Israeli Cleantech VC Nears $100 Million Goal

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 […]

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Promise of Blackstone’s Millions May Keep Israel Focused On Cleantech

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 […]

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Low Carbon Economics Aligns With the Sharia Law of Islam

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The people promoting bond sales to fund climate change turn to Islamic investors. Gulf nations may prove to be a prime market for Climate Bonds as they diversify beyond fossil fuels into long-term green energy projects. To spur investment, financial vehicles that support a low-carbon economy are being developed to align with Islamic Sharia law. It’s a simple concept: expand Middle East […]

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Arab Spring May Boost Chance for Desertec Solar Power

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Political stability, as well as sunshine is needed for Desertec solar projects. The “Arab Spring” uprisings that have turned several Middle Eastern countries literally upside down may actually become a boost for the Desertec solar energy project that could eventually provide much needed electrical power to several Middle East North Africa countries – and Europe […]

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Israel Cleantech Ventures Raising $100 Million for Energy Innovation

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At a time of uncertainty in world VC funding, Israeli cleantech VC stays focused on renewable energy Israel Cleantech Ventures, the tiny but talented nation’s first cleantech-focused fund, is now more than halfway to raising a $100 million fund, according to a filing this week. Some of Israel’s more interesting clean energy start ups that […]

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US Firms Look to Israel for “Clean-tech” Partnerships

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Daniel Birns, international activities advisor at the U.S. Department of Energy, speaks Dec. 15 at a US-Israel environmental symposium at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC. Virginia’s largest electric utility is eagerly seeking Israeli “clean-tech” partners that offer innovative technologies aimed at slashing the world’s dependence on fossil fuels through the development of renewable energy […]

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Heat pumps and cleantech in Helsinki, Finland

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Other areas for business development, partnership and expertise? Processing forest product waste (which comes from the pulp and paper industry) –– in bio-diesel, Finland’s Neste has built the biggest renewable energy plant in Singapore for certified palm oil. And st1, another company, can efficiently create bio-ethanol from the food industry with end products going to farms as feedstock.

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Book Review: Strategy for Sustainability by Adam Werbach – A Primer for Third Wing Environmentalism or a Harbinger of the Black Swan?

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I find it fitting and perhaps a little ironic that I was asked to write a review about Adam Werbach’s popular book, Strategy for Sustainability, a book addressed to corporations large and small about how they can operate as leaders in sustainability. Perhaps because  my senior thesis as an undergraduate English  major, was entitled “The […]

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BrightSource Gets a Billion

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BrightSource gets more than a billion in loan guarantees to shine its solar lights brightly and power California homes. We reported on BrightSource, the solar thermal energy company, and its nearly $1.5 billion in loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy last week. This was the biggest clean tech news in March. I spoke […]

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