Leave it to the Israeli people to make something out of nothing. Tel Aviv, a bustling metropolis which is the heart and soul of modern Israeli society, would have been unrecognizable a century ago. Unlike Jerusalem, whose history dates back thousands of years, Tel Aviv was literally nothing but a pile of sand dunes when it was founded in 1909. While Israel has grown up quite a bit from the time where modes of transportation were camels, there is one hurdle of desert life that won’t go away, and that’s water. Specifically, water conservation. Israelis have been environmentally savvy long before there was such a thing as “going green.” Whether its turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth or not spending 3 hours in the shower, being smart about wasting a resource as vital as water is in every Israeli’s DNA.

When life gives an Israeli lemons, they don’t make lemonade – they invent something to help maximize their lemon output ratio. With Israel’s shortage of water in the arid south, farmers have had to grasp with how best to grow crops to maximize the resources available to them. The lessons Israel has learned when it comes to water irrigation and agriculture technology are helping agricultural communities around the world, especially in developing countries thanks to the work of MASHAV.

This coming summer, Israeli farmers will be sharing their innovations and tricks of the trade with over 1,000 agricultural trainees visiting from Vietnam. All this is part of a broad plan led by Israeli President Shimon Peres to boost economic cooperation between Israel and Vietnam. The eleven-month program will benefit both countries, with Vietnam investing in Israel’s high-tech, innovation-based solutions.

The Director General of the President’s Office, Efrat Duvdevani, expressed satisfaction with the interministerial committee’s decision and said that the visit by President Peres to Vietnam opened many doors to strategic cooperation between the two states. She added that the President’s Office is working on a broad action plan to promote the countries’ common interests in a great many areas in addition to agriculture, especially in the fields of energy, infrastructures and security.

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Like Captain Planet before them, Israelis and Palestinians are teaming up to “take pollution down to zero” – at least when it comes to the Kishon River, one of the country’s most polluted. This joint ecological venture between the West Bank city of Jenin and the Gilboa Regional Council is amazing for many reasons.

The Kishon, one of Israel’s largest and most important rivers, flows through the Jezreel Valley, passing through the Carmel hills on its way to Haifa Bay. This ancient waterway is mentioned in biblical accounts of the prophets Deborah (Judges 5:21) and Elijah (1 Kings 18:40).

In the late 1930s, petrochemical refineries built on the Kishon River bank by the ruling British authorities to support war efforts dumped their toxic waste into the water. Later on, municipalities in the Haifa area started discharging untreated or partially treated sewage into the river as well.

Flash forward to the 21st century, and the Kishon River was not in great shape. But thanks to a $56.5 million Israeli government project to clean up the water and develop a 148-acre recreational center along its banks, things are looking up.

Today, local Israelis and Palestinians, despite being separated in day to day life, are joining together on this important project. Spearheading the the project are Gilboa Council Head Daniel Atar and and Jenin Governor Moussa Qadoura.

“This project brings together two of the Council’s main values – regional peace and the environment,” Atar explained in an interview with Ynet. “We are planning public parks on both sides of the fence in hopes that one day they will become one.”

Nader al-Khateeb, general director of the Palestinian Water and Environmental Development Organization (WEDO) added: “The environment and water do not recognize borders, militaries and fences. They should be a bridge for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.”

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We all know how bothersome it can be waiting for a taxi when we are in a rush. Well, apparently planes have feelings too.

El Al announced earlier this week that the company plans to upgrade the wheel system on twenty of its Boeing 737 jets. No, these new rims are not meant to make the jets contestants in MTV’s “Pimp My Ride”. The new wheels convert planes into electric vehicles while on the ground,  allowing the plane to maneuver to and from the gate without burning jet fuel.

Currently, planes must wait for ground staff to “taxi” the plane on the tarmac, requiring a separate vehicle to tug the plane. Dependence on this ground service can delays in scheduled departures and arrivals. Not to mention the fact that one or both of the plane’s engines are in use during taxi, each burning fuel at about two gallons a minute, which would even make the H2 Hummer blush. Considering how important safety is for the airline industry, having an airplane’s engines running for hours every day just for taxiing puts a drain on their long term functionality.

The new wheel system, designed by a company called WheelTug, contains two small motors weighing 300 pounds in the nose wheel that allow the jet to travel up to 28 miles per hour. Running off electricity from a small engine located in the rear of the plane, which is already on to power lights and ventilation, the jet will only burn about 4 pounds of fuel per minute. According to WheelTug, this can amount to almost 85% in fuel savings on the ground.

Although cutting costs, delays, and fuel emissions are all wonderful, it looks like these planes will be waiting in the taxi line till 2013, when aviation regulators are expected to approve the new system.

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What if simply driving your car could generate electricity? No, we’re not talking about a Toyota Prius, but something on a much grander scale. Researchers in Israel believe that the weight and pressure of thousands of cars flying down the highway could create clean energy, enough to power everything nearby.

