Israeli startup makes plant-based flavor bases for alt meat, wins €100k

Where's the beef?

That's not even the question anymore. Beef is no longer needed to make a juicy steak or hamburger as plant-based alternatives are becoming more and more ubiquitous. 

Flavor is key though. Unfortunately, the use of actual meat to enhance the flavor of meat alternatives is still commonplace, and it largely defeats the purpose of going meat-free. 

That's where Israeli startup The Mediterranean Food Lab enters the equation with its great-tasting alternative to the meaty flavor presently delivered by animal protein.  

The Mediterranean Food Lab has won an award of €100,000 from the EIT Food Accelerator Network (FAN) Program.

The FAN program is held at the Technion’s Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, in conjunction with the Strauss Group. FAN is a unique pan-European program established to catalyze significant breakthroughs, mainly by providing support and advice to new startups and entrepreneurs.

60 companies were selected among 400 applicants to participate in FAN. The Mediterranean Food Lab is now expected to compete in the European finals of the program, against other companies that have developed innovative technological solutions.  

Achievements of The Mediterranean Food Lab continue to support Israel’s leading position at the forefront of food-tech innovation. Israeli entrepreneurs have brought creativity and daring to the food sector, and it is not without reason that Israel is an important player in the global food-tech industry.

Read more about it here.

Off to have a veggie burger...or two, till next time!

J

Israel Set to Be First Nation to Ban the Fur Trade

Israel is set to ban the fur trade, becoming the first country in the world to do so. While there are some cities that have banned the fur trade, most notably São Paulo in Brazil along with the state of California in the US, this would be the first such ban on a national level.

The plans were announced by Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel, who slammed the practice of buying and selling skin and fur in the fashion industry as "immoral."

Exceptions from the ban will only be made in special cases involving scientific research, education, and religious purposes.

The maximum penalty for violating the new regulations will be a fine of up to NIS 75,000 or a year of imprisonment. 

Nature and Parks Authority will be responsible for the enforcement of the regulations.

This ban has overwhelming public support with 86% of Israelis expressing a clear position that caging, torturing and brutally killing foxes, minks, dogs and cats for extravagant and unnecessary fashion items is unacceptable.

The move was lauded by the Israeli animal rights advocacy group Animals Now: "We applaud and welcome the environmental protection minister's courageous decision to put an end to the sale of furs in Israel."

The Society for the Protection of Animals in Israel (SPCA Israel) made a similar statement.

American animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) praised Israel "for recognizing that the trade in coats, pom-poms, and other frivolous fashion items made from wild animals' fur offends the values held by all decent citizens."

Source: Jerusalem Post

Alcohol From Waste

As the global coronavirus health crisis continues to grip the world, medical professionals around the world emphasize the importance of good hand hygiene that is based on regular and thorough cleaning hands with soap and water or with an alcohol-based hand rub.

The ongoing pandemic has led to a surge in demand for alcohol-based disinfectants in the form of hand sanitizer.

Ethanol has mainly been generated from sugar cane and corn, a “first-generation” process because it is directly taking the food to generate fuel.

As a small country, Israel currently has no ethanol industry. It is because Israel does not have the water, the land or the capacity to grow huge fields of corn or sugar cane, like in the US or Brazil.

Israel is completely dependent on the annual import of tens of thousands tons of ethanol. As the crisis continues, concerns have emerged of shortages of hand sanitizer in Israel as a result of quarantine conditions in other states, global demand, and import limitations.

For the first time, a groundbreaking development from Tel Aviv University researchers enables the local production of ethanol in Israel, from plant and paper waste, in a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly way.

The process, which uses a novel lignin degradation method could significantly cut back on production costs and lead to a decrease in the use of edible plant sources, help protect the environment, reduce the use of various pollutants, and greenhouse gas emissions, due to environmental-friendly waste processing.

Lignin is a complex macromolecule important for the formation of cell walls of plants. It exists in all types of agricultural waste.

This novel process is a game-changer in the way that ethanol would be manufactured in Israel and remote countries where the production of ethanol is difficult.

The team at TAU has been working on the process of recycling waste and converting it into ethanol for the past five years, but the development of local ethanol production has become more significant with the prevalence of COVID-19.

