Can Israel's Prime Minister's Alternative Energy Agenda Help the Middle East?

BrightSource solar energy company could be part of the alternative energy solution.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be interested in leading his country away from its current dependence on imported oil and into various forms of alternative energy. But he wants his vision to go far beyond the borders of the tiny State of Israel and for it to be a goal for other nations to strive for as well.

In a recent address at the 2009 Israeli Presidential Conference that occurred October 20-22 in Jerusalem, the Prime Minister spoke about a national project for “developing an alternative to oil within 10 years”.

Although he didn’t present a concrete plan for reaching this accomplishment, he compared this idea with other accomplishments his country has achieved in the technological and medical fields and added that the citizens of his country have two great resources: “minds and hearts” as well as the “desire and ability” to wean Israel away from an energy source that continues to feed the coffers of countries who actively sponsor terrorism; saying that  “dependence on fossil fuels strengthens the dark regimes that encourage instability and fund terror with their petrodollars”.

So just how is Mr. Netanyahu planning to go about developing this grand project that will take much more than just “minds and hearts” to accomplish?

If one takes into account the number of alternative and renewable projects that have been going in  Israel and conducted by Israeli companies abroad in the last few years alone, it appears that this little country of 7.4 million souls is already well on its way to accomplishing the Prime Minister’s goal.

Just a few of these projects featured on Green Prophet includes solar energy , bio-fuels from algae, energy from ocean waves, in which Israel is already a world leading innovator, and the predicted dominance of electric powered cars and other vehicles by the year 2030.

While Israel is being slammed in the international arena for its military actions in the January Operation Cast Lead war with Gaza, it is also being recognized as a world innovator in the fields of alternative and renewable energy, as well as in a host of other fields, especially in information technology and bio-technology.

Although Netanyahu is being criticized by some for not seeming to have an exact alternative energy plan, as noted in an article on October 29 in the Haaretz newspaper,  it does appear that these “energy plans” are already being worked on by companies like Ormat Industries Solel Solar Systems, recently purchased for $418 million by the German industrial giant Siemens,  and Better Place electric cars, which has entered into an agreement with Israel Railways to set up electric car recharging stations at the country’s railway stations; as well as by numerous other companies.

And while no significant “breakthroughs” are currently in place to immediately wean both Israelis and the rest of world away from the fossil fuels that fill the pockets of people like Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez and the Saudi Royal Family, at least there are enough energy innovations underway to stimulate the “desire and ability” to enable this dream to become reality, as Mr. Netanyahu hopes it will.

Photos via www.brightsource.com and Israel President’s Conference Official site

Author: Maurice Picow

Maurice Picow grew up in Oklahoma City, U.S.A., where he received a B.S. Degree in Business Administration. Following graduation, Maurice embarked on a career as a real estate broker before making the decision to move to Israel. After arriving in Israel, he came involved in the insurance agency business and later in the moving and international relocation fields. Maurice became interested in writing news and commentary articles in the late 1990’s, and now writes feature articles for the The Jerusalem Post as well as being a regular contributor to Green Prophet. He has also written a non-fiction study on Islam, a two volume adventure novel, and is completing a romance novel about a forbidden love affair. Writing topics of particular interest for Green Prophet are those dealing with global warming and climate change, as well as clean technology - particularly electric cars.

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