The key is piezoelectric technology, the word itself meaning electricity derived from pressure. As each car drives along the highway, the weight of the car presses down on small metallic crystals embedded under the surface which produce electrical energy. Unlike solar panels or wind turbines, this bit of green tech doesn’t need a large amount of space, and is naked to the human eye. The project has already been a great success, though roads in Israel are still in the testing phase, the electricity is not being transferred to the power grid just yet. Currently, they are able to harvest 60 percent of the energy, but as the efficiency increases, everything from street lamps to houses might be powered with 100 percent clean energy.

The company behind this idea, Innowattech, is also working on installing their systems in Germany. According to The Wall Street Journal, California’s state legislature is currently considering a bill which would install such piezoelectric systems under their roads as well.

For all you science nerds, to see how this actually all works, click here.

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American artist Spencer Tunick is known around the world for his photographs of nude crowds in both cities and natural environments. He has taken his photos pretty much everywhere from Buenos Aires to Buffalo and from Montreal to Melbourne. One place he hasn’t been yet is Israel… and that’s about to change.

Tunick recently visited Israel to promote his “Naked Sea Project” in which he hopes to photograph more than 3,000 Israelis, covered in mud and nothing else, floating in the Dead Sea. The participants are all volunteers, and about a quarter of them are students.

Tunick plans to shoot the photographs in the fall, just before the voting ends for the “New Seven Natural Wonders of the World” online contest, in which we hope the Dead Sea will be named one of the Seven Natural Wonders.

Spencer Tunick has more information about the project on his website.

Photo courtesy of Tracy Hunter on flickr, used under Creative Commons License.

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Photo by Yael Olek, University of Haifa.

Apparently there’s more to sand dunes than just sand. Way down in the southern tip of Israel, in the Arava Desert, an entirely new species of spider has been discovered by scientists from the University of Haifa.

The spider is a member of the genus Cerbalus, and its species was named aravensis after the region in which it was found. With a leg span as long as 5.5 inches (14 centimeters), the Cerbalus aravensis is the largest of its kind in the Middle East. While we have to admit that its ultra-long furry legs are a bit creepy, the spider’s black and white stripes do give it a certain natural beauty.

The research team is still looking into the details of its biology. However, they do know the spider, much like the tourists to Israel’s south, like the night-life and the sun. The Cerbalus aravensis is nocturnal and mostly active in the hottest months.

The industrious little fellows also construct their own shelters: “an underground den which is closed with a ‘lifting door’ made of sand particles that are glued together to camouflage the den,” the university explained.

The discovery of a new species is exciting in its own right, but it’s also fascinating to think there could be other unknown species hiding in the Arava desert. Uri Shanas, who is heading the research in the area reminds us that “the discovery of this new spider illustrates our obligation to preserve the dune.”

For more information, check out National Geographic’s coverage of the discovery.

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This Monday, Germany and Israel held a joint Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem to mark the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries. Prior to the meeting, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Dirk Niebel signed a joint Declaration of Intent aimed at increasing bilateral cooperation to assist developing nations. In addition to ongoing projects in Ethiopia and Ghana, both Israel and Germany have committed to saving Africa’s Lake Victoria, which is contaminated and enduring severe ecological adversity.

Both countries will help Kenya in its efforts to rehabilitate the regions adjacent to Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake with a surface area of over 26,000 square miles. In addition to supporting the livelihoods of almost 30 million people across three neighboring countries, Lake Victoria provides drinking water to millions. Unfortunately, sewage and industrial pollution flow into the lake daily, and officials in Uganda are worried that soon they will not be able to provide drinking water to its capital. Already, half of the lake’s fish species have disappeared forever.

Said Israel’s Deputy FM, “Globally, we are witnessing the instability of countries caused by socio-economic disparity…The aid provides the developing nations with a prospect of development, prosperity, well-being and stability. International aid is one of the most effective diplomatic tools, and three-party aid strengthens Israel’s relations with both the partner and with the recipient country, and allows for the distribution of Israeli technologies and strengthens the country’s socio-economic base.”

Monday’s meeting marked the third time that Israel and Germany’s cabinet ministers held a joint session. Just six decades after the Jewish people were almost completely wiped out by Nazi Germany, “the meetings are another expression of the very deep, fundamental change that has occurred between Israel and Germany and between the Jewish and German peoples,” said Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The joint German-Israeli mission to Kenya is slated to leave next month. To read more, click here.

Photo of Lake Victoria by Michell Zappa on flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

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Photo: Wikimedia Commons

By Michael Oren

It is fitting that Judaism designates a special holiday, Tu Bishvat, to the planting of trees. The holiday reminds us of our duty to preserve and enhance the environment, and that the earth is ours to share with all living things. Israel is keenly aware of the escalating dangers confronting the planet and stands on the forefront of addressing such issues as global warming, deforestation, water shortages, and diminishing air quality.

