Cities in Iran are some of the most polluted in the world. It’s estimated that 27 people a day die in Tehran from the low quality of air. Mohammad Bakhtiari, 25, from Arak decided he couldn’t take it anymore, and started car-free Tuesdays –- a day when he’s encouraging Iranians to find alternative ways to[.....]
Dubai is one of the fastest growing cities in the world and, as with all major cities, traffic congestion is becoming an ever present issue. Traffic causes smog and respiratory illness, as well as a major part of our world’s greenhouse gases. According to the latest statistics, Dubai’s metropolitan area is now home to just[.....]
Electric car fortunes have had their ups and downs; especially following the collapse of the Better Place electric car network that left hundreds of EV car purchasers with the possibility of being stranded without power over in ISrael. Although some electric car models like Nissan’s Leaf and Tesla sport EVs have made modest inroads, over all, electric cars have yet[.....]
It’s raining cats and dogs in Amman, Jordan now, closing roads (flooded underpasses), some schools, and many offices. It’s the usual drill for a city ill-equipped for atypical weather. Now online transportation giant Uber is helping to “rain down more dogs” for a limited time today in what could be the world’s most adorable fundraiser.
Due to political unrest, Cairo’s subway had been closed for two years. Now it will be closed for an indefinite amount of time. Tahrir Square’s Sadat metro station was closed this month after Egypt’s prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat was assassinated. This is another clear example of how conflict and violence seriously impedes any environmental progress in[.....]
We’ve laughed and we’ve cried over stories in Saudi Arabia and women drivers. Let’s face it: what’s happening in Saudi Arabia is not about driving it’s about women’s rights. There is the No Woman No Drive video from a few years back. We’ve reported on Saudi Arabia holding the record for greatest number of deaths[.....]
If you’ve never been to a Gulf-region country – be prepared to scratch your head over the deadly past-time called drifting. The idea is to drive your car as fast as possible on the highway, slam on the breaks and then attempt to frighten onlookers and fellow drivers on the road by drifting or sliding[.....]
Saudi Arabia is a dangerous place to drive. It’s the world’s most dangerous, according to recent media reports. Drifting, that past-time where young Saudi males drive their skidding cars into crowds is one cause, but camels, are to blame for about 97% of all accidents and fatalities that occur in the Kingdom, a new study[.....]
While online hightech companies might seem to be on the money, investors are hungry for new advances in physical products. But developing them takes years, and lots of money. There is a lots of waste in the prototyping stage in terms of time, materials, and money. Rapid prototyping using 3D printers can help form ideas[.....]
Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde has created an LED-lit glowing bike path that. The solar-powered LED lights glow at night, and give cyclers a trippy ride that looks like Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting. The path is less than a mile long, and was created using both glow-in-the-dark tools and solar-powered LEDs. Find it in Brabant, the Dutch county[.....]
While visionaries like Elon Musk are trying to make electric cars like Tesla mainstream in America, electric cars have yet to become commonplace, largely due to their cost and low driving range. A number of countries are now involved in developing electric car technology that will give these vehicles a sufficient cruising range, while being[.....]
Last year, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg became the first pilots to fly across America in a featherweight plane fueled only by the sun. The Swiss duo now plans to circumnavigate the world in a next-generation solar aircraft named the Solar Impulse 2. The March 2015 flight will start and finish in Abu Dhabi.
Happen to be in Istanbul? Then hop aboard Botobus, a new eco-friendly public transport option that features an organic rooftop garden. Introduced last week by the Istanbul Transportation Authority (IETT), the “botanical bus” embarked on its first journey between Edirnekapi and Taksim. The project aims to draw attention to global warming and the environment.
Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central (DWC) was recently approved for a $33 billion expansion making it the largest airport project on the planet – another world record for the booming emirate.
Travelling by rail is a great way to save gas and greenhouse gas emissions. But the Middle East is completely not mentioned in a new worldwide report on rail travel. No surprise given the ongoing conflicts and lack of future planning. We can learn from Japan and the US: Read on for the report.
Despite Israel’s dead electric car company Better Place and its venture to create an electric alternative to fossil fuel driven cars, the Israeli government is still interested in weaning most of its cars and other vehicles away from oil by the year 2025. With hanging Skypod’s in the wing, here’s the plan.
In any city in the world, we have all had the experience of catching a bus, subway or train only to find we don’t the right change or the right card that needs to be refilled at some Kafka-esque office we’re never going to find. An Israeli startup is stepping in and solving this problem[.....]
We’re all over bicycles as the best green alternative to getting you where you want to go. News about bike-messenger schemes in Beirut, dedicated bike lanes in Jericho, and affordable bikes made of cardboard get our wheels spinning every time. So we’ve loving this simple way to eliminate one of the biggest obstacles to bike riding for[.....]
