Last week I visited the Green Middle East Forum held in the Sharjah Expo Center in UAE. It was at first a very pleasant sight with all the green posters and schoolchildren everywhere. But when I registered for the event and entered the symposium, I was astounded at the number and variety of stalls and products that were on display there. It was altogether a fabulous experience and I wish to share with you some of my memorable and exciting things I saw there.

First was the Reverse Vending Machines. That may sound really unfamiliar. What is it? Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) are innovative machines that provide a means for individuals to recycle and give back to the environment. They accept empty plastic bottles, aluminum cans, light bulbs and domestic batteries and in return, grant reward vouchers. RVMs are interactive, with touch screen capabilities. Few RVMs have already been placed in Sharjah and more will be located throughout the UAE soon. ?Beeah? – the environmental agency in UAE who is doing a great job in regards to spreading awareness of re-cycling among the people is also coming up with reward programme for the common people when they start recycling through the RVMs.  

Then, there was a CNG-powered car that will be visible in and around the UAE very soon.  It was a brilliant idea and I really admired the car a lot because I realized the amount of CO2 and other gases it could save our environment from.

Third was the display of solar panels. There were just so many new types of solar cells. Here, I learnt about how Solar panels work. A solar panel is a set of solar photo-voltaic modules electrically connected and mounted on a supporting structure. A photo-voltaic module is a packaged, connected assembly of solar cells. The solar module can be used as a component of a larger photo-voltaic system to generate and supply electricity in commercial and residential applications. Each module is rated by its DC output power under standard test conditions (STC), and typically ranges from 100 to 320 watts. he efficiency of a module determines the area of a module given the same rated output - an 8% efficient 230 watt module will have twice the area of a 16% efficient 230 watt module.

It was a nice opportunity for the fervent environmentalists like me to have a good exposure on various green initiatives in the region. 

The vending Machine