Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., May 30, 2008 Iyyar 25, 5768 | | Israel Time: 02:55 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Peres Conference Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Policies restrain potential of Israel's renewable energy, says researcher, though technology is ready By Shoshana Kordova Israeli technology is well on its way to making the country a world leader in solar energy, but the government's public policy is keeping away the private equity needed to turn Israel into the go-to hot spot it has the potential to become, according to a leading environmental academic. After Israel played a leading role in the development of solar technology in the 1970s and '80s, installing solar water heaters across the country, "things just became stagnant here," Yogi Goswami told Anglo File this week at a Tel Aviv University conference. But the co-director of the Clean Energy Research Center at the University of South Florida is "very confident Israel will show leadership and resolve in making solar energy the energy of choice for Israel and the world." The comment echoed former U.S. vice president Al Gore's words at the conference on renewable energy from the night before that "the people of Israel can lead the way to renewable energy." Advertisement Developments in renewable energy sources such as the sun and wind are essential because not only can using fossil fuel alternatives help ward off climate change, but also traditional energy sources are rapidly being depleted, says Goswami. A former president of the International Solar Energy Society and a chemical engineering professor at USF, Goswami believes oil reserves and natural gas can be expected to last only until 2050, while coal has an expected life span of another 100 years. "It's clear renewable energy will produce as much as 50 percent of global energy needs by 2050," Goswami predicts. At the conference, Goswami discussed the importance of government regulations in spurring private investment. "When you have all these kinds of companies," he said, referring to Israeli solar technology companies, "they can certainly develop a lot of solar electricity capacity in Israel - but for them to do that, you need the right government policies." Goswami cited a policy that has attracted global investors to Germany and Spain called the "feed-in law," which requires utilities to purchase electricity from renewable sources and allows private investors developing a solar power plant to feed electricity into the grid and get paid a lot more than the conventional rate. Overcoming 'the big barrier' Some American policies intended to encourage green technology include a loan guarantee program for developments that reduce or eliminate greenhouse gases and a tax credit of 2 cents per kilowatt hour. The latter has made wind-powered energy competitive in places that have good wind resources, Steven Chalk, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary for renewable energy, told Anglo File Government legislation can help countries overcome "the big barrier" to renewable energy by providing energy providers with access to local markets, said Chalk. "Public policy can provide assurance to the investor that there will be a market," he added. "Where the policy is, the market is, and that's where the investors go." Chalk is in Israel on a "scouting expedition" to identify areas of mutual U.S.-Israeli interest regarding renewable energy and to understand the capabilities of Israeli companies and university researchers in the field. His office signed an agreement Wednesday with the Infrastructure Ministry outlining areas of possible research collaboration, including biofuels and solar power storage, which enables solar providers to supply energy for a limited time even when the sun is not out. The deal provides for joint funding by U.S., Israel and private-sector partners and could be finalized by Friday, Chalk said. The conference, which organizers say was attended by over 700 people, featured several Israeli researchers who are examining innovative ways to improve the production of renewable energy. Avi Kribus, a mechanical engineer at Tel Aviv University, created a solar energy device that can power air conditioning and heating while simultaneously producing electricity, and is developing a wind turbine that will work at variable wind speeds. Kribus, who is also the chief technological officer of Distributed Solar Power said the company announced this week it would install 140 small solar collectors on rooftops at Intel Israel in Haifa to provide an energy-saving air conditioning and electrical system. Other Israeli researchers are working on either improving the effectiveness or reducing the cost of solar technology, including a group working on lowering the cost of photovoltaic cells by replicating photosynthesis proteins taken from nature instead of using semiconductors. Several Israeli companies, including Solel Solar Systems, BrightSource Energy and Ormat Technologies, which is in talks with Google about geothermal energy projects, are developing products using renewable energy. And earlier this month, Israel got its first demonstration of the electric car that Silicon Valley startup Project Better Place hopes will be driving a transportation revolution in the country and, ultimately, in the rest of the world. Failing to set an example But while Israeli companies are developing technology that utilizes renewable energy, the products they manufacture are not necessarily showcased in Israel. For instance, Luz, the forerunner of Solel, built the world's first and only successful solar thermal power plant 20 years ago - in California's Mojave Desert. And Solel announced this week it has signed a contract to sell solar receivers for eight power plants - in Spain. Solel CEO Avi Brenmiller told conference participants that some of the obstacles facing renewable energy companies are the lack of a clear regulatory framework to establish how companies can get land and who can buy and sell electricity, and urged government subsidies or tax credits for a limited period to help renewable technologies get off the ground. "You have to set the rules for the game so private investors can play," he said. An American institutional investor who manages more than $10 billion confirmed the importance of green-friendly public policy as a spur for investment. Investors, he said, need to know the rules for independent power producers in a given country before they can commit funds, and don't want to get caught up in a "Byzantine political process." He said Israel is a decade behind countries like Germany, Spain and Italy when it comes to instituting public policy supporting renewable energy. There are some Israeli government initiatives in the works, such as the Infrastructure Ministry's plan to build a new solar station in the Negev every year for the next 20 years and to increase renewable energy rates to 15 percent to 20 percent of total energy use by 2020. But government officials at the conference acknowledged that bureaucratic and other hurdles could continue keeping a lid on environmental progress. Infrastructure Ministry director general Hezi Kugler said that although Israel has officially adopted his ministry's proposal to gradually increase the country's use of alternative energy, "seeing is believing - and I'll believe the government is serious when I see in the year 2013 that the decisions are actually being implemented." And Environment Minister Gideon Ezra said Israel was taking too long to act. "Everything that we're saying now we should have been done yesterday," he said. "The processes here take too long." Goswami, for his part, sees Israel as eminently capable of leading the world in renewable energy, as long as the companies developing alternative energy implement the technology at home first. "Whatever you want to export to the rest of the world you have to first use it in your own country," said Goswami. Referring to the Luz precedent, he urged Israelis to think local in a bid to go global. "Build some over here," he said, "and then the rest of the world will come to you to get that technology." Bookmark to del.icio.us   His Majesty's envoy Report: Bahraini king taps Jewish woman lawmaker as envoy to U.S. Light unto the nations After five months of suspense, the hoopoe is crowned Israel's state bird.

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