Sue Surkes

Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter.

Human-generated refuse (mbaysan by iStock by Getty Images)

February 1, 2023, 8:09 pm

To fill vacuum, NGO seeks to create local, regional carbon trading scheme

Former PMO official coordinating initiative for new nonprofit that aims to build system that will reliably measure the ability of projects to offset emissions

By Sue Surkes

View of the Europe Asia Pipeline Company's oil terminal in the southern city of Eilat, January 14, 2022. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

January 29, 2023, 9:47 pm

Cabinet extends secrecy for state-owned oil infrastructure firms, despite objections

Decision, if approved by Knesset, will keep public in dark about the activities of three companies originally linked to deal with Iranian shah

By Sue Surkes

Disposable plastic tableware for sale at a supermarket in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem, October 27, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

January 29, 2023, 6:52 pm

Cabinet votes to scrap disposable plastic tax, a demand of the Haredi community

With ultra-Orthodox using disproportionate amount of single-use tableware, ministers agree to seek a less costly alternative to reduce single-use plastic

By Sue Surkes

A illustration of humans working on the moon (screenshot from YouTube NASA video)

December 31, 2022, 8:26 am

Israeli pens plan for belt of solar panels on moon to power oxygen production

With NASA mulling nuclear reactor to generate energy, Ben Gurion University expert says his idea would produce same amount of power with six times less mass

By Sue Surkes

Screen capture from video of desalinated water being released from production plants to flow into the Sea of Galilee, December 28, 2022. (Twitter. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

December 28, 2022, 11:36 am

Pioneering plan inaugurated to top up Sea of Galilee with desalinated water

In world first, water produced from the sea will be pumped into Israel’s largest freshwater lake to maintain levels even in parched years

By TOI staff and Sue Surkes

Asphalt on UK roads melted during scorching temperatures in July 2021. (Youtube screenshot)

December 28, 2022, 6:32 am

Avoiding meltdown: Highway planners prepare for hotter Israel by 2100, with 4°C rise

While no roads have melted, as they did during last year’s heatwave in the UK, National Roads Company is seeking more climate-resistant materials, a green road-building standard

By Sue Surkes

Planting tree saplings at Aman, a rehabilitation center for women experiencing mental crises following sexual violenceת December 2020. (Courtesy, Venatata)

December 22, 2022, 1:54 am

Non-profit aims to bind society to natural world by planting 100,000 city trees

‘Venatata,’ currently running Tu B’Shvat campaign, has marshaled 15,000 volunteers, created gardens in 70 institutions for people with special needs

By Sue Surkes

A view of a construction site for new apartment buildings in the southern city of Beersheba on July 28, 2022. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

December 21, 2022, 1:28 am

Israel launches energy efficiency rating for new apartments, helping calculate costs

With residential houses accounting for 30% of country’s electricity use, government says system will help buyers anticipate heating, air conditioning costs, save up to 30% on bills

By Sue Surkes

Wasteless uses artificial intelligence to lower prices as perishable foods approach their sell-by dates. (Courtesy, Wasteless)

December 13, 2022, 8:28 pm

Dutch retail chain buys Israeli software linking food prices to expiration dates

By combining data, Wasteless can gradually lower the price of an item to appeal to customers, while maximizing a retailer’s margins and slashing waste

By Sue Surkes

One of OPA's recyclable, multi-use bowls for order-in food. (Courtesy, OPA)

December 13, 2022, 8:17 pm

Start-up offers reusable, 100% recyclable bowls for takeout food

Working with restaurants, offices, and food delivery giant Wolt, OPA, launched in Tel Aviv less than a month ago, says it is amazed by demand

By Sue Surkes

The Golda hens when they were chicks. (Ori Peretz)

December 13, 2022, 4:36 pm

In first, Israeli scientists program hens to lay eggs that carry only female chicks

Gene editing technology developed by Volcani Center scientists, who say it has potential to stop ‘devastating’ destruction of 7 billion unwanted male chicks globally each year

By Sue Surkes

Image of a single RepAir Carbon Capture cell. Atmospheric air enters the cell at the top. Inside the cell, the air is filtered through a separator, with electricity applied to isolate the CO2. Clean air flows back to the atmosphere (represented by green and blue particles at the bottom of the image), while pure CO2 flows out for utilization or storage, represented by red particles. (Courtesy, RepAir Carbon Capture)

December 12, 2022, 11:58 pm

Company extracting CO2 out of air scoops $10 million investment

RepAir Carbon Capture claims that its electrochemical method is cheaper, more energy-efficient, and more scaleable than competitors’

By Sue Surkes

December 10, 2022, 11:23 pm

Israel’s griffon vultures, European otters in ‘serious decline,’ new report finds

But Nature and Parks Authority’s first long-term assessment on state of country’s mammals, birds and reptiles shows many other species stable or expanding

By Sue Surkes

Children at the Bi'ne B elementary school near Deir el-Asad in northern Israel crowd around an iguana, November 28, 2022. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)

December 10, 2022, 9:29 am

From K-12 and beyond, Israeli children learn they can help the rainforests to heal

Education program based on study and action engages students by having them campaign for one of three endangered ‘biodiversity hotspots’ — and helping to save the winner

By Sue Surkes

Masada was the most popular site among tourists to Israel in 2022. (Yaniv Cohen, INPA)

December 7, 2022, 12:50 pm

New nature chief aims for tourists to see more of Israel’s national parks, reserves

With lengthy to-do list, Israel Nature and Parks Authority’s first female chief talks about new sites, continuing threats, and a plan to stop feeding cranes to avert bird flu

By Sue Surkes