Even as some solar projects are just taking flight in Israel, underlining a new wave of optimism about the technology’s ability to succeed in the country, other solar giants are taking their leave of Israel. International energy and infrastructure giant, Siemens, announced last Monday that it was closing down its Siemens-Solel plant in Beit Shemesh, Israel. In […]
AORA Solar CEO Zev Rosenzweig says he is more ready than ever to take on the world. His company’s hybrid solar thermal technology, which was launched in prototype test form in both Kibbutz Samar, Israel and Spain, has been revised and reconfigured based on a series of tests and is now ready for the global […]
Israeli cleantech has long been present in the American market. Companies like Ormat have been developing geothermal resources in the US for decades. Now Israeli companies may be getting support to expand to developing countries as well. A senior official from the International Finance Corp (IFC)–a member of the World Bank, with a portfolio of $12 […]
Shining a light on energy consumption. What if industrial building managers could see exactly how much energy their building is using, where in the building that energy is going, and how much it is costing them at every moment to use that energy? How much energy could be saved? One Israeli company is bringing a […]
Israel and China seem to be agreeing on more and more these days. On Tuesday, investors from the two countries announced they would be jointly funding a new solar thermal venture in Israel’s Negev Desert, the HelioBooster, Jerusalem Post reported. Still in its demonstration phase, the technology was created by Israeli solar company, HelioFocus, which–since its […]
Late this February Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist, along with Israel Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, hosted a competition to honor Israel’s leading cleantech start-ups. Among the 12 competition finalists, was UniVerve, an Israeli biofuel company that specializes in using microalgae to create oil. UniVerve has gained international recognition for its microalgae technology, […]
Young Israeli tourists are so common in India that in certain regions, restaurants hang signs and write menus in Hebrew. But Israel is now in the process of sending more than just tourists to the region. At the end of April, Israeli news site Ynet reported that Israel would be sending engineers, researchers and representatives from […]
For years, the goldmine for Israeli cleantech companies has been the American economy. And as Israel deploys innovative technologies across the Atlantic, it is increasingly breaking ground and gaining profits ahead of American companies. Just last week, shares of the Reno, Nevada-based unit of Israeli geothermal company, Ormat Technologies (NYSE: ORA), rose more than 2.7 […]
Despite concern that Better Place is losing millions as it slowly brings electric vehicles to market in Israel and Denmark, some in the cleantech industry are also worried that the Israel electric vehicle (EV) company is the only one out there trying to make the business work. A recent article titled, ‘Does Better Place Have […]
Green Prophet goes on another water trip with Friends of the Earth and guests from Sri Lanka. “Even sewage has a national flag,” said Gidon Bromberg, co-director and co-founder of Eco-Peace/Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME). Israel Director of the organization for 18 years, Bromberg says he’s seen how natural resources, like water, and even […]
Often dubbed the “start-up nation,” Israel has repeatedly proven to be fertile soil for cleantech innovators that succeed and are then bought up by international companies. Israel-based Agro-tech company Rosetta Green has been chosen by international seed manufacturer Bayer CropScience AG for collaboration on a project that will help improve cotton crop for farmers. Rosetta […]
Concentrated solar power company BrightSource doesn’t wear its Israeli identity on its sleeve. “We’re a U.S. company with Israeli engineering, not an Israeli company. It’s a nuance but important to get right,” Keely Wachs, senior director of corporate communications for BrightSource, wrote in an email message. And with an American President and CEO named John […]
Better Place is not doing as well as everyone expected, with financial losses running in the millions. The idea seemed flawless: battery-powered cars that could run on 100% electricity and could be recharged almost instantly by swapping batteries at special charging stations. But despite all the optimistic predictions, Better Place, the Israeli company that has […]
Oil refinery in the Haifa Port. Though Israeli electricity prices rose nearly 9 percent at the end of last month due to reported natural gas shortages, Israel’s energy ministry has decided that Israel will export half of the natgas it pumps from its offshore reserves in the Mediterranean Sea. Called the Zemach Committee, and led […]
Shaul Zemach (left) shakes hands with Zvi Rome of Petco (right) at the Asia House in Tel Aviv this Tuesday morning With Israeli electricity prices set to rise nearly 9%, government officials are trying to plan for the long-term, at least until the next energy crisis. At a breakfast event this Tuesday in Tel Aviv […]
The finish line is in sight for Israel Cleantech Ventures (ICV), which has been racing towards a $100 million goal. ICV is an Israeli venture capital fund that was founded in 2006 to focus exclusively on raising capital for investment in renewable energy companies. In its February financial filing the company showed it had raised […]
Israeli entrepreneurs are world renowned for their high tech talents and ingenuity. Funding has always been the problem. But now Israeli cleantech start-ups may finally be getting the financing they need. $7.7 billion market cap investment fund, Blackstone, also the world’s largest private equity fund, began holding advanced talks with Israeli fund Markstone in February […]
A town in the Jezreel Valley, Israel prefers its weather sunny, and not only for clear blue skies and golden sunshine. Over 70 percent of the rooftops in Ram-On, a small picturesque town in Israel’s north, are covered in Germany-based Aleo Solar photovoltaic panels for a total capacity of 1,250 kW that both powers the town […]
Israel’s vast and dry southern Negev desert may actually help the country go green and just in time for the country’s 2020 10% renewables goal. At the Eilat-Eilot Forum for Renewable Energy Policy last week, energy experts discussed a recent report, still in draft form, of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, called Cleantech […]
The arid Middle Eastern desert climate offers little in the way of natural resources. But it does boast of brilliant and fierce sunlight. In a continuing effort to reach the goal of 10% renewable power by 2020, Israel has recently been issuing a slew of new solar licences, including a 120 MW thermal solar plant […]
Israel’s Eco Wave’s clappers get energy from the sea. Developers first looked to the ocean for offshore wind power, a conveniently windy and out-of-the way site for giant turbines. But increasingly, energy companies are realizing that sea water itself can be harnessed to generate electricity. Israel’s Eco Wave Power announced on Tuesday that its initial […]
Israel’s Geothermal Giant Ormat Signs Deal For Solar In California It already has an international presence, but Israel’s Ormat Industries (NYSE: ORA) just made its global presence a little brighter: On December 21, Ormat’s US subsidiary Ormat Technologies announced that it will be developing its very first 10 megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) farm near one […]
Israel’s natural gas wells could lead to an unsustainable shekel. Although the revolution in Egypt this past spring threatened Israel’s gas supply from the south, Israel took relief in its newly discovered Tamar and Leviathan gas fields deep beneath the Mediterranean Sea, estimated to produce tens of billions of cubic feet of natural gas. But even […]
Rent an electric car when you travel to Israel. Often thought of as too expensive or sophisticated for the average driver, plug-in electric vehicles will soon be available even to the occasional driver. Israel’s largest car rental company, Eldan, signed an agreement with Better Place electric vehicle company on December 5, making hundreds of Renault […]
Israel’s desert climate makes water a rare treasure, but even as the country takes extreme measures to keep fresh water flowing to its citizens, the simple process of evaporation is making the battle even harder. Some estimate that 20% of Israel’s fresh water is lost to evaporation. But two Israeli companies may be on the […]