What are tags? You can give your posts a "tag", which is like a keyword. Tags help you find content which has something in common. You can assign as many tags as you wish to each post.
View posts by people in your network with tag water
KINNERET DROPS BY 6cm OVER PESACH by jpost.com April 27, 2008
The water level in the Sea of Galilee, Israel’s largest reservoir and freshwater source, has dropped by six centimeters (2.36 inches) over the Passover holiday, the Water Authority announced.
In July the level is expected to drop below the “Black Line,” the absolute lower limit below which no more water can be pumped from the lake.
Experts predict Israel to experience a drought of potentially unprecedented proportions because of a relatively dry winter that follows on the heels of several dry years. The Black Line is met when water levels drop to a point so low that the openings of the pumps are exposed and further pumping becomes simply impossible.
The truth is that the Kinneret is drying up from the activities of the "peacemakers." I should know. In 1994, I interviewed the chief Israeli negotiator of the Water Treaty between Jordan and Israel. Back then I was the Israeli correspondent for a London company called the Gemini News Service. Thanks to them, my work was published widely throughout Third World newspapers. I noticed a newspaper quote about the water negotiations from Yaacov Tsemach of the national water company, Tahal. It caught my eye because a Yaacov Tsemach was my really good, longtime army buddy. I admired his sharp wit and, a rarity among Israelis, great sense of humor. So I called Tahal and to my total delight, it was my buddy on the line. We arranged to meet and got along like old times. He was assistant to the chief negotiator of the water sections of the then-building, Israeli-Jordanian Peace Treaty. I asked if I could interview the negotiator and he said he'd put in a good word for me. Well, a good word from Yaacov did the trick. If I agreed to keep the negotiator's name anonymous, he would meet with me within the week. We met at a Tel Aviv restaurant and he began, like all good bureaucrats, handing me graphs and surveys. In retrospect, I've wondered why I brought out so many sources, but the truth must be, the rest of the media were selling "peace" and I was looking where they chose not to enter. The bar graphs showed a lot of blue above the "red" line of the lake over 30 odd years before the Treaty,**** then it sunk after the proposed "peace" agreement. I, naturally, asked what happened. The negotiator ordered a drink, then shortly after, another. And he became teary. "I sure hope our leaders know what they're doing," he said. "Because if they're wrong, the Kinneret will disappear in a generation. Within twenty years, it will be nearly useless for our water needs." I asked what he meant. He then gave me the title of my Gemini article, "Giving Away Dream Water." "The government is going to give away 50 million cubic meters of lake water a year and they ordered me to find it. I'm giving away dream water." The negotiator told me where he went looking for the water. "There are brackish streams on the west of the lake. We'll give that away. We'll dam the Yarmuk and give that water away. But it was supposed to flow into the system anyway. There is no water to give away. Not even 5 million cubic meters. The government is so anxious to sign the Treaty with Jordan that it's accepting all their arguments. The truth is the Kinneret is our lake. They have no claim on it." The seriousness of the man's dilemma became more obvious as I walked him to his car. "You think 50 million cubic meters is nothing. And it is in one year, provided it's replenished the following year. But 50 million compounded year after year will suck the lake dry in one generation, after staying stable for millennia. Just don't write that I killed our lake." And still, the writers from Israel report on dry winters and hot springs as the cause of the upcoming disaster. One of the real killers of the lake is currently President of the State. Remember him with deep emotion when your tap runs dry.
***** On October 26, 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Prime Minister Abdul-Salam Majali signed the Treaty of Peace between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the second peace treaty Israel has signed since its independence.
Americans have growing concerns over organic chemicals such as birth control pills and fertilizers contaminating their water wells. More recently the dangers of inorganic compounds such as perchlorate, a byproduct of rocket fuel, have trickled into the headlines and consciousness in America.
Israel's En Gibton, named after a centuries' year old water fountain outside the Israeli city of Rehovot, plan on making America's drinking water cleaner and safer.
Developed by scientists at Hebrew University, En Gibton's main product is ClayMix, a filtration compound made from clay and natural organic materials. The ClayMix attracts negative and neutrally-charged organic and inorganic ions, and locks them away on its microscopic cup-shaped surface.
The cost-effective solution uses environmentally-friendly raw materials and achieves the highest efficiency in removing dissolved organic matter in brackish waters, reports the company.
