Green Options

If you’re looking for alternative fuel vehicles, the Middle East is likely the last place you’ll look. The place is just about swimming in crude oil. But a team of Iranian students and graduates have designed the plug-in EV you see here, called  “Qasedak-e Nasir” or Dandelion of Nasir.

While it is hardly a game changer, this quirky little EV could mean big things for a country where there are about 15 people per 1 car.

The question of possible repurposing of civil nuclear technology has been a talking point in US policy on Iran, and that question specifically has been a bone of contention in the triangular posturing between the US, Iran and Russia.

Draws upon a recent news reports in Science about the stem rust fungus, Ug99, that is sweeping the globe and threatening to decimated the world’s wheat harvests. Also, the politics behind some nation’s reluctance to give full access of their seed banks (which may possess genetic varieties of these crops that can withstand this and other diseases) to other nations.

Worldwide there has been a growing solidarity with the people of Iran, and their brave local activism protesting against their increasingly repressive government. Their grassroots movement is gaining support as millions of us across the globe follow their struggles to be heard. This photographic tribute to the Iranian people is accompanied by a partly Farsi cover of the

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Worldwide there has been a growing solidarity with the people of Iran, and their brave local activism protesting against their increasingly repressive government. This photographic tribute to the Iranian people is accompanied by a partly Farsi cover of the Ben E. King classic “Stand by Me“, which was recorded by

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Iran inaugurated its first solar energy power plant this week, adding 250 KW of solar energy to the country’s grid.

The Shiraz solar power plant boasts a modest 250 KW energy production capacity. It’s a solar thermal plant that uses parabolic mirrored troughs to gather sunlight. The mirrors focus the sunlight in an intense ray on a tube that runs the length of the array [...]

Iran has announced the opening of its first ever solar power plant in the town of Shiraz in the Southwest of the country.

Energy Minister Parviz Fattah told reporters that the facility was constructed using Iranian materials and expertise. Speaking to the Iranian News Agency he said, “The country backs the use of alternative and renewable energy sources. In future alternative energy sources will be greatly developed in the country. The growth of investments in this sphere is expected.”

Using colorful sand from the Iranian southern island of Hormuz, 25 artists have created the world’s largest sand carpet. This 12000-square-meter carpet consists of 70 different colored sands and is truly amazing!

Via:  payvand

Images:  Iranian Students’ News Agency

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sheikholeslam wants Iran to build more nuclear power plants to provide electricity needs, rather than using oil and natural gas.

American missiles are not the only threat to Iran’s physical stability. A geological study has found that the nation’s groundwater is running so low from decades of over-use that many parts of the country have sunk dramatically, causing damage in both agricultural and urban areas.

Fifty percent of the country’s water is sourced from the wells and only ten percent of the population is able to survive on rainwater alone. The groundwater level has decreased by 1.5 feet annually for the past 15 years, and with little rain and increased water use for Iran’s growing population, the aquifers have had no chance to refill. As a result, some areas have been sinking up to 20 inches a year.

Two major global energy companies are supporting and promoting Iran by sponsoring a conference being held in Tehran. The goal of the conference is to promote “gas export opportunities and potentials of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.