Green Cities: If You Build It, Will They Come? (Israel)

(Hat Tip: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Image Credit: Gal "beivushtang" Forenberg)

Mount Gilboa seems to be attracting more attention these days--and no I am not referring to the Jewish state's attempts at constructing an Israeli-Palestinian industrial park or the cool green kibbutz that resides in the area.

It looks as if Israel is seriously considering constructing an ecologically friendly town and is looking for a few hundred green men (and women) who would not mind living within it.

(Israel 21^st Century) If you're planning on living in Nurit, says Danny Atar, chairman of the Gilboa Regional Council, you're by definition willing to go out of your way to save water, avoid excess waste, and in general reduce your carbon footprint. "Otherwise, Nurit is not for you," he says. [...]

And, after intense study and consultations with environmental experts around the world, the town is ready for prime time; work has begun on infrastructure, and the first 100 homes will be ready next year. By 2012, there will be 400 families living in Nurit, Atar says.

Located on Mt. Gilboa itself, Nurit will take advantage of the mountain's wind and sun to generate power, and will install dozens of wind turbines and photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, enough to provide electricity for all the public buildings in Nurit - and then some. [...]

"Together with turbines to generate electricity from wind, we expect that the electricity we generate will be enough to light most of the schools, offices, streetlights, and park lights in Nurit - as well as save homeowners money on their energy bill, since they can get credits for the power their roof PV systems generate that they don't use, selling it back to the IEC." Atar says.

Hopefully this green initiative will not stop with houses and offices, and will extend extend its way towards cars (whether through Project Better Place or biofuel  from algae)--not to mention converting garbage dumps into energy as well.

While Nurit may not be the first city to embrace green energy on a massive scale (Eilat previously announced that they were courting solar power), it is good to see the government work with businesses (and the community) in order to make green living a reality.

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