"It's medium-tech cleantech," says En Gibton's CEO Rafi Nevo to ISRAEL21c. Nevo also heads TreaTec 21 Industries, a company specializing in advanced electrochemical water purification systems.
What's especially attractive about ClayMix, he says, is that the groundwater, surface water and wastewater treatment solution requires virtually no input of energy - just electricity to pump the water through the system.
Contaminated water is an acute and growing problem around the world. ClayMix, however, claims that it has the power to sequester up to 99 percent of its targeted contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals and fertilizers, from water, versus a 60% success rate in the industry standard carbon-based solution.
As populations grow and industrial and military processes increase, more and more American underwater wells and aquifers are becoming polluted. More recently, perchlorates in America have entered the environmental hazard radar, especially in regions such as Colorado.
"Perchlorates found in the Colorado River area can accumulate in breast milk, dairy milk and lettuce leaves and is known to affect the thyroid," says Nevo, noting that water treatment facilities in Colorado are on his check-list for potential US-based pilot plants of En Gibton's solution.
Founded in 2005, En Gibton is located in Ashkelon at the Ashkelon Technological Industries Incubator. The company is also supported by Israel's national water utility via the company WaTech, which has been beta testing En Gibton's technology in Israel.
En Gibton has tested the ClayMix solution in laboratories on organic contaminants and is currently treating Israeli water wells from perchlorates with great success. This issue of perchlorates is a global concern, says Nevo. And shutting down wells that are contaminated can only be a temporary solution.
"Perchlorates bind to the water," he says, "they stay there and accumulate. It's expanding and dispersing, so it's not clever to shut down a well. [The water] has to be treated. Our solution makes it possible to reopen these wells and prevent the closure of operating wells."
(IsraelNN.com) Israel is facing a water crisis and is expected to face water levels that are below the safe levels by the end of the summer, according to a report by Haaretz.
The Water Authority operating committee will meet next week to discuss the necessity of implementing water conservation measures to meet the country's needs while preserving basic water quality, which is affected by a drop below the safe minimum level.
The country's main sources of water are Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), the western Mountain Aquifer (Yarkon-Taninim) and Coast Aquifer.
A common feature on domestic dwellings in Israel is the solar panels mounted at an angle on their roofs, with a water boiler on top of that. Jewish dwellings have metal boilers, painted white, while Arab houses have unsightly black plastic ones. You can actually distinguish Jewish and Arab neighborhoods from the color of the boilers - apart from the inevitable fertility poles (minarets) of the Muslim Arabs. What used to make these boiler systems even less acceptable aesthetically was that they were connected to apartments below them by means of ugly black pipes running on the outside down buildings. One still sees it on old buildings, but I, unfortunately don't have a camera to photograph such a building. I've also been looking for a photo to go with this posting to show the solar panels and boilers on buildings, but the only one that has come up, is this one. It makes this posting political-environmental, because it shows the result of a direct hit of a Grad-type Katyusha rocket launched from Gaza on an apartment building in Ashkelon. This kind of abuse is reality in Israel for decades even before the Jewish State was re-established in 1948, two thousand years after the Roman occupation and destruction of their land caused most Jews into a diaspora.
Judging from the white boilers, it's unmistakably a Jewish neighborhood. Bombing civilian areas is a contravention of international law, according to Adullah, a Muslim human rights organization - that is when Israel tries to take out rocket launchers at locations among or near Arab civilian buildings.
Anyway, what I want to talk about is the long way hot water needs to go to apartments at lower levels of apartment buildings - that comprises the accommodation of most Israelis. I found it a bit strange, coming from South Africa where most middle class people live in sprawling suburban neighborhoods with each family dwelling having some land around it,- that is also common in the USA. My problem with the boilers mounted on roofs, is the amount of water that is wasted before hot water comes out of the faucet, two, three, four, five floors below.
The only solution as far as I know, is to install boilers as close as possible to where the hot water is needed and to circulated the water through the solar panels on the roof by means of small pumps. I think that is how it is mostly done in the USA. It means extra costs to move the boilers, install pumps and of electricity, but water is becoming a much more scarce commodity than energy. In fact, we have probably years back already passed the PEAK of water supplies. It is definitely the case in Israel with the level of her biggest source of water, the Sea of Galilee, being less than a meter above its critical RED LINE - even after the rain season. In addition Israel's population is ever increasing from Jews needing to leave their host nations because of anti-Semitism, or the "pull" to the land just getting too strong to resist.
