It’s Jingle Bells all around! Santa has come visiting Bahrain’s Movenpick Hotel. And, see how they have decked up the hotel. Significantly enough, this time around too it is a Green Christmas’ here.  The arrival of the season of joy witnessed a 20 member group of the hotel setting up a brightly lit Christmas tree made of 2,373 throw away bottles!

The tree has been lit in green, an eco-friendly gesture and an olive twig of peace to the world from the tiny island of Bahrain. The tree stands tall in the hotel lounge, announcing a challenge to the Guinness World Record and a signature of Bahrain’s nature-loving people. The hotel’s General Manager Heinz Krähenbühl told Greenlichen:

“We wanted to make an announcement aboutBahrain, different from what the world hears and sees, focusing mainly on how it has overcome trouble times. Moreover, we are keen in promoting the recycling of plastic in the country. “We decided to make our celebrations grand by trying to earnBahraina Guinness World Record as well as green.”

The tree will contest for the largest structure made from recycled plastic bottles, said hotel officials, the result of which will be announced only next year.

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.


Engineers are constantly working to make aircraft more fuel-efficient and more environment-friendly, and several new technological innovations may finally make the future of flight a sustainable one. Find it interesting? Read on.

Josh Zepps, the energyNOW! Correspondent, haslooked into efforts by the aviation industry to meet the growing demand for a greener way to fly with new aircraft design and advanced fuel. The world is on the brink of an aviation revolution, and within the next few years passengers could well be flying on planes that are radically different – and could have a zero-emission carbon footprint.

NASA’s Langley Air and Space Research Center is one location pushing the limits of energy-efficient planes – focusing on reducing weight and drag, and improving propulsion efficiency.

Beyond being the home of advanced wind tunnel testing facility, Langley has developed a new composite material 10 percent lighter than the most advanced carbon fiber composite materials on the market today, and 25-30 percent lighter than aluminum. The new material, PRSEUS, is almost as thin and malleable as a piece of cloth, but exponentially stronger.

E-waste is the trickiest waste. Ever thought on these lines?  The sky-rocketing production of electronic products is racing with the pace at which it is discarded as well. We have reached a stage where we cannot imagine survival without mobile phones, computers, televisions, audio –video equipment, printers and the like. The most replaced of these are mobile phones, followed by computers.

The micro particles that make up the sophisticated electronic gadgets can prove the worst hazard to our environment, notes an expert. See whatBahrainPolytechnic Sustainability Officer Dr Claire Cosgrove, has to say:

“Municipal, biomedical and industrial wastes are much talked about these days. However, electronic waste is a topic which needs major attention in today’s world.”

WEEE, short for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, can no more be regarded a ‘wee’ bit of worry, says Dr Cosgrove. Explaining further, she adds that sources of e-waste are mainly from telecommunication industry, electrical and electronic industry and cable wastes.

Zero Waste can never be attained, but attempting on it is a journey towards ‘wastelessness’. Speaking on the sidelines of theBahrain’s First Waste Management Forum 2011 (WMF 2011), professionals in the field have observed that the world is on the road’ towards zero waste. The theme of the first of its kind two-day forum was ‘Towards Zero Waste’.

The patron of the forum andBahrain’s Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Dr. Juma Al Kaabi lauded the efforts of the organisers on the ‘mammoth task’ of the forum, on such a challenging topic and with a wonderful theme. “The theme signifies our concern towards waste and our desire to minimize waste towards environmental benefits,” said Dr Al Kaabi.

“Zero waste is new concept gaining international popularity and a multifaceted approach to conserve the earth,” he noted.

Dr Al Kaabi said he was optimistic that the forum’s plans and suggestions will be practical and feasible.

“I look forward to the outcome of the forum and the recommendations from the participants on how to make ‘zero waste’ a reality forBahrain,” he said.

Forum’s key note speaker UNESCO-IHE Assoc. Prof. Maarten Siebel, from theNetherlandssaid that radically ‘zero waste’ doesn’t exist.

“You may not be able to waste material, but you always need energy to get materials that you no more use back into shape, which can get very far,” said Prof. Siebel.

“Efficiency in electric power plants is just 30 to 40 pc, where the wastage is huge,” he said.

Prof Siebel addressed the topic ‘Cleaner Production – Key to Transitioning from Managing Waste to Managing Resources’ at the forum.

Chevy has already announced an electric version of the Chevy Spark for the US, with availability set for 2013.

Some of the information gathered from trials of the Beat EV will be used to refine the production version of the Spark EV, but GM hasn’t yet provided details on the battery size, range, or pricing of the production vehicle.

The electric version of the Spark / Beat will also be available in some global markets. The diesel variant of the Beat carries a three-cylinder turbo diesel engine based on Fiat multi-jet technology. It is said to be good for about 130 km (81 miles) of normal driving.

For the EV, the recharge time with 240-volt power is under eight hours. A single-speed-drive unit and an electric motor producing about 45-kW (60 horsepower) turn the front wheels. No top speed or other tech specs were listed for the latest EV being shown by its North America-based maker in several markets other than its home market.

In Germany, the electric GM/Opel Meriva, announced back in September 2010, has a 60-kW (82-horsepower) electric motor with torque output of 215 Nm (159 foot-pounds). Its 16 kWh battery delivers range of 64 km (40 miles), and top speed of 130 kph (81 mph).

Would you get to drive this beauty?