But the generation of bioethanol from waste might prove to be the answer to this problem. Production of ethanol from waste is a “second-generation” process as does not require fertilizers or monoculture planting that has many environmental issues.

The joint TAU and University of Haifa teams have developed an effective pre-treatment method that dramatically reduces pollution, doesn’t require the use of hazardous substances, and ends up being less costly and less complex.

The TAU team will soon begin a pilot program using agricultural waste to create ethanol at the Yehuda Naftali Botanic Garden at Tel Aviv University. The garden will give the team their tree trimmings, grass, plants, and other waste. The project will take about two years to complete, similar to the amount of time it could take to commercialize the process.

This isn’t the only study or method currently in development to produce ethanol from waste. In a separate study, researchers from the University of Haifa also examined the possibility of producing ethanol from watermelon pulp. The study found that the fruit residue can be used to produce ethanol, an alternative biological fuel for vehicles, which is also the main ingredient in alcohol.

Currently, some 620,000 tons of plant and similar waste and 35,000 tons of paper waste - waste that requires management and resources - are produced annually in Israel.

Source: NoCamels.com

Arava Region of Israel About To Be 100% Solar Powered

The Arava region, from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, is about to be powered 100% during the day, solely by the sun. 

Believe it or not, this includes hotels, factories, homes, businesses, kibbutzim, and air conditioning, too. 

And it gets even better... By 2025, solar energy will power this region up during the night as well. 

 As climate challenges ravage the earth, along with a raging pandemic, Israel is increasing its renewables. And while having an abundance of sunlight is a blessing when it comes to solar power, Israel has been a bit slow to act on this. 

But not the Arava region. It has quietly pioneered a revolution that can easily become a blueprint for the entire planet, quite literally, saving the planet. 

Read more about it here. 

Off to enjoy a bit of summer sunlight, till next time! 

Jennifer

Vertical Urban Crops

Over half of the world’s population lives in urban areas far away from where their food is grown, in virtual food deserts.

Traditional agriculture is a labor-intensive, resource-intensive industry. In the not too distant future, it may not be able to sustain the global population that is expected to approach 10 billion people in about 100 years.  

Vertical Fields, Israeli revolutionary agrotech company, is harnessing the power of geoponic technology, agricultural expertise, and smart design to tackle all of these issues and more. The Israeli startup – cited by Silicon Review as a “50 Innovative Companies to Watch in 2019” and named by World Smart City in 2019 as “Best Startup” – provides vertical agricultural solutions that help the environment, improve human health conditions, cut down on human handling, reduce waste, and make fresh, delicious produce available directly to consumers locally.

Vertical Field’s Urban Crops offers an ideal alternative to traditional agriculture, especially in urban settings where space is scarce. The soil-based platform can grow hundreds of types of crops – pesticide-free, indoors or outdoors – and requires no training to operate.

Vertical farming offers multiple advantages:

• Bug-free and pesticide-free – healthy, fresh, and clean produce
• Less waste – uses 90% less water
• Shorter growing cycles, longer shelf life
• Plants are 'in season' 365 days/year - grow whatever you want, no matter the weather or climate conditions 
• Consistent quality
• Modular, expandable, and moveable farm
• Automated crop management
• More sterile environment
• Less human contact

Source: HortiDaily.com

Sustainable Thread, Now with Israeli Startup Twine

The fashion industry uses up 20% of the world's water and then dumps it back into waterways as wastewater. To make just one kilo of dyed thread, 70 kilos of water are required. This process creates enough wastewater to fill 2 million Olympic-sized swimming pools every year.

Enter Twine, an Israeli startup that dyes threads digitally, operating the same way that a color printer works on paper.

Currently, threads are dyed in Asia, using up a lot of water, and then shipped to various Western countries for approval, and then shipped back to Asia for production. Just the shipping alone creates a large carbon footprint.

Twine not only obviates the need for this cumbersome and wasteful process, but it will also revolutionize the entire industry, changing the way clothes, shoes, upholstery, and so much more are manufactured.

Read more about it here.

Off to enjoy a bit of local (ocean) water here, till next time!


J

Sustainable Fashion

It is not a widely known fact, but fashion is one of the most polluting industries.

