The $1.1 billion solar plant will be able to generate 121 megawatts of
electricity by the time it's finished in 2016. That's enough juice to
power 40,000 homes, and it's only part of the 250 megawatts that all
three solar plants will generate. That's about 2.5% of Israel's energy
consumption, according to Inhabitat. The project will also contribute to the nation's plan to generate 10% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
The station works by setting up heliostat mirrors that bounce sun
rays toward solar power towers. The towers transform those rays into
steam, which then powers turbines to make electricity.
Construction of the plants will be a joint venture teaming American
company Brightsource with the French firm Alstom. Brightsource already
has experience in building large solar stations. Its biggest project is
the Ivanpah solar facility in California's Mojave desert.
Brightsource declined to answer questions about its Israel venture, and Alstom did not immediately respond for comment.
And you thought Brightsource (which was originally an Israeli company) had gone bankrupt.... Hmmm....
In response to a
query from The Jerusalem Post to KKL-JNF about the gala, members of the
international steering committee of KKL-JNF’s World Leadership Conference of
Presidents voiced their support for the event.
This year’s WLC, which
takes place biannually, will occur on June 14 through 20 and includes the June
17 gala as part of its activities.
“We members of the committee, the
organizer of the World Leadership Conference of Presidents of KKL-JNF from 40
countries around the world, have decided to join in an event organized by the
Peres Academic Center,” a statement from the group said. “The Peres Academic
Center in Rehovot invited Former US president Bill Clinton, came to financial
terms with him, and paid him, a long time before the representatives of the WLC
of Presidents of KKL-JNF were part of it.”
The $500,000 will be
contributed to the William J. Clinton Foundation, which finances global
initiatives on public health, climate change, economic equality, childhood
obesity and other environmental and health concerns.
“As KKL-JNF
contributors we have decided to take part in this event, seeing this as a unique
opportunity to increase fund-raising towards the land and people of Israel,
while recognizing the KKLJNF’s ‘green’ activities around the world,” the group
statement said.
“We would like to emphasize that our participation at the
event is fully financed by our own funds and we intend to raise $100 million for
projects in the State of Israel.”
The fund-raising will take place
throughout the course of the week-long WLC, the committee members
stressed.
Representatives of the Peres Academic Center meanwhile
responded that Clinton will be a guest of honor at this special tribute evening,
which will include many government officials, public figures and
dignitaries.
Contrary to previous reports, the gala evening will not
include fund-raising, and participants in the event – many of who are friends
and supporters of the academic center – will not need to pay for their entrance,
a statement from the center said.
“The Peres Academic Center in Rehovot
announced that due to the high demand for attendance all places have been
booked, and we thank everyone who was interested in joining and regret that
additional places cannot be confirmed,” the statement added.
So Clinton is coming here to promote 'green activities' around the world, including global
initiatives on public health, climate change, economic equality, childhood
obesity and other environmental and health concerns. The JNF is paying for him to come. And you thought the JNF was about reclaiming swampland and planting trees in Israel. Climate change? Obesity? What does that have to do with their little blue boxes to which Jews have given money all these years?
Tel Aviv to be first to get new hi tech transport system
This is another post that got pushed aside by Operation Pillar of Defense. Tel Aviv may be the first city in the world to get a new hi tech transportation system.
The skyTran
uses two-person modules that drive along a guide rail suspended from
existing power lines. Magnets in the vehicle create a magnetic field
around the metal coil inside the rail, causing the vehicle to lift up
and glide 60 miles per hour on a cushion of air. The system uses very
little energy and potentially could be powered entirely by solar panels.
“Our objective is to build a pilot project here so that we can make
Israel the center of the skyTran world,” CEO Jerry Sanders tells
ISRAEL21c.
The first route, on which construction could begin next spring, would
run from the high-tech center in Atidim through the Tel Aviv University
train station to the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Port. Another installation might be
placed on Netanya’s congested east side and a third would take people
into and around Ariel Sharon Park, a huge public “green belt” in central
Israel.
Personal rapid transit (PRT) alternatives are in hot demand worldwide
– especially in big countries such as China and India — as a means to
relieve traffic jams and energy consumption. Underground solutions are
expensive and street-level solutions just add more congestion.
“We are the most sophisticated PRT on the market … and also the least expensive, greenest and most efficient,” asserts Sanders.
When I first saw the headline of this story - that Israel's Ministry of Energy is insisting on government guarantees for a solar panel project - I thought of Solyndra and Bright Source and all those other failed US 'green' companies and thought 'oy... here we go down the same path to disaster (and reelection)....'