On the other hand, boilers inside and even on the side of buildings can be better insulated against loss heat of water.
'Water is Not Everywhere and Not All Drops for Drinking
(IsraelNN.com) Israel's dwindling water resources are leaving the country with less drinkable water because of ground contamination, the Water Authority's Hydraulic Service has warned. The water in the Coastal Aquifer already is below standards for drinking, it said.
Both the Kinneret and the larger underground aquifer system have been severely depleted because of less than average rain the past several years and growing water consumption. Last year, the rainfall reached near the average but came only after an early winter drought that caused an unusual decrease in the level of the Kinneret because of farmer's needs for irrigation.
The Kinneret now is slightly more than 3.5 meters below the desirable level, one of the lowest levels ever for this time of year. Light rain is expected Thursday night and Friday morning in the north, but dry weather is forecast for all of Israel on the Sabbath and Monday. However, more rain is expected by next Monday or Tuesday.
Israeli energy initiative makes climate change a social cause By Karin Kloosterman Environmental entrepreneur, Eyal Biger, the founder of Israel's Good Energy Initiative. January 31, 2008
For every car that drives, every plane that flies and every appliance that gets plugged into the wall, a price is paid by the environment. The burning of fossil fuels for use in transport, industry and our day-to-day lives, emits carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Al Gore has exposed the effects of global warming at great lengths. And some activists around the world - like those from Israel's Good Energy Initiative - think that there is still time to turn around, or at least stop, the acceleration of climate change.
The Good Energy Initiative, a non-profit organization, is the first and only voluntary carbon offset provider in Israel. Through donations, it lets people and organizations neutralize their "carbon footprint" by funnelling cash investments into local grassroots educational and social projects. Carbon offset money also goes toward developing new alternative energy projects.
This term carbon neutral is used when the amount of greenhouse gases one emits (a carbon footprint), is balanced either through the purchase of offsets, or by greenhouse gas reduction practices.
The Israeli project is unique because its offset projects are all based locally, and have a strong social element. Not only does the organization plan to reduce greenhouses gases emitted locally, it educates schoolchildren about global warming, alleviates pressures on marginalized communities, and creates new alternative energy projects.
By working locally, the initiative may also have profound implications for peace building, too. What normally happens in carbon offsetting initiatives is that projects are carried out elsewhere, often in developing nations.
But for $6 a pound, one can neutralize your carbon footprint through Good Energy and know that the projects are being monitored closely. The group currently appeals for donations from conference organizers, the media, and even those flying to the Holy Land on mission trips.
Since it was founded a year ago by environmental entrepreneur Eyal Biger, who specializes in biological fuel alternatives, the initiative has helped a number of local businesses go carbon neutral. The list includes The Marker, a Hebrew language business daily; and the organization is currently advising coffee chain Aroma Israel, how to become carbon neutral.
The offset money goes to a number of local projects, and includes an effort to reduce emissions by replacing boilers with solar heating systems in apartment buildings. The group has supplied solar energy systems for cancer-stricken children in Bedouin settlements. In lieu of diesel generators, their parents now use a non-polluting means to keep medicine cool.
Good Energy is also running an organic waste composting program for communities and public entities; and has developed a regional incandescent-to-CFL bulb campaign.
"Ours is a social venture. Our only profit is the social profit," Tom Brecher, environmental advisor at Good Energy tells ISRAEL21c.
The Good Energy Initiative owes its start in life to the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership, Israel's premiere environment education center. Heschel will support Good Energy until next year.
This particular project is "super innovative" says Heschel's resource developer David Pearlman Paran. "It is breaking new ground in Israel. Its focus on social initiatives is fairly uncommon," he says, and it adds value by "improving energy efficiency and society."
How does Good Energy compare to other offset organizations in the rest of the world? "It is up to speed, and in some ways it is far ahead," replies Paran.
There's nothing fishy about it. Israeli Prof. Yonathan Zohar has spent a lifetime researching fish production and has a solution that might stop the world's dramatic decline in fisheries. Hip "green" environmentalists and sushi lovers will like it too.
Zohar has created fish farms for the urban environment. His special self-contained fish pools can be built close to fresh food markets, in city warehouses and even in your condominium.
"It is clear that the consumption of seafood and fish is on the rise, because of the great health benefits... but now we are over-harvesting," warns Zohar, director of the Center of Marine Biotechnology at the University of Maryland. "We need to change that practice and become more efficient in a way that is compatible to the earth."