Producing a single pair of jeans emits as much greenhouse gas as driving a car for over 80 miles. A single cotton shirt takes 2,700 liters of water to produce, equivalent to the average person’s drinking needs for two and a half years. And clothes made of non-biodegradable fabrics will sit in landfills for more than 200 years.

When we think of plastic, and the destruction plastic causes, synthetic fibers are not usually even considered, though they contribute a great deal.

A 2017 International Union for Conservation of Nature report estimated about 35 percent of the microplastics that enter the ocean come via synthetic textiles.

Israeli brand Tooshaaya is dedicated to the cause of sustainable fashion.

All Tooshaaya fabrics come from nature and are biodegradable. Most are plant-based rather than animal-derived.

Many Tooshaaya garments are made from bamboo and soy yarns, “vegan silk”. Bamboo yarn is extremely sustainable since bamboo grows very fast and does not require that much water. The fabric also has a special tactile quality that makes clothing breathable with a lot of thermal control. Bamboo is perfect for the desert climate of Israel because it can be worn when it’s hot during the day and when it’s cold at night.

Another textile Tooshaaya designers works with is “vegan cashmere.” It is made of soy waste from the tofu industry and shells of edamame combined with cotton and recycled into yarn.

Both bamboo and soy are hypoallergenic and antibacterial, which makes them perfect for sensitive skin.

All of Tooshaaya’s clothes are knitted using a handloom, in keeping with the company’s vision of helping to bring back respect for handcrafts and to make people more mindful of their purchases.

To foster these values, Tooshaaya encourages its clients to bring clothing back for repairs by limiting the charge to the cost of materials only. It has also started making videos so people can repair their own items at home.

To ensure that customers do not discard its pieces after a single season, Tooshaaya focuses on styles that are timeless rather than trendy.

Going vegan has been a popular recent trend, with many making the change due to environmental issues. However, we often do not think of the effect our clothes have on the environment. Whether you are vegan or not, it is a good time to think about the environmental consequences your next fashion purchase will have.

Source: Israel21c

Through Awareness, Education, and Cleanups, an Israeli Initiative is Taking a Stand on Plastics

Try to picture it -- a microplastics researcher moves to Israel, is disturbed by all the litter she finds on the beach, looks to join a beach cleanup, and can't seem to find one.

So, what does one do in this case? In true Israeli fashion, she took matters into her own hands.

“It took me about two months to organize my own cleanup, which was in March of 2018. I advertised it on Facebook and Instagram. In the end, 12 people showed up,” recalls Stav Friedman, an American-born research assistant at the Medical Research Council Centre for Environment and Health’s Microplastics Lab at King’s College London’s School of Population Health & Environmental Sciences.

This small group became the starting point for Plastic Free Israel, which seeks to minimize the use of plastics among Israelis. It's since evolved into a grassroots movement with monthly beach cleanups in various locations around Tel Aviv.

Plastic production and consumption are at an all-time high, with most of it ending up in landfills instead of being recycled. And over 250,000 tons of it are floating around in the ocean.

In her research, Friedman studies the effect of microplastics on the environment, noting that it's made its way into the water we drink and the food we eat.

Read more about it here.

Off to enjoy some water out of my glass water bottle...no plastic for me! Till next time!

J

In win for environment, Israel won’t issue new oil shale exploration permits

The Israeli government announced on Tuesday that it would no longer issue permits for oil shale exploration, a move that was welcomed by environmentalists. The decision applies to both drilling, as well as open cast mining.

The decision came in light of the government's commitment to clean energy.

Existing licenses will not be renewed, and any future license requests would be judged by environmental criteria drawn up by the Environmental Protection Ministry.

The Society for the Protection of Nature, which has campaigned to have oil shale stopped, welcomed the decision, saying the industry caused “serious environmental harm, which has no place in Israel.”

Environmentalists in Israel still feel that the government needs to go further and ban any such licenses, no matter the circumstances.

Oil shale is considered the dirtiest kind of oil that exists, polluting not only as a finished product, but in the entire process of extraction.

Read more about it here.


Off to enjoy the clean air of the Atlantic Ocean, till next time!


J