During the week of May 10, 2009, Ormat, a geothermal company, announced its plans to build a plant in Indonesia and Globes reported that major cleantech investors are planning to visit Israel in the near future. BrightSource and PG&E agreed to the largest ever solar power deal in the United States and Better Place demonstrated […]
Rising up, like a mirage in the middle of the desert outside Eilat, is a giant yellow tulip in whose heart lies a massive crystal. Surrounding it: a field of mirrors that slowly move back and forth, following the sun. Hallucinatory though it may sound, this is no mirage. The tulip is actually a solar […]
The deal is to provide power to more than half a million homes: Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced today that it has entered into a series of contracts with BrightSource Energy for a total of 1,310 megawatts of solar thermal power. These power purchase agreements, covering seven projects, supersede the agreements PG&E executed […]
(Water snakes in Thailand. This new technology developed by Prof. Katzir can see through water, just like a snake.) Although most people take the safety of their drinking water for granted, that ordinary tap water could become deadly within minutes, says Prof. Abraham Katzir of Tel Aviv University’s School of Physics and Astronomy. To combat […]
Saudi Arabia has always had an acute fresh water shortage problem. The problem has been so severe that a proposal was once considered to literally tow an ice burg from Antarctica all to way to the Kingdom for use as fresh water. The practicality of constructing desalination plants to extract salt and other minerals from […]
During the week of May 3, 2009, Israel’s two biggest cleantech stories were about a BusinessWeek feature, which provided an overview of the sector and the attention it is drawing from the international investment community, and ZenithSolar’s technology, which Shimon Peres stated can [indirectly] “help fight terror.” Other stories included B-Solar raising $3 million, Leviathan […]
Once again, in the UAE Gulf state of Abu Dhabi, the Zayed Future Energy Prize contest is open for entries on new and innovative projects in various forms of alternative energy. Inaugerated in January 2008 during the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, the contest, under the sponsorship of the Abu Dhabi government as […]
Explore where no man has gone before, with tentacles? Now building the world’s first robotic octopus, and the world’s first soft-bodied robot, Israeli “octopus” scientists have joined a seven group international team to help marine scientists explore nooks and crannies on the ocean floor, like an octopus would. Instead of dropping down clunky metallic submarines […]
(ZenithSolar’s Jetson-style sunshine-collecting DPV – concentrating photovoltaic – dishes in the Negev Desert) As the old saying goes: necessity is the mother of invention. And nothing appears to be truer than in the field of alternative forms of energy, especially solar energy. An Israeli company, Zenith Solar, has announced the invention of a new type of […]
This documentary film describes the activities of IBSAR, an interfaculty center at the American University of Beirut dedicated to nature conservation and sustainable research. According to IBSAR members, “Nature is a special trust to be enjoyed and conserved for future generations. Conserving the biodiversity of nature in the Middle East is the foundation on which […]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8mXDsGiiu4[/youtube] There has been a lot of hype around Zenith Solar lately in Israel, where they’ve publicly launched their new solar power technology in Kibbutz Yavne, not far from Tel Aviv. Some residents of the kibbutz are against the industrialization in their kibbutz, others see it as an important environmental contribution. See the video above. […]
The Jerusalem Post website is reporting that six Israeli companies made it into the water consultancy firm, The Artemis Project’s first Top 50 Water Companies Competition last week. The site, quoting promotional materials, states that the award, “distinguishes advanced water and water-related technology companies as leaders in their trade for helping to build water into one of the great […]
(Melting like crazy: compare image of arctic ice cap from 1979 to that from 2003. Something seem off to you?) Last year he was in Israel encouraging Israel cleantech companies that they could be part of the solution. But according to latest research and images of glaciers receding, Al Gore’s call to arms in the […]
Following the latest incident in which a Tel Aviv University student, Idan Shadmi, was seriously when falling into a Dead Sea sinkhole, a Tel Aviv University physics professor, claims to have created a seismic warning system that will be able to give an indication when one of these holes, mostly located on the western shore, […]
What’s a 37 year old single mom, who lives in a three room mobile home in Israel’s Galilee doing to support herself? Why she’s selling portable solar energy units to farmers, that’s what! Shiri Broida, originally from Kibbutz Ein Harod Ihud, isn’t the normal example of an Israeli woman in her mid 30’s. Her lifestyle […]