Zohar, who was born in Jerusalem and is a graduate of Hebrew University, thinks his solution is ideal. In the basement of the center in Baltimore, he has built a series of high-tech fish pools. They are filled with freshwater from the tap, and have been adjusted with salts and buffers to mimic the marine environment.
Using advanced concepts of microbiology, Zohar has entrained special microbes to live in symbiosis with the fish in order to digest their waste. Aerated by plastic plugs that house the microbes, the fish pools are bio-secure and contaminant free, according to Zohar.
In addition, part of the solid waste that is created by uneaten food or microbial byproducts is converted into methane and used as biofuel, says Zohar. This is significant. Zohar was one of the original team to develop the technology of fish farming in floating cages at sea in Israel.
These cages have become deeply controversial because the waste created by the farmed fish pollutes the surrounding seawater. In addition, the waters where the fish are raised are often heavily polluted with heavy metals such as mercury, leading to problems such as the recent toxic sushi scare in the US.
"I am trying to develop the next generation technology, to address cages and nets in light of environmental concerns," he says. "It is clear we are over-harvesting the ocean and running out of fish. We've focused on an alternative land-based method that can be used in the urban environment."
The urban fish pools, each about the size of a children's pool with higher walls and a roof, can be put into operation anywhere Zohar stresses. "They can be placed in the mid-West or in Las Vegas," he says.
These urban fish pools certainly address the problem of declining fish populations. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, about 75 percent of the world's commercially fished species are either depleted, overfished or fully fished. If current trends continue, the fisheries will collapse by 2050.
The pools can also address another environmental issue - our carbon footprint - how far food needs to travel before it arrives at the dinner table. Eating locally is becoming not only fashionable in the United States; some people consider it to be more important than eating organic.
Zohar is now looking for an investor to build a pilot plant. But the idea is not a dream - a prototype, replete with living fish, now resides in Baltimore. There, he is growing Mediterranean gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), also known as dorade royale, or aurata.
And the taste? "Our fish were tested by local seafood restaurants and were highly praised for their taste, texture and freshness," says Zohar. "We are currently shifting our focus to additional high value marine fish, to include the European seabass (bronzini) and cobia."
Israel's Nirosoft puts the sweet back into drinking water
By Sharon Kanon January 28, 2008
Antarctica is the highest, coldest, windiest, driest continent on earth. The harshly beautiful landscape - covered with ice in the winter, becomes a Martian desert in the summer with ice caps on the horizon.
Nirosoft's mobile desalination unit arrives in the Maldives in the wake of the devastating 2004 tsunami.
Penguins in the Antarctica don't worry about drinking water, but it is a necessity for the scientists studying the ebb of glaciers, temperature changes, marine life, and collecting geological samples. Their work has become critical as Antarctica provides an early warning of the "greenhouse effect."
Every year Australia has had to solve the problem of safe drinking water for the swelling team of investigators at its Antarctic Research Stations. This year, it has turned to Nirosoft Water Industries, an experienced Israeli company, to provide drinking water for its expanding expedition in Davis.
"Desalination is cheaper than melting ice," said Mino Negrin, managing director and founder of Nirosoft, which simulated the environment at the Davis Station in its R&D labs.
The company's self-contained desalination unit provides up to 100,000 liters a day of purified, desalinated water. Its Lego-like portability makes it easy to ship by air. "We can produce drinking water from almost any source - sea water, rivers and lakes, brackish groundwater, estuaries and lagoons," said Negrin, who hopes to visit the Antarctic Station sometime this year.
This is not the first time that Australia has used Nirosoft's technology. The Australian Defense Forces, alongside the Belgian and US forces, have been using Nirosoft technology in remote locations for years. Australia has also bought Nirosoft's RO (reverse osmosis) purification systems for production of drinking water from brackish groundwater for remote Aboriginal communities.
Nirosoft has been at the forefront of water purification for many years. After the tsunami in South East Asia in 2004, UNICEF asked the company to supply drinking water to people living in the Maldives, which was badly hit by the disaster.
"Huge waves had destroyed wells for drinking water on the islands," Negrin told ISRAEL21c. "In record time, we sent out 10 mobile units to desalinate the water. These units are still working," he added, showing a video clip of a mobile water purification unit (with the logos of UNICEF and Nirosoft prominently displayed) being taken off a barge on one of the exotic islands. "In fact, at the request of the government, we recently sent one of our technicians to do maintenance and training."
