Ben-Gurion researchers claim that Israel’s urge to shop will eventually force Shabbat laws to change. This is a typical side street in the Yaffa flea market, Israel. From left to right, notice a charming second-hand shop that sells amusing things like the full-sized statue of a Roman gladiator. Blond tourists with cameras hanging from their […]
This man singlehandedly produces up to 5,500 bottles of delicious red wine each year, despite living in a frequently drought-stricken region Dave Levitan from Onearth, one of our favorite environmental blogs, traveled to Israel to meet with a hardy winemaker in the Negev desert and came away gushing. No, not from all the red wine […]
Begin with a 3-pronged disclaimer: I’m no engineer; I’m as political as a daisy; and since leaving university, my preferred way of learning is fairly chaotic. I bump into things. That draw me to other things. Thing One and Thing Two quickly lead to Thing Fifty-Three; and when I look up, blinking, discombobulated, I’m “sort of” knowledgeable about […]
Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant has been under suspicion for decades, rightly or wrongly. So as not to arouse alarm, the United Arab Emirates’ civil nuclear plan has been taking the opposite approach of complete transparency. The UAE has forgone any plans to enrich or reprocess uranium itself, so as to allay any cause for suspicion or concerns about […]
Israel will host the first SlutWalk in the Middle East this weekend, but the movement has growing support in other countries, including Morocco. Will these efforts finally lead to greater freedom for women of all religious persuasions? When I wrote the article, The Middle East Needs More Sluts, the response was overwhelming and heated, with […]
Over the next few weeks, President Obama has a fateful personnel decision to make, and one that will influence the world’s climate, in a way that he has been unable to do through the recalcitrant billionaire-funded opposition congress in the US. World Bank President Robert Zoellick, a Bush-appointee, will step down in June, and President […]
As it turns out, I haven’t received a Valentine’s Day gift since 2006, but even when I wasn’t single and out saving the world, I never encouraged my boyfriends to give me chocolates or flowers. A book? A sweet card? Maybe. But since anyone can go out and buy a box of chocolates at the […]
The funding for many of the great renewable energy projects within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and other developing regions, will continue to be directed via the World Bank, Reuters reports. The funds support projects which cut climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions in developing nations under the EU’s cap & trade law, and is […]
Five thousand Syrians have died since the uprising started but climate change could kill many more in this dry country. Approximately 5,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began in March last year, according to UN estimates, and an additional 600 detainees and political prisoners have died under torture. And yet there is […]
Torresol - a joint venture between Spain's SENER and Abu Dhabi's Masdar, plans to invest up to $5 billion building 6 GW of concentrated solar-thermal power (CSP) projects over the next three years in the deserts of the MENA region, Spain, and the US. Although the sites are not yet named, at least one of the plants will be in Abu Dhabi. The company ('torre' is Spanish for tower, and 'sol' for sun) says it is optimistic in getting the funding for its ambitious solar project pipeline. “Despite the ongoing economic troubles facing much of the world", says Torresol President Enrique Sendagorta, "we believe we can achieve our goals as foreign banks are becoming more interested in financing solar power projects because it is a winning investment”. The first of the Desertec solar projects all use CSP, in Morocco, and in Algeria, and just today - in Tunisia.
Wow, the Desertec vision is barreling into realization! A clean energy future where the world's deserts supply huge amounts of solar energy to the whole of humankind is truly becoming reality. Now the fourth Desertec project, by far the largest-ever solar plant in the world - for 2,000 MW of solar power - is to be built in Tunisia. (Previous stories: Desertec Begins: 500 MW Moroccan Solar in 2012, then MedGrid joined up, providing the transmission needed, with the plan to export up to 5GW of renewable power by cable under the Mediterranean between North Africa and Europe as early as 2020, and then most recently, the 3rd Desertec Deal Signed – Algerian Solar.) How huge will this solar project be? 2, 000 MW is six times the size of the largest solar CSP project ever built
Greening your wedding is simple, chic and easy to do if you follow just a few of these suggestions. Eco-romantics about to tie the knot pay attention: Green Prophet has the scoop on making your day of love as green as possible without compromising on romance and style. From mass weddings in the Middle East […]
Egypt is now close to awarding a contract to build a 1,000 megawatt wind farm, to be up and running in 2016, that it first announced last year. A wind farm this size has few equals worldwide. Egypt has some of the best wind power potential in the world, and its government is beginning to tap into this source of free fuel in earnest, since passing its plan to get 20% of its electricity from renewables by 2020, in order to stave off climate change.
For Mohammad Sabir Khedri, compiling the pages of this enormous and intricately detaied holy book was a 5 year labor of love. A master calligrapher has lovingly unveiled the world’s largest Quran in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to a Reuters report released last week. The giant holy book measures 7.5 by 5.10 feet, weighs over 1,000 pounds, […]
New study shows connection between fluoride consumption and hardening of the arteries. Our previous post on fluoride brought up some startling facts on the dangers lurking in our water. Water laced with fluoride, that is. The list of ills associated with fluoridated water is long and scary: Alzheimer’s, asthma, cancer, arthritis, thyroid dysfunction are among […]