USE AND 100% 100%

ENERGY- NIGHTTIME 2014 2016 FOR DAYTIME 2020 INDEPENDENT INDEPENDENCE DAYTIME ENERGY DAYTIME ENERGY DAYTIME 50% NEARLY ENERGY INDEPENDENCE ENERGY *Figures provided by Hevel Regional Council. *Figures provided by Hevel Eilot Regional By 2020, the municipality and regional council anticipate that one of will flow down the hill, turning a turbine that will produce electricity, electricity, produce will that turbine a turning hill, the down flow will Another option is a method that is used for dams all over the world. gathering gas emissions that result from waste materials and using the gas as the source of energy to produce electricity at night. Energy Institute at the -Eilot Renewable researchers Finally, are dealing with the question of how to gather the excess energy produced during the sun hours in order to use it at night. Until now, there is no large-scale solution to this problem. these solutions will become practical and with the production of green URGENCY URGENCY UNDERSCORES UNDERSCORES International Conference and OIL OIL th OIL OIL SPILL SPILL By: June Glazer A busy port and popular resort located at the northern tip of the Red tip of the Red busy port and popular resort located at the northern A The worst oil spill in ’s history was the accidental backdrop history was the accidental backdrop Israel’s The worst oil spill in One idea is pumped energy, wherein water is brought up from the One idea is pumped energy, According to Udi Gat, head of the Hevel Eilot Regional Council, According to Udi Gat, head of the Hevel Eilot Regional “, with an emphasis on solar, is a major focus of is a with an emphasis on solar, energy, “Renewable It also focused on the key role renewable energy plays in the It also focused on the key role renewable Sea, Eilat is at the epicenter of Israel’s renewable energy industry. renewable energy industry. Sea, Eilat is at the epicenter of Israel’s The recent Eilat-Eilot Green Energy 6 for an international conference on green energy held in Eilat, the for an international conference on green southernmost city. country’s reservoir at the bottom of the hill to one situated on the top of the At night, the water hill, which is an altitude difference of 1,476 feet. the area has already reached nearly 50 percent daytime energy independence, and in eight months there will be enough solar fields in Hevel Eilot to produce 100 percent of the energy consumed during during the day hours. That’s Arava. the daytime in the Southern at night, in order for energy Because one cannot harness the sun’s the region to gain energy independence at night, there is a need to find a different solution. “These days we are checking outpromoting different alternatives that will allow producing energy in and the night,” said Gat. our municipal activity and plays a key role in the region as a whole,” our municipal activity and plays a key role mayor of Eilat, in his greeting message to Halevi, Yitzhak said Meir and the Hevel Eilot Regional conference attendees. “The city of Eilat land Council, which together account for 13 percent of Israel’s population, have area but less than one percent of the country’s recognized the potential offered by the sunlight and open space that exist here in such abundance and are concentrating on renewable energy as a catalyst for regional growth.” Southern Arava, a stretch of Desert from the Dead Sea to the Southern Council Regional Aqaba in which Eilat and the Hevel Eilot Gulf of main locale for This arid, sun-drenched area is Israel’s are located. as an international showcase sustainable development and functions energy. for Israeli innovation in the field of green Exhibition was the culmination of six events that comprised Israel Exhibition was the culmination of six Energy Week and which offered participants from around the globe world of alternative a concentrated encounter with the emerging focused on challenges facing the conference The energy in Israel. supply of including storage and renewable energy industry today, and flow, electricity manage to methods of development electricity, financing to advance projects.

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JEWISH NATIONAL FUND 22 JNF.org

JEWISH NATIONAL FUND 23 n “This facility will help Israel develop technologies that will not Israel develop technologies that will “This facility will help energy is about how to get people to move to different “Renewable How close is this reality? region and see what they “I think if you look at the Eilat and Eilot field in which to raise because Now, money. of this center and the we plan to have a long- on clean energy, focus of the municipality the region. term relationship with only benefit Israelis, but can be exported especially to China, India, There is a is great. Africa, where the interest in green energy and said. huge future for us in these markets,” he noted. “If we want them to move to the Negev, places,” Robinson lower the cost of energy, we need to develop technologies that will especially as it relates to water recycling. If we can produce enough desert.” we can settle people anywhere in the energy cheaply, it can be done,” Robinson have accomplished, you’ll realize that solar held, was conferences Eilat-Eilot these of first the “Since said. daytime sources have come to supply 50 percent of the Eilat region’s That means that every day they turn on a energy consumption. to meet all of their grid that provides them with enough electricity have guessed that a few years ago, who would daytime needs. Just could happen?” GREEN ENERGY GREEN GREEN ENERGY GREEN ON ON ISRAELI CONFERENCE ISRAELI ISRAELI CONFERENCE ISRAELI AT AT Ilan Ben-David, CEO of Chakratec, a producer of electricity storage “The area is perfect for us,” said conference exhibitor Or Yoged, Yoged, “The area is perfect for us,” said conference exhibitor Or Over the past several years, JNF has invested a million dollars in Over the past several years, JNF has invested “Renewable energy can make a difference in smaller areas, like “Renewable The accident underscored the potentially destructive nature of oil The importance of achieving energy independence was brought The importance of achieving energy independence “We “We want to generate more electricity, even beyond the needs batteries and another conference exhibitor, said he intends to batteries and another conference exhibitor, but plans to make Aviv Tel maintain his company headquarters near the center his testing lab. “When we first started out, there were only three companies investing in Energy energy. is a very difficult who attended the Center’s ribbon-cutting inauguration. Founder and who attended the Center’s Augwind, a three-year-old startup that synergizes wind and CEO of plans to relocate his company there from its current he , base in central Israel. “This facility will help young entrepreneurs The environment will encourage like me to implement our dreams. collaboration that will help incubate all of our projects,” he said. Blueprint Negev part of its Blueprint developing renewable energy in Israel as which underwrote part of the Eilat-Eilot that end, JNF, To initiative. conference, supports various projects to enhance the quality of life Arava, including those related to renewable energy. in the southern Collaboration Center for One of these projects is the new Regional and hub office an Energy, Renewable and Development and Research testing lab specifically designedfor startup companies outside Eilat. locatedYotvata at neighborhoods and communities,” said JNF CEO Russell F. Robinson, a Robinson, F. CEO Russell neighborhoods and communities,” said JNF speaker at the conference. “I don’t know if a total shift is feasible, if fuel completely replaced we’re ever going to see crude oil and fossil by renewable We energy. can’t convert large cities overnight, but up with better And we need to come we need to strike a balance. safeguards to protect against these kinds of accidents in the future.” dependency and the need to shift to sustainable sources. dependency and the need to shift to sustainable home to the dramatic way conference in a when, four days prior to its work 20 kilometers start, an oil pipeline ruptured during maintenance a future international airport north of Eilat at a construction site for liters of crude oil Arava. Five million that will serve the southern spilled out and fouled an estimated 1,000 dunams (nearly 250 acres) Delicate coral reefs of scenic desert including a nature reserve. threatened. beyond the nearby shoreline were also of Eilat and of the regional council. We want to help produce the electricity from country an inexpensive source—the sun—and to be electricity storehouse or ‘bank,’” Gat said. Israel’s electricity for daytime and nighttime use, the area will be completely and nighttime use, the area will be completely electricity for daytime and free of and carbon emissions. energy-independent