The UN (High Council for Refugees) also turned to the privately owned Karmiel-based company to supply drinking water to refugee camps in Kosovo and Albania. The company was also commissioned for relief projects in Latin America.
Lack of an energy source is not a constraint. The Israeli company has shipped containerized, self-powered units easily transported by small trucks, to supply drinking water to villages in disaster areas in Honduras, Guatemala and Colombia. Water produced meets the most stringent World Health Organization quality standards.
Two of the main advantages of the system are that use of chemicals is minimal, and operating costs are low. No wonder Negrin was sought out by Chinese television. China, with a thirsty population of over 1.3 billion, is facing a water crisis. The rollicking economy is a mixed blessing. Water pollution is rampant. Demand keeps rising as cities, agriculture, and industry compete for diminishing supplies. "We are already selling our products in China," said Negrin, who sees a big market for Nirosoft in China. "Our products are needed to help solve China's severe water problems."
Nirosoft's high tech products use UF (ultra filtration), RO (reverse osmosis), and nano-filtration, as well as ion exchange, and membrane bio-reactors (MBR) for heavily loaded industrial and domestic waste streams. Industrial wastewater treatment is a rapidly growing segment of the business. Increasingly stringent environmental regulations have increased demand by industry. Culprits are the paper industry, chemicals, electronics, metal, printing, and even the food industry. Cosmetics and chocolates would seem to be innocent products, but even they require wastewater treatment.
Nirosoft offers tailor-made solutions for each installation. Minimal use of chemicals and a high level of automation and control are major benefits it offers.
The company has also developed advanced innovative technology and processes in response to the increasing demand for ultra-pure water (UPW) by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, as well as medical and research laboratories, the food supplement industry, microprocessor and electronic components manufacturers.
Another growing segment is effluent (sludge) reclamation by membrane separation. Treated municipal sewage can yield water that is used for irrigation of vineyards and vegetables. Recycling of as much as 50 percent of wastewater from textile dye production is an achievement. Excess irrigation water in a hydroponic nursery is recycled with none of the nutrients lost.
"Our goal is green, environmentally-friendly, technology," said Negrin. The enterprising managing director of Nirosoft, came to Israel in 1981, after graduation from high school in Milan, Italy. He served in the Israeli Army, and then went to the Technion Israel Institute of Science where he majored in industrial engineering and management.
"My father had been in commerce in Milan. In the late '80s, he identified the issue of water. 'Water is the future. We can do something good for the world.'" The Negrins had a house with a two-car garage in Haifa. "We took out the cars and started the business in the garage," said Mino Negrin.
Nirosoft was officially established in 1990. The company's offices, R&D, and manufacturing plant are now nestled in the green hills of the Galilee. "We have 40 designers and engineers in Israel, and also offices in Italy." The family business has one outside investor. "Ronald Lauder invested in the company in 2004. We are now a two-family business," said Negrin.
"Water scarcity is a global problem. There is not enough water in the rivers. The sea is the only other fresh water. We are constantly improving our technology," said Negrin. And expanding markets: Sales are expected to double next year.
I would like to suggest a new creation and trade name for part of the commercial area in Modiin-Maccabim-Reut. I suggest merging society’s need to promote employment together with preservation of the city’s environmental quality, and announce the establishment of:
“THE ISRAELI CLEAN-TECH CENTER”
Rationale & Vision
An employed resident who earns an honorable income can be free of worry about the environment. An unemployed resident who does not earn an honorable income cannot be free to worry about the environment. And therefore, it is clear to all of us that every resident needs help in finding work in general and preferably near his home in particular. There are many residents in Modiin-Maccabim-Reut who work in the field of high-tech and who, in order to earn a livelihood, must drive to other towns every day sometimes an hour and-a-half to two hours away in each direction. Others are unemployed altogether and frequently leave the city due to lack of local work opportunities in his/her profession.
In my opinion, the solution lies in aggressive marketing in order to attract “clean-tech” entrepreneurs, industry and factories to operate in the municipal commercial area and establish “the Israeli Clean-Tech Center”.