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), the electric car company founded by Elon Musk, will be releasings its earnings statement next week and call it kismet or good planning, but Tesla has more good news: its partner Mobileye (NYSE:MBLY), the company that will be giving it driverless technology, said it will open on the New York Stock[.....]
What if we could apply the charisma, imagination and marketing genius of Steve Jobs to help promote green technology? Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi had many of the characteristics of Apple’s much-worshiped CEO but instead of personal entertainment devices, Shai focused his energies on electric cars.
After making billions on online advertising Google execs are now putting some money into companies of their dreams. The latest – the Google driverless car concept. “Look Ma, no hands!”
In the aftermath of the demise of Shai Agassi’s Better Place electric car network company, EV car purchasers in Israel feared they might become stranded due to not being able to recharge or exchange their car’s lithium batteries. Will Tesla, who said they wouldn’t, swoop in?
Glow-in-the-dark roads recently debuted on a 500 meter stretch of Netherlands highway! Brought to you by the guy behind glow-in-the-dark trees. He’s been burning the candle at both ends – not so much to increase light levels, more to roll out new applications of his natural luminescence designs.
A year after unveiling new Lamborghini patrol vehicles for lucky members of the force, Dubai police are rolling out an eco-friendly electric motorcycle. As far as we can tell – the 15,000-strong police force has purchased just one bike, which they tested at Jumeirah Beach Residence last week.
If you thought 2013 was a financially tough year, then fasten your seat belts as 2014 looks set to get even tougher yet. The huge majority of families have found themselves tightening their belts and being forced to cut back wherever possible just to make ends meet.
The train system runs like clockwork in Morocco. It’s fast, easy and safe. So we’re excited to see a new project that makes them sped up to the 21st century in design: Silvio d’Ascia Architecture teamed up with Omar Kobité Architecture & Eric Giudice Architects to design a modern high speed railway station for Kénitra.
Nobody knows more about bicycles than the Dutch, but Israelis will have a chance to glean some design and urban planning wisdom from the waterlogged nation next week at the “Going Dutch” conference established by their Prime Minister and (the much more fit) Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) does everything big, including recycling, and this week they’ve officially opened their first plant dedicated to recycling cars! An estimated 11,000 UAE vehicles get scrapped every month.
![Softwheel uses inner suspension arms to re-invent the wheel for bikes and chairs [video]](https://web.archive.org/web/20160815221816im_/http://i1.wp.com/www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/softwheel-suspension-bike.png?fit=722%2C510 "Softwheel uses inner suspension arms to re-invent the wheel for bikes and chairs [video]")
Considering all of the technological advances made in bicycles, cars and trains; the humble wheelchair hasn’t advanced very much since the first one was invented for King Philip II of Spain in 1595. An Israeli startup SoftWheel is about to change that with a bike and wheelchair wheel that is more comfortable and more efficient.
A decade from now, Tesla is expected to have a suite of driverless vehicles on the road – a feat that wouldn’t be possible without collision avoidance technology. Which means its reported partnership with Jerusalem-based Mobileye is pretty much a no brainer.
A Facebook campaign called “She Wants a Bicycle Now” led by Syrian college students is getting young people on bikes in impressive numbers.
I did the best part of my growing up in Toronto, a cold and somewhat bike-crazed city. It’s there where I met a champion bike courier from Berlin and had my first long-distance love affair when he moved back to Germany. Joern, god bless his heart, used to deliver love letters by international courier!
In an attempt to settle a business dispute, an Acre-based man from Israel placed a bomb on his enemy’s car and fled the scene using an electric bike.
Camel milk and camel burgers are attracting attention in the west, but these desert dwellers have been long-loved in the Middle East. Camels are the horses of the Middle East. Their domestication helped people in the region travel, build and communicate. But when did camels come to the Holy Land?
An all-women team of Qatari students won the first GCC hybrid electric vehicle competition held in Abu Dhabi over the weekend. Showing some serious girl power, Gernas 114 from Qatar University beat 10 other teams to become the 2014 TAQA GCC Hybrid-Electric Challenge champions.
The idea was a show-stopper when it was announced: Israel will produce an electric car with a switchable battery. This would reduce range anxiety so more people can buy into buying electric cars. People would pay for the service like you buy minutes for your mobile phone. But the dream has ended as Renault shutters[.....]
Unlike medication, there are no warning ads that come with your car. The highest road accident fatalities in the world can be found among drivers in the Middle East with Saudi Arabia topping the charts. Care about how your community drives, and your kids? Share this video produced by NZ Transport Agency in New Zealand.