As the only country in the world to enter the twenty-first century with more trees than it had at the beginning of the twentieth century, and as the nation with the highest percentage of reclaimed water, the State of Israel takes pride in its green efforts. We are pioneering new paths to air purification and alternative sources of energy, and working in close cooperation on various projects with the United States.

May this Tu Bishvat inaugurate a year of replenishment, renewal, and a greener future.

Dr. Michael B. Oren is Israel’s ambassador to the United States

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It’s not pleasant to look at. It’s pesky. It can sting you multiple times without dying. It’s the Oriental Hornet. And this annoying little creature may be able to teach us humans a thing or two about renewable energy.

According to research at Tel Aviv University, the Oriental Hornet can lay claim to being the first known “photosynthetic” animal. These hornets are living solar cells.  The insect’s  yellow and brown stripes enable a photo-voltaic effect where the stripes absorb light and the yellow pigment transforms this solar energy into electric power.

Prof. David Bergman of Tel Aviv University’s  School of Physics and Astronomy was part of the team that made the discovery along with the late Prof. Jacob Ishay of the university’s Medical School. Bergman observed, “The hornet may have discovered things we do not yet know.”

The interdisciplinary team made the discovery a few years ago, but was in the news recently for trying to mimic the process by which the Oriental Hornet creates solar power. The solar cell created by the research team was not nearly as effective as the insect’s remarkable “technology”.

However, in the future, Bergman and his team hope to improve upon their model to see if their “bio-mimicry” can lead to a new way to harvest the energy of the sun. Who would have thought a bug might help us unlock the mysteries of efficient renewable energy?

Also, if you like words like photon, current flows, and voltage, and want to understand the physics of the  living solar battery that is the Oriental Hornet, see Environmental Graffiti‘s post on this story.

Photo courtesy of macropoulos on flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

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Why is an Israeli device that resembles a computerized spider attracting international attention in the field of alternative energy? As Bob Dylan might put it, “the answer is blowing in the wind.”

The Pentalum SpiDAR system measures gusts of wind before they hit the blades of the wind turbines, not after.

Pentalum Technologies’ SpiDAR system, still in development at the company’s Rehovot headquarters in central Israel, is creating a buzz. That’s because of its potential improvement over existing LIDAR (light detection and ranging) and other remote systems, which wind power plants rely on to monitor wind conditions.

Constantly varying wind speeds and directional patterns present a challenge for wind farms, because these changes have a huge impact on the performance of the turbines that generate energy. That’s why wind farmers invest significant capital in precision wind measurement tools to help them to site their operations and assure optimum production.

Pentalum’s proprietary technology will provide a smaller and less-expensive alternative that is also more accurate than existing methods. It utilizes sophisticated distributed wind sensors that are coordinated and controlled through a central computer. The visual effect of this configuration is what gave rise to the brand name SpiDAR.

More accurate wind measurements

“All the data from the different ‘legs’ of the spider” are transmitted to the central ‘headquarters,’ ” says Gil Shamai, Pentalum’s vice president for business development.”It’s light and very easy to deploy by a single person on the ground. You can place several in your terrain and receive measurements up to 200 meters off the ground.”

According to Shamai, the noiseless device is designed to provide more reliable and cost-effective results in three distinct applications.

The first application measures wind conditions for at least one year before a wind farm begins operation. Today, this is usually accomplished by mounting cup anemometers on meteorological masts. However, the height of modern turbines is rising, and that makes for commensurately higher costs for the masts, as well as permits, installation, and maintenance. SpiDAR promises to deliver more accurate wind measurements without those drawbacks.

The second application involves mounting SpiDAR units on turbines to measure approaching winds a fraction of a second before the gusts reach the blades. In response, the turbines can quickly readjust direction and speed to precisely meet the coming wind. Shamai estimates that this application will improve performance up to 15 percent over current systems that measure wind behind – not approaching – the blades.

Finally, the SpiDAR can play a crucial role in helping wind farm operators to predict production capabilities. “A better understanding of the wind map in the area helps to forecast how much power the farm will produce tomorrow or next week,” Shamai explains. This data allows the farm to make accurate estimations of the amount of energy it can offer the local power grid on any given day.

Keen interest from Spain and Germany

Shamai co-founded Pentalum in 2009 with chief executive officer Sagie Tsadka and vice president of R&D Dr. Nathan Sela. Along with vice president for operations Niv Narkiss, they brought with them the relevant executive-level experience in optics, telecom, fluid mechanics, atmospheric remote sensing and software.

Thanks to $9 million raised in its first financing round from Cedar Fund, Evergreen Venture Partners, and an undisclosed American fund, the privately-held company is gearing up for pilot field tests of the SpiDAR system in early 2011 in the United States.

“Our target market is in the US and Europe, since the market in Israel, while growing, is not very large,” Shamai reveals.

Wind farms require large tracts of windy exposed areas, and are therefore most common in the states of Texas, Iowa, and California. Spain and Germany lead the market in Europe’s fast-growing wind energy field. Those foreign markets are keenly interested in the product’s promise of greater accuracy and lower price, Shamai notes.

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