Regrettably up until today, there have been no marketing efforts in this sphere, and most of those working in the high-tech industry opened plants, industry and businesses in cities adjacent to Modiin-Maccabim-Reut such as Lod, Airport City, the new Terminal Park located next to Airport City, Yehud, Or Yehuda, Jerusalem, Petach Tikvah, Herzliya, Kfar Saba, Caesaria and Raanana. These towns succeeded with high-tech industries due to effective marketing done and being done these days, while Modiin-Maccabim-Reut remains empty of factories, industry and businesses in the field. And this is a pity.
What is “Clean-Tech”?
“Clean-Tech” or in Hebrew, “Environmental Technology Industry” are new technologies or products aimed at significantly reducing polluting emissions affecting the environment, or considerably purifying the environment from pollutants directly or indirectly. Clean-tech industry comprises those dealing with advanced and alternative energies which develop products that will provide the world with cleaner air, better quality industries for water purification, industries that provide sure-standing solutions such as solar energy from the sun, bio-energy industries, clean fuels, recycling plants, green chemicals industry, advanced agriculture, the field of water desalinization, non-polluting transport, biological alternatives for chemicals, biological fuels, polluting emissions treatment, green construction, proper irrigation, and more. It is estimated that in the past year, there were more than 200 issues on major world stock markets of companies that deal with clean-tech technologies! Major financial bodies have also entered the field of a healthy future. Ben Gurion University of the Negev is leading a variety of clean-tech research studies in Israel. Clean-tech is flourishing immensely. During 2006, there were 290 companies in the field, and another 400 were added in 2007. This industry is advancing at a spectacular rate.
The clean-tech industry is filled with challenges due to global warming, increased air pollution, lack of alternative fuels, and erosion of the earth’s natural resources. Clean-tech has attained high acclaim and support, even the State (the regulator) encourages its growth and companies and financial institutions are interested in investing in it.
Why is it worthwhile to establish clean-tech in Modiin’s business zone? TABA (land allocation registry) permits 4 types of activity in the commercial zone of Modiin-Maccabim-Reut, which covers an area of 1.5 million sq.m: high-tech industry, service centers (such as storage), offices and commerce.
Recently, a number of manufacturers arrived in the business area and established “service centers”. In my opinion, they will in fact set up huge storehouses for commercial purposes, and selected Modiin’s business area because of its attractive location in the center of the country, which is accessible to Highway 1, Route 443, Road 6 and Ben Gurion Airport, with access to the railway with lines from the south to Nahariya in the north, and more. While it is important that these warehouses are located here, I feel that they will not bring employment to the city’s residents, except for a small number of laborers. It is good to bring these businesses to the city, but in the right quantity, so that the increase in the number of storehouses will not in the end transform the area into one huge storage depot, whose activities will defer any attempt to call the area a high-tech or clean-tech center. One of the characteristics of high-tech industry is the concentration of production plants and entrepreneurs into one crowded area, but when many trucks pass through the area every day on their way to service centers – there will be a drop in scientific industries coming to the area. Therefore, I feel that we are at the 89th minute, when we have to designate and name part of the business area for high-tech industry, and part for “the Israeli Clean-Tech Center”, a move which will attract many businesses in the field to come to the area where many clean-tech industries are situated.
Modiin is an ideal location for the “Israeli Clean-Tech Center” due to the following facts: 1. Modiin-Maccabim-Reut was declared as Israel’s capital of environmental quality by the mayor and this designation matches the vision to establish clean-tech employment. 2. The city is a leader in many environmental issues such as the establishment of a recycling plant for construction debris, broad environmental education activities, underground communication and electrical cables, and more. 3. Many city residents have a high appreciation of the environment. 4. The existence of stringent environmental regulations regarding the opening of new businesses or factories within city limits. 5. The business zone is surrounded by open spaces, with the Ben Shemen Forest along the northern and western edges. 6. There is efficient and convenient access for vehicles to the business area. 7. The city has a human element that is interested in being employed close to home in the field of high-tech and clean-tech (the last survey conducted by the high-tech forum in Modiin showed that there are over 4000 residents in the city who work in high-tech!)
This, in my opinion, is a classic case of win-win where everybody gains: clean-tech industries will open factories and businesses in the commercial zone of Modiin-Maccabim-Reut, the clean-tech industry branch will be advanced to benefit the Israeli market, many city residents will earn their living there, the city will profit from commercial activity and municipal taxes - in short: employment and income on the one hand, and preservation of the environment on the other!