I guess you could say that I have a love-hate relationship with Tel Aviv’s Central Bus Station. Love: because it’s where I met my first true love. Hate: because it’s a colossal monstrosity that traps you inside when you arrive there from anywhere.
![Ungreen rich Arab playboys fly in cars to London for holidays [video]](https://web.archive.org/web/20160815221816im_/http://i1.wp.com/www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/Bugatti-Veyron-from-Dubai.jpg?fit=552%2C368 "Ungreen rich Arab playboys fly in cars to London for holidays [video]")
Why do super-rich Arabs drive around in ungreen super luxury gold Porches and other expensive cars while their poor countrymen face starvation?
Public transport is a must, even for people who live under the toil of troubles and conflict. The Israeli town Sderot that borders the Gaza Strip has just got its first train station, linking them in a sustainable way to the center of the country.
After the success of Waze, an app that lets you plan your route and avoid traffic in real time, comes Israel’s next big movement app: Moovit. The company just closed a $28 million round of financing and is coming to a bus stop near you!
![Copenhagen Wheel is like a dynamo rocket booster for bikes! [video]](https://web.archive.org/web/20160815221816im_/http://i2.wp.com/www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Copenhagen-Wheel-from-dynamo-MIT.jpg?fit=460%2C276 "Copenhagen Wheel is like a dynamo rocket booster for bikes! [video]")
Now there is a good reason not to buy an electric bike: the Copenhagen Wheel from the Senseable City Lab can make you go hybrid with the switch of a tire. In a sense, it turns an ordinary hilly city such as Jerusalem and Amman into flat cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam.
![City Transformer electric folding car is a kit car for urban dreams [video]](https://web.archive.org/web/20160815221816im_/http://i1.wp.com/www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/city-transformer-folding-car.jpg?fit=668%2C288 "City Transformer electric folding car is a kit car for urban dreams [video]")
Israel may have flopped big time when its electric car company Better Place folded this year. It ended with almost a billion in financing and less than 1000 customers signed on to its electric charge network. “Folding” in a positive way is a new concept car from Israel called the City Transformer.
![Prime Air from Amazon could be used for green “goods” too [video]](https://web.archive.org/web/20160815221816im_/http://i1.wp.com/www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/prime-air-amazon.jpg?fit=800%2C385 "Prime Air from Amazon could be used for green “goods” too [video]")
You’ve probably seen the video of Amazon’s Prime Air delivering a customer’s goods within 30 minutes. If not, catch it below.
![Hyperloop, Elon Musk dreams of a fifth mode of transportation [video]](https://web.archive.org/web/20160815221816im_/http://i1.wp.com/www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/hyperloop-transportation-technologies-development-stealth-01.jpg?fit=660%2C488 "Hyperloop, Elon Musk dreams of a fifth mode of transportation [video]")
Elon Musk is known as the founder of SpaceX, a pioneer in the commercialization of space travel and Tesla, a company named after a brilliantly mad high-voltage inventor of the nineteenth century and known for its electric cars. So what happens when this visionary sets his eyes on America’s decaying public transportation infrastructure?
Amman’s old Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) terminal will live on in a new artwork commissioned by airport operator Airport International Group (AIG). The permanent installation near the majestic new passenger terminal will be a symbolic nod to the proud history of Amman’s premier aeronautical gateway.
At a bargain basement price tag of only $450,000 the Israeli startup Gnrgy has bought the assets of the failed electric car company Better Place. Will the third time be the charm? Two other companies have tried to buy Better Place but failed. Gnrgy makes the most sense so far.
With almost a billion in financing and electric battery charge and change stations in place nationwide, at its critical hour Israel’s electric car company Better Place failed. It went bankrupt this year. One of its first investors, and biggest backers Michael Granoff will be writing a tell-all book. He speaks with Green Prophet.
Dubai’s metro started running in 2009 (don’t fall asleep though) but Abu Dhabi, the wealthier Emirate, is only now reducing its dependence on cars with a swanky new rail and tram system. And Siemens hopes to hop on board.
There’s traffic. And then there is Cairo traffic, which can drive even the saintliest men and women to a special kind of madness. But a new public transportation option has popped up that could make getting from point A to point B significantly less stressful.
A tiny two-person electric car may be the last choice for Formula One race car drivers, but that was the electric ride of choice last week as Formula One drivers rode around Dubai. With massive luxury cars as the status quo, the Twizy was an unusual choice. But alas, it was all about promotion by Renault.
Bicycle riding in the Middle East is thwarted by challenging climate and terrain, and to lesser extent by culture. A new invisible helmet, akin to an airbag, and pictured above, could incite more Middle Eastern cycling.
