Farming the sun from hot climates to Europe? This is the plan of DESERTEC. Today we speak with Oliver Steinmetz. Oliver’s a co-founder and volunteer board member for the DESERTEC Foundation, a small NGO founded in 2008 to promote the DESERTEC concept of supplying clean energy from desert regions to regions with less sun, like […]
Arab solar energy company gets awarded for its sustainable vision in Beirut, Lebanon. They sealed a $15 million round of financing this year; now Abu Dhabi’s solar developer Enviromena Power Systems (“Enviromena”) won the “Sustainable Development of the Environment Award” at the Takreem Arab Achievement Awards held in Beirut last month. Hosted by Al Jazeera’s […]
Get your kids to build tomorrow’s solar power plant or wind turbine, with LEGO. LEGO, makers of timeless bricks of wonder, continue their welcome advance into the classroom with the new Renewable Energy Set. The new set lets students experiment with using energy from their own bodies and the three main energy sources – solar, […]
Every day is a beach day in Morocco. In a smart move, the country unveils its plans to solar-ize the nation. Image via joaomaximo Countries in the Arab world are starting to wake up to the potential of solar energy, especially those with no known oil reserves. Morocco is the latest to announce its intentions […]
A large insurance company from Israel invests about $30 milliom in solar energy company Sunday. Image via mcohenchromiste. The sun makes us old and wrinkly, but in Israel getting some “sun” through your pension plan can make you green. Without the possibility of buying green bonds, many Israelis wonder how they can invest in solar […]
Israeli startup SolarEdge partners with NASDAQ-traded Flextronics (FLEX) to ramp up solar energy harvesting systems. Solar energy projects in Israel’s northern sectors are sure to get a boost from a signed agreement between SolarEdge Technologies Ltd and Flextronics Inc to produce systems for improving the efficiency of photovoltaic panels at Flextronics’ plant in Migdal Ha’Emek […]
If you were an aspiring actor, it would be like getting an invitation to a wine and cheese Hollywood party with the industry’s top directors. Or an aspiring chef, getting some in-person training with Le Cordon Bleu masters in Paris. If you are an Israeli clean technology entrepreneur in focus areas of renewable energy, water, […]
Shimon Peres from Israel and Lee Myung-bak from South Korea at Davos. (Image via Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.) A high-ranking delegation from South Korea is currently visiting Israel to explore possibilities for collaboration between the two countries on renewable energy. The 37-member delegation represents 22 companies, as well as local authorities and R&D centers, […]
An Israeli scientist has found a way to pull solar energy from pea plants. If harnessing the unlimited solar power of the sun were easy, we wouldn’t still have the greenhouse gas problem that results from the use of fossil fuel. And while solar energy systems work moderately well in hot desert climates, they are […]
Destertec and Masdar (above) are heating up solar energy opportunities in the Middle East. Tap into this new energy at the 2nd Annual MENASOL conference, this year in Egypt. Image via Masdar website. Green Prophet wants to remind you about MENASOL –– the major solar energy conference taking place in Cairo, Egypt this May. You can […]
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 […]
An Israeli-Egyptian solar project in the Sinai Desert? Not on Egypt’s account. It was the sunniest news to come out of the Eilat Energy conference last week: that Israel and Egypt would be cooperating on solar energy projects in the Sinai Desert, now under Egyptian sovereignty. While Israel and Egypt, thanks to Sadat now have […]
Empty land in Israel’s Arava desert. (photo by Jesse Fox) A conflict may be brewing between an emerging renewable energy industry and environmentalists over land preservation in Israel. The heart of the controversy has to do with where to put the massive solar installations that are expected to be built in the arid Negev and […]
Yes, even small cleantech startups with no consumer focus should work on building a brand. A small solar panel outfit can benefit years down the road from a home buyer asking for their specific solar panels. If it worked with Anderson Windows and Intel inside computers, it can work with wind turbines, lithium-ion car batteries or solar panels.
Controversy loomed over coyote land, but now BrightSource with a US Gov guarantee will create largest solar energy project in the world, in Ivanpah CA. BrightSource Energy, a privately held company with operations in the United States, Israel, and Australia, announced today that the US Department of Energy has conditionally committed to provide $1.37 billion […]