How can the vision of “Israeli Clean-Tech Center” be advanced? In order to promote the issue, I plan to meet shortly with the projects manager that the city employs in order to promote the business sector, Mr. Gabi Valikson, and interest him in my dream of establishing the “Israeli Clean-Tech Center”. In addition, I plan to meet with Prof. Shemansky and Tamir Ben Shachar who are preparing a strategy plan for the municipality to promote the business zone.
Two months ago, I met with Ms. Chen Altschuler, Managing Director and owner of the venture capital company Altschuler-Shacham, which invests in clean-tech industries such as the green hothouse in Haifa. Ms. Altschuler expressed great interest in helping to advance initiatives in the field of clean-tech in Modiin, and will assist in promoting the dream of an “Israeli Clean-Tech Center”.
I also met with Ms. Clara Oren, Managing Director of “the green hothouse” which was established in Haifa. I asked her to consider establishing another green hothouse here in the “Israeli Clean-Tech Center in Modiin”, and I plan to meet with her again in order to assess this option.
About two months ago at the “Watek” exhibition that was organized by the Ministry of Environmental Protection about water and environmental technology, I met with Mr. Nir Kedmi, head of the Economic Branch in the Ministry of Environmental Protection, which promotes governmental policy concerning clean-tech (environmental technology). He told me that there is over $400 million waiting to be invested in clean-tech industries in Israel! I also met with Dr. Doron Lavi from the Parto Engineering Company Ltd, which is formulating national policy for the government to promote clean-tech (environmental technology). I plan to interest them in helping to establish the “Israeli Clean-Tech Center” in Modiin.
In addition, there are capital venture funds that are already raising capital for industry in this field such as the Oasis Company, Tamarix and Natchers and others whom we should approach and fast. These companies are in the midst of raising hundreds of millions of dollars for the clean-tech industry in Israel. We should hurry and not hesitate.
The European Union will be investing 32 billion euro in 2007-2013 to promote global clean-tech technology. Even Sherri Arison has established an investment fund for this purpose. Recently, I met with a number of city residents who work in the field and who are interested in helping to promote the idea. These residents claim to have connections with companies in Italy and other places that have shown an interest in investing in a special center for clean-tech industry. In addition, representatives for two Canadian Funds - SDTC (sustainable development technology Canada) - arrived in Israel to assess investment possibilities in clean-tech at the level of 2 billion dollars! The Brazilian company Petrobras is also evaluating investing in the area of clean-tech in Israel.
In my opinion, “clean-tech” is the future of Modiin.
Continuation of the Vision to Promote Employment in Modiin-Maccabim-Reut and Preservation of the Environment I am interested in establishing a green hothouse in the Israeli Clean-Tech Center in Modiin which will help senior scientists in the Ministry of Environmental Protection and me to nurture clean-tech start-up companies on their way.
I plan to host the “Annual Israeli Clean-Tech Conference” every year in the new Cultural Center in Modiin where entrepreneurs, industrialists, hothouse technologies and so on will participate in a workshop to advance the issue in the city in particular, and in Israel in general.
I plan to organize at the same time an annual “Clean-Tech Employment Fair” where residents can seek employment in their field and even in industries that will be established in Modiin.
I suggest that the future “Israeli Clean-Tech Center” in Modiin will be built according to “green construction” standards and “green materials”. It is vital that factories only use green solar energy, use and apply green treatment to sewage and garbage, acquire alternative power and fuel sources, use biological chemicals to tend municipal gardens, recycled water, use of recycling devices and so on. The business zone will operate in the spirit of “clean-tech”.
I suggest that investors be encouraged to establish industries with municipal assurance to use their products by return from these companies which will manufacture them according to clean-tech technology, garbage treatment, water treatment and so on.
I suggest a budget be allocated towards a “Start-Up Fund” in order to encourage investors to come and invest in the Clean-Tech area in Modiin.
A building that will be used as “a technological green hothouse in Modiin” should be considered.
To summarize:
In my opinion, Modiin-Maccabim-Reut can fill a unique niche as the leading clean-tech industrial entity in Israel and will lead the country in this realm.
Smile. You’ve justfreed yourself from that dreaded hose and bucket.
Smile again. You’ve just conserved water and eliminated runoff pollution. Driveway washing uses up to 100 gallons of water which then drain into
How do you make a fuel efficient car even more Green? James Dudra would answer, "Waterless carwash." Eco Touch waterless carwash was launched by Dudra, a 25-year old entrepreneur from Portsmouth, NH, in March of this year, but the history behind the product is far more extensive. And the product is more than just waterless, it's also non-toxic and biodegradable, yet still provides a sparkling finish that any car lover would take pride in.
