By Abigail Klein Leichman for ISRAEL21c

Environmental scientists are planting hardy trees in the Arava Desert, an non-fertile area, in order to improve air quality and provide renewable fuels. The team is hopeful that the project will not only help reduce humanity's carbon footprint but will also demonstrate how countries can establish a local plant species on land thought unusable.

Coming to pet shops in 2012: An Israeli pooper-scooper that turns droppings into harmless, odorless ash within seconds. The idea came from an Israeli who got fined for failing to pick up the droppings and decided to contact a Hebrew University professor for a better solution.

"Yes To Birds" brings Jewish and Arab students together to learn about nature, biodiversity and birds in a unique, outdoor way.

In the largest project of its kind in the world and the biggest ever undertaken by an Israeli firm, 30,000 dairy cows are being flown to Vietnam to supply 300 million liters of milk annually as part of a $500 million dairy farm project there.

Butterflies are arriving in great colorful swarms to Israel's Mediterranean city of Bat Yam, attracted to 150,000 new plants brought to town by the chief municipal landscaper, Eliav Hatuka. The beautiful insects are an indication of a healthy environment, since they avoid polluted places.

Award winning Israeli company Solaris Synergy has designed solar energy grids that can float on water, reducing energy production costs, and preventing water loss. The start-up has a working prototype on the roof of its headquarters and is due to install a pilot project in 2011 under the auspices of Mekorot, Israel's water authority.

Only 0.74 percent of the world's water is considered safe for drinking, and some two billion people either lack access to sufficient quantities of water or are supplied with unsafe water. An Israeli company is working towards making a change, by providing safe and innovative water products.

A new device from an Israeli company is the only solution for end-stage AMD, the most common cause of blindness in the elderly in developed countries.

It's the fight of the century: in one corner, the bacteria known as "superbugs," and in the other corner the antibacterial drugs known as antibiotics. In bout after bout, newer and stronger superbugs are besting the antibiotics.