But when I was able to read a little further, I discovered that I'm actually happy about this one (which is behind a paywall and no, I have not read the whole thing). You see, Israel's banks are about the most risk averse on earth (it's almost impossible to get a loan here without a guarantor), and they are refusing to finance solar energy projects in Judea and Samaria out of concern that the banks will lose money if Israel abandons the area. That's why the government is being asked to step up to the plate. And there's little more beneficial to Judea and Samaria that I can think of than giving the government and the greens (who are normally more of the peacenik types) a stake in the continued presence of Jews in Judea and Samaria.
One should realize that - almost inevitably - should Israel choose to leave Judea and Samaria (God forbid), the likes of James Wolfensohn and Bill Gates would likely come along to finance the 'purchase' of those solar energy projects by the 'Palestinians' at cut-rate prices. And the 'Palestinians' will undoubtedly show their appreciation in their usual style. But at least if the government has a financial stake in the solar energy projects, they'll have something to lose from abandoning them (as opposed to Gaza where only the revenants lost financially).
Win or lose, Obama's EPA plans to kill coal by the end of the month
Regardless of the election results,the Obama administration's Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to enact regulations by the end of this month that will make it impossible to build any coal-fired power plants (Hat Tip: Sunlight via Weasel Zippers).
More than 50 EPA staff are now crashing to finish greenhouse gas
emission standards that would essentially ban all construction of new
coal-fired power plants. Never before have so many EPA resources been
devoted to a single regulation. The independent and non-partisan
Manhattan Institute estimates that the EPA’s greenhouse gas coal regulation will cost the U.S. economy $700 billion.
The rush is a major sign of panic by environmentalists inside the
Obama administration. If Obama wins, the EPA would have another four
full years to implement their anti-fossil fuel agenda. But if Romney
wins, regulators will have a very narrow window to enact a select few
costly regulations that would then be very hard for a President Romney
to undo.
Environmentalists at the EPA pulled this trick before in 2000 when
the Clinton administration rushed out a finding that Mercury emissions
from power plants were a growing public health threat pursuant to the
Clean Air Act. That finding did not regulate power plants itself, but it
did force the Bush administration to begin a lengthy regulatory
process. The Obama EPA has estimated that this regulation alone will
cost the U.S. economy $10.9 billion a year.
I hope that people in Pennsylvania and Ohio are listening.
By the way, there are some Israeli companies that could benefit quite handsomely from this, because they produce 'green energy' (and that's why Sunlight sent it to me). Of course, I don't know how they will benefit if the result kills the US economy.
Obama's green slush went to the politically connected
Internal emails leaked from the Department of Energy to
CompleteColorado.com conflict with the President's claim to Kyle Clark
of KUSA on October 26th that decisions on failed green energy loans were
insulated from politics and the influence of the White House.
The State of Israel is, for the first time, launching an international television campaign on CNN to brand itself as a green country which pioneers "green technology." The campaign is the joint initiative of the Prime Minister's Office National Information Directorate, the Environmental Protection Ministry and the Foreign Ministry. This is the first time that the State of Israel has launched an international campaign of this kind.
The campaign premiered today (Thursday, 21 June 2012) at the Rio +20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/InnovativeIsrael/Israel+an+important+player+at+RIO-20-17-Jun-2012.htm. The conference is the largest of its kind in the world, with approximately 50,000 participants. The State of Israel is being represented by an approximately 70-member delegation, with members from the Government, the private sector and the third sector, and is led by Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke today with Minister Erdan and thanked him for his Ministry's many activities to advance an environmental agenda and for placing the State of Israel at the forefront of green technology.
In the framework of the campaign, "Green Israel" promotional clips will be broadcast adjacent to weather updates on CNN International over the next two weeks.... The broadcasts emphasize the facts that Israel is a leader in environmental technology and that Israeli developments are in use all over the world. For example, Israel is a global leader in desalination with 40% of Israel's drinking water coming from desalination. Israel is also a global leader in the use of recycled water – 70% of Israeli wastewater is recycled and used in agriculture after undergoing a special purification process.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said, "Israel is offering to the world the pioneering green technologies that it has developed. The goal of the campaign is to the show the world Israel's great abilities in the field of green technology."
Environmental Protection Minister Erdan said, "Israel has solutions for the challenges facing the world today, such as the shortages of food and water. The campaign raises the international awareness of Israel as a global leader in green innovation."
The Foreign Ministry notes that it is working to strengthen global agendas as a component of Israel's foreign policy and adds that this policy finds expression in greater involvement in conferences such as Rio + 20. Israel aspires to share its knowledge, experience, technology and innovations with the developing world in a spirit of friendship and good neighborliness, and as strategic policy tool pursuant to its foreign policy goals.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