"Eco Touch brings consumers a new method of car cleaning that's not only green but also effective," states Dudra. "Imagine conserving 80 gallons of water while getting a shiny car and avoiding the risks of a petroleum-based product."
For Dudra, it all started back in college while spending a semester abroad in drought-stricken Sydney, Australia. James learned how cars are cleaned ‘down-under’, without using water. With the U.S. facing pending water restrictions of their own, he decided it was time to make people everywhere aware of this easy and eco-friendly way to care for their vehicles.
James set to work and created his own waterless car wash formula, and enlisted the help of friend Anne Ruozzi, who happened to be in transition between jobs. Together, they began working day and night getting the word out on Eco Touch’s Waterless Car Wash + Polish. "Eco Touch brings consumers a new method of car cleaning that's not only green but also effective," states Dudra. "Imagine conserving 80 gallons of water while getting a shiny car and avoiding the risks of a petroleum-based product."
Of course, even environmentally conscious consumers who chose to buy hybrid and other fuel efficient vehicles may not realize the environmental impact of washing their car with typical cleaning products. According to the International Car Wash Association, the average driveway carwash uses 80-140 gallons of water. The chemical-infested runoff water seeps into the ground and infiltrates water sources, adversely affecting both human and aquatic life. In contrast, Eco Touch's waterless wash blends a water-base with plant-derived soaps and surfactants to create a completely organic formula.
By August 2007, Eco Touch had already been featured in many prominent media outlets such as National Geographic, Treehugger.com, Green Car Magazine, and LA Car. Word of this small company spread quickly and Eco Touch began adding key retailers all over the country.
For more information on Ecotouch, visit their website at www.ecotouch.net or stop by and visit them at the Waste Management Inc. sponsored Going Green Expo in Boston. The event will be held on February 2nd and 3rd at the Bayside Expo Center, and will be the third green event of its kind hosted by Going Green Magazine. With hundreds of Green exhibitors and dozens of Green workshops, the Boston expo promises to attract an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 consumers. For more information on Going Green Energy & Living Expos visit www.goinggreenexpos.com or call: 603-491-6177.
Sponsors of the Boston show are still signing on and include Waste Management, groSolar, Andersen Renewal, Boston Green Realty, Ben & Jerry’s, and Dragin Geothermal. Collaborating Partners are the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, MyEnergyStar, EPA Region 1, and Event Video Productions. Media Partners for the Expo include the Boston Phoenix Media Group, WFX Radio, the River, WCRB Classical, The Frank, and WOKQ. For an up-to-date listing of Sponsors and Exhibitors for the Boston Expo go to
elopment and investment company, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It will be the majority investor in the project and has provided initial financing.
"By selecting a novel means of processing a wide range of we are opening up a new platform to expand biodiesel production in the UK and ultimately internationally."
--Ing Giuseppe Simeone, Chairman, GoG
The new £30 million (USD$59.7 million) facility is set to manufacture 30,000 tons of biodiesel per year within 12 months of plant commissioning. The facility will utilize a multiple range of feedstocks, which include fats, greases and non-edible animal fats within a clean production environment.
"By selecting a novel means of processing a wide range of feed stocks of fats and oils, we are opening up a new platform to expand biodiesel production in the UK and ultimately internationally," said Ing Giuseppe Simeone, Chairman of GoG.
The Green Prophet is a green lifestyle blog dedicated to promoting an environmentally-sound future for Israel and beyond.
Our contributors are not here to preach to the choir, but to offer some words of wisdom and then some, on how to make Israel and its neighborhood a better and healthier place for all.
We recognize that a lot needs to be done. With your feedback and support, let’s get there together.
The conclusion of a two-year study conducted by Israeli environmental groups revealed that self-governing Palestinian Arab towns are severely polluting the groundwater so crucial to the survival of both their communities and the Israel's densely populated coastal plain.
The study, reported Israel's Ha'aretz daily newspaper, showed that a number of rivers flowing from the mountains of Judea and Samaria into Israel's coastal plain are heavily polluted by Palestinian municipal and industrial waste.
Israel has tried to collect the polluted water and purify it before it reaches the coastal plain, but experts said most of the pollution is absorbed into the groundwater making up the important central mountain aquifers before reaching Israeli-controlled territory.
