut is almost completely bereft of public green spaces. Satellite images show expanses of grey apartment and office blocks and a depressing lack of trees or any other kind of greenery. But architect and urban designer Wassim Melki has a plan […]
Educating people about sustainability in the Middle East – while having fun. The eco-curious public thronged Masdar’s open organic market and street fair last week. As at last April’s first event, people experienced renewable energy in the flesh, riding in neat little driverless pod cars that shuttled between the parking lot and the fair grounds. […]
The question has been asked – how would you build a sustainable city in the desert? Siemens, the German energy corporation, has been active in the Middle East over the past couple of years since it bought a couple of solar companies in Israel. Now it is playing a role again as it has just […]
The sting operation “Weeds in the Underbrush” uncovered a cartel of tree-trimmers in Israel. It’s really quite common to see the entire tops of trees lobbed off, and sitting by the side of the road in Tel Aviv, and other cities in Israel. It makes one sad, especially since it’s often done in the summer […]
The University of Madaba’s geothermal system, the largest in the Middle East Khaled Al-Sabawi, founder and president of Palestinian green energy pioneers MENA Geothermal, was one of the speakers at this spring’s much-publicised TEDx Ramallah conference. In an engaging and humorous speech, Al-Sabawi detailed the many benefits that geothermal energy has to offer his native […]
Despite its numerous environmental challenges, Egypt can go green, according to Dominique Gauzin-Müller. It’s hard not to compare Dubai and Cairo – two cities that occupy many of our worried green thoughts. Although different on so many levels, one thing stands out: despite being relatively young and stroppy, Dubai is definitely the cleaner city. Sure, […]
District cooling is already super green. Now Ahmad Bin Shafir plans to take the mission one step further Wild and crazy Dubai is hardly known for sensible conservation of scarce resources, but CEO Ahmad Bin Shafir could change all that with a radical new approach to keeping cities cool. His rapidly growing company Empower already […]
Yemen has the dubious distinction of being the first country that is expected to entirely run out of water, as the globe heats up. Its capital city Sana’a could be the first city to be emptied of its nearly half a million inhabitants by the catastrophic water scarcity that threatens billions by the the 2030s, […]
Eskişehir, a center of industrial production in Turkey, is the country’s most sustainable city, according to a recent survey. When businesspeople from 29 different cities in Turkey were asked to rank their country’s provinces and cities in terms of sustainability, quality of life, social opportunities, and economic environment, the biggest cities in Turkey — Istanbul, […]
Some very good news from Egypt. The very progressive renewable energy policy spearheaded by Hassan Younis, the pre-revolution Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy will continue, post-revolution. He is one of four ministers who will stay on in the new government and will continue their good work for the new Egypt. One of the projects […]
Hawaii has just invested $2.6 million in stimulus funds in a public private partnership in electric vehicle infrastructure planned since 2008 to help jump start the adoption of electric vehicles. Better Place, with $854,000, and Aerovironment with $820,000 were the leaders among six road-ready electric vehicle innovators to receive a share of the funding.
Would the Na’vi people feel at home at Masdar? The acclaimed Hollywood director James Cameron, creator of the powerful green message movie Avatar, was in Abu Dhabi recently to tour Masdar. Unsurprisingly to me, with his green perspective, he had some very positive things to say. Hollywood’s greenest director was given a comprehensive overview of […]
The Green Sheikh, who attended the event, encouraged everyone to get out of their comfort zones to help create a more sustainable UAE The main problem with a lot of green events and green conferences is that they end up preaching to the choir. The green-savvy will attend to learn more but it’s very hard […]
A banal for-profit product for the Third World may revolutionize the treatment of human waste In the Middle East and other regions with increasing water stress, using clean water to whisk excreta out of sight is increasingly wasteful. For the more than 40% of the world’s population that don’t have private toilets with running water, […]