When Prime Minister Julia Gillard narrowly succeeded in passing Australia’s first carbon tax last month, she probably wasn’t thinking of how Israeli innovation will be a beneficiary.
Not everyone is happy that Gillard passed Australia’s first carbon “tax.” Big Coal is furious. And coal is a huge industry in Australia. But Australia’s Greenearth Energy is one diversified energy company that is enthusiastic about the prospects for clean energy development following the Gillard government’s recent climate legislation that puts a price ($23 a ton) on carbon. Like Israel’s BrightSource Energy (BrightSource Glad to See Carbon “Tax” Down Under) which also stands to benefit from the about-face on climate regulation down under, Greenearth brings Israeli-developed clean renewable energy to Australia.
Greenearth previously demonstrated Zenith Solar‘s ability to bring an astonishing 72% efficiency to solar power through a combined heat and power technology, offering both hot water heating and electricity. But the company holds a diversified clean technology portfolio, bringing not just solar, but energy efficiency, clean fuels and geothermal projects as well – all technologies that will become only more vital for energy security in a carbon constrained world.
Following the recent announcement of the Gillard government’s new $126 million Emerging Renewables program, the company reaffirmed its commitment to developing its geothermal project in Geelong, noting that the legislation will allow the company to find more flexible funding. It is currently negotiating a $25 million grant for exploration and development of the geothermal project under Australia’s Energy Technology Innovation Strategy.
But geothermal is just one of the clean tech goodies in Greenearth’s portfolio. Through its partnerships with three Israeli clean technology developers; one in concentrated solar, one dealing with CO2-to-fuel technology, and one that involves a new form of very high-efficiency lighting, Greenearth expects to expand renewable energy trade between the two nations as a result of the new legislation.
Greenearth is the Australian distributor for Israel’s Metrolight, which has been eyed by California VC firms for investment. It manufactures High Intensity Discharge (HID) energy efficient lighting, with half a million lighting systems installed worldwide since its inception in 1996, covering the industrial, municipal, commercial and retail sectors. Its recently commissioned installation for Ambulance Victoria cut energy use 65%, and Greenearth sees a big future for the company in art galleries, museums, hospitals, fire stations and universities.
Greenearth Energy formed a subsidiary, Greenearth Solar, partnering with Israel’s Zenith Solar, developer and manufacturer of the world’s most efficient Combined Heat and Power (CHP) solar technology which delivers both electricity and hot water, bringing unusual dual benefits to solar power.
(Israeli companies seem to excel in inventing dual benefit solar technologies. Some other examples include solar window companies Pythagoras Solar and SolarOr, and the land-free utility solar company Solaris Synergy. that utilizes reservoirs to float solar on, bypassing dust issues and freeing up valuable land.)
And lastly, in June it licensed a revolutionary technology developed by the commercial arm of Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, that converts CO2 emissions to fuel. Greenearth’s subsidiary NEWCO2FUELS will commercialize this technology breakthrough that it believes has the potential to be a viable alternative to CO2 sequestration.
::ZenithSolar
::Greenearth Energy
Related stories:
ZenithSolar – The Most Efficient Solar Energy Collector In The World?
Metrolight and Top Israeli Cleantech Headlines
OPEC Countries Seek “Developing Nation” Funds to Capture CO2
