Green Traveler: Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem's new light rail powers forward along a grass track between Damascus Gate and Jaffa Gate.

August 19-29, 2011 -- Jerusalem was the last city I visited on my summer 2011 journey through Europe and Israel and it is also one of the most environmentally-friendly cities in the world thanks to its mix of ancient and modern infrastructure, traditional religious observations and forward-thinking political and economic leadership.

Before I get to Jerusalem's new light rail line that is providing residents with a clean, green form of transportation, there are a couple of ancient factors that automatically make the city green. The most obvious factor in keeping the air clean is that the Old City was settled during the Chalcolithic, or Copper Age, in the 4th millennium BCE (Before the Common Era). The last time I checked, the internal combustion engine had not been invented yet so the Old City was not made for vehicular traffic. That means there is a large section of the city that is car-free and therefore pollution-free. Also, Jerusalem almost completely shuts down from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday for Shabbat. That means thousands of cars and buses are taken off the roads for 24 hours every week, thereby dramatically reducing the city's carbon footprint.

Now with the new light rail line, Jaffa Road is permanently closed off to motor vehicles, reducing pollution along West Jerusalem's main artery from the Old City to Mount Herzl. In fact, there has been a dramatic 80% decrease in air pollution on Jaffa Road since cars and buses were replaced by light rail trams. And in addition to reducing air pollution, light rail reduces noise pollution. In contrast to honking taxis and rumbling buses, light rail is incredibly quiet.

In addition to new green public transportation projects like the light rail line, Jerusalem is also on the forefront of promoting the use of electric vehicles. Electric car operator Better Place is partnering with the city to add a network of electric car charging stations all over the city.

Biking is also big in Jerusalem. There is a group that gives midnight bike tours of the old and new city. And it is easy to rent a bike like I did and get to know the City of Peace on two wheels. I biked during Shabbat when the streets are empty. I started at Davidka Square where my hostel is located, and biked along the light rail tracks up Jaffa Road to Mount Herzl and then down to the Christian village of Ein Karem. While Jerusalem doesn't have a bike sharing system like Tel Aviv yet, the city is on its way to becoming the bicycle capital of Israel.

And of course, as in the rest of Israel, there are rooftop solar water heaters everywhere in Jerusalem. I even saw solar water heater systems on top of the ancient buildings in the Old City, like those pictured to the left in front of a church in the Armenian Quarter. And Jerusalem has many white roofs, also called cool roofs because they reduce heat transference to buildings by reflecting sunlight, thus reducing the need to power air conditioners and saving energy and greenhouse gas emissions.

While Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world, it is also taking environmentally friendly actions such as the new light rail line to ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy The City of Peace.

Click here for more observations from Jerusalem on Josh's Travel Blog.

Here are more pictures from Jerusalem. Click here to see the full photo set on Flickr.



Here is a musical video montage of Jerusalem's new light rail system.



Here is video of me bicycling across the Chords Bridge and up to Mount Herzl on a Shabbat Saturday when the streets are empty and the light rail line is not in service.

Green Traveler: Kibbutz Lahav, Israel

August 1-17, 2011 -- Despite processing pig meat and performing medical research on swine, Kibbutz Lahav in southern Israel doesn't use hog manure as a renewable energy resource to power up the place. Not yet at least. Lahav does however use solar water heaters to power homes and buildings. In fact, over 90% of Israeli homes have solar water heaters on their rooftops thanks to a 1980 law passed by the Knesset mandating that all new residential units install solar water heaters.

And since the price of gasoline in Israel is so high -- $8.33 U.S. dollars per gallon or 30.24 Israeli New Shekels (ILS) per gallon as of May -- many kibbutzniks do not own cars and instead rely on the public bus or private shuttle to make trips to nearby Beersheba.

Bicycles, motorized scooters and electric carts are popular modes of transportation around Lahav. We borrowed some bikes one Shabbat Saturday for a ride around Lahav Forest -- a man-made national park that surrounds Kibbutz Lahav. The towering pine trees of the Lahav Forest are an impressive site to see considering before 1952 the area was a desolated desert outpost. It is a living legacy to the vision and hard work the early Zionist pioneers put in to "making the desert bloom." The green revolution is nothing new to Israelis. They have been planting trees since 1948. The cultivation of the country comes from the prophet Isaiah's biblical passage that "the wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom."

Kibbutz Lahav must have a buy American clause when it comes to purchasing cars because I saw more Fords and Chevrolets there than in my entire trip around Europe. The American auto industry was recently brought back from the dead and is experiencing what is hoped to be a real revival with smaller fuel efficient and electric vehicles. It was encouraging to see that at least in Israel, people are buying American automobiles.

Click here for more observations of Kibbutz Lahav on Josh's Travel Blog.

Here are more photos from Kibbutz Lahav. Click here to see the set on Flickr.

Photos: Solar Power in Israel

Did you know that the United States consumes 4.40 trillion kilowatt hours of electric energy per year? That is nearly a trillion more kwh than China. Did you also know that the average American hot shower consumes 4000 watts per day? That makes hot showers the highest power activity most Americans undertake in a day. (Thanks to the website Power SuperSite for this information.)

But what happens when you live in a country where water and fossilized energy are in short supply and your oil-rich neighbors are your sworn enemies? You reclaim water, become more energy efficient and look to the sun, wind and other renewable power sources to meet your energy needs.

Welcome to Israel, where solar water heaters are used in over 90% of homes. But rooftop solar water heaters didn't just happen because Israeli citizens suddenly decided to do the right thing. After the energy crisis of the 1970s, the Knesset in 1980 passed a law requiring the installation of solar water heaters in all new homes.

More from Wikipedia:

"As of the early 1990s, all new residential buildings were required by the government to install solar water-heating systems, and Israel's National Infrastructure Ministry estimates that solar panels for water-heating satisfy 4% of the country's total energy demand. Israel and Cyprus are the per-capita leaders in the use of solar hot water systems with over 90% of homes using them.

The Ministry of National Infrastructures estimates solar water heating saves Israel 2 million barrels of oil a year."

Here are photos of solar water heaters in Israel.

ISRAEL SOLAR WATER HEATERS

KIBBUTZ LAHAV

MITZPE RAMON

JERUSALEM