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Israel, Massachusetts sign R&D agreement

As reported in Port2PortThe agreement will give Israeli companies an opportunity to enter the American market through technological and strategic cooperation with leading Massachusetts companies
 
Israel and the American state of Massachusetts signed last week an agreement for increased research and development collaboration between Massachusetts and Israeli companies.
 
The signing of the deal last Thursday was inked between Israel’s Industry, Trade and Labor Minister, Shalom Simhon, and visiting Massachusetts Governor, Deval Patrick. The agreement will give Israeli companies an opportunity to enter the American market through technological and strategic cooperation with leading Massachusetts companies and through an established framework for partnership between business groups, the ministry said in a press release.                                 
 
Governor Patrick said in a statement that the agreement “formalizes an already strong relationship,” and will help support job growth in both Massachusetts and Israel.Patrick added that the deal he signed with Israel’s chief scientist to foster life science and technology projects raises prospects for increased business exchange between Massachusetts and Israel.
 
The governor’s office said the memorandum of agreement will support job growth and strengthen ties between the state and its Israeli partners.Following approval from a committee made up of representatives from the two sides, companies will be able to apply for r&d grants from the Office of the Chief Scientist of Israel or its equivalent branch in Massachusetts.

The American state of Massachusetts is the home of several of the leading research universities in the world, including Harvard and MIT, Massachusetts is considered one of the main centers in the United States for technology innovation, particularly in the areas of life sciences, cleantech and information technology.

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Green Buildings Breakfast – Presentations

Many efficiency related technologies evolved from pioneering research and development efforts of Israel’s high-tech and military sectors. As cleantech grows to become a more prominent sector locally and globally, Israel’s entrepreneurs will increasingly harness agriculture, high-tech and other cross-over technology to increase efficiency across a wide spectrum of industries, and continue to place Israel as the world leader in Clean Technology.

Please click here to see the Profile Catalog for the Israeli Companies

Please click on the  Companies below to view their Presentations:

Click here to view Case Studies of green building projects in Australia

If you would like any further information on any of the companies, or the contact details of any of the presenters, please feel free to call us on (02) 9388 0382

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Israel’s cleantech mega-plan

As reported by IVC:

The country is investing billions to become a world leader in renewable energy technologies and oil alternatives.

“The global interest in Israel’s energy R&D and technology is out of all proportion to the size of the country,” says Dr. Eli Opper, former Chief Scientist and now chairman of the Eureka High Level Group (HLG). Israel currently holds the chairmanship of Eureka, the European R&D program, of which more than 40 countries are members. According to Dr. Opper, Israel’s technological achievements were an important consideration in the award of the chairmanship. “The world looks for two things in Israel,” he says, “R&D and technology. Our manufacturing and marketing capabilities are of far less interest to it.”

Dr. Opper points out that Israel has an impressive record in developing breakthrough energy technologies. “Israel was a world pioneer in developing water desalination and solar energy technologies,” he says. “Unfortunately, in Spain and California there are solar installations that operate using Israeli technologies, but in Israel itself we have missed the opportunity to implement them, among other things for political reasons.

“Another reason is the small size of the Israeli market. On this point, Israel has a great deal to gain from cooperation with the large European market. Moreover, Israelis have a lot to learn from the Europeans when it comes to environmental protection. This is an area in which Israel considerably lags behind European countries. Up to now, Israelis have preferred to deal with more urgent issues on the agenda.”

This highlights the importance of the conference being organized by the European Friends of Israel in Jerusalem this week, in collaboration with “Globes.” The conference is beng attended by about 500 of the European Parliament’s 736 members. Over the course of the conference, the European parliamentarians will visit Israel’s leading industrial plants. This is no small thing, given that they represent a market of 375 million consumers, who could help promote Israeli technology.

Dr. Opper defines cleantech as comprising three sub-fields: water, environment, and renewable energy. One of the most interesting Israel developments, he says, is in water. “The hot topic in water technologies these days is prevention of leaks from water pipes. There are some very interesting Israeli developments in this area, that could be especially relevant to large European cities with antiquated water infrastructure. In cities like London and Paris, the rate of water loss can be counted in tens of percents.

“The Israeli technology is two-stage. The first stage is locating the leak, using sophisticated control systems. The second is blocking the leak, by introducing special, non-toxic materials.”

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Latest News Israel

Solar energy that floats on water

As reported in Israel21c:

Generating energy from the sun would be more practical if not for two huge drawbacks: The expense of the silicon material that converts light to electricity, and the large tracts of land needed for solar farms.

By solving both problems – and introducing unexpected side benefits, too – Solaris Synergy captured first place in the Israel National Cleantech Open IDEAS Competition at Tel Aviv University’s Akirov Institute for Business and Environment in November. Sponsors of the international competition aim to find, fund, and foster entrepreneurial ideas that address worldwide energy, environmental and economic challenges.

At Solaris headquarters in Jerusalem’s Har Hotzvim Industrial Park, co-founder and CEO Yossi Fisher explains that each Lego-like module of Solaris’ Floating Concentrating Photovoltaic (F-CPV) system is faced with a curved mirrored film that clusters the sunlight into a thin line. Since only that five percent of the surface needs a silicon cover, Solaris uses relatively little of the costly material.

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TWO ISRAELI COMPANIES WIN GE CLEANTECH CHALLENGE

Two Israeli start-ups, WinFlex, a wind-energy company, and GridON, which outfits electric grids, were among the five winners of the GE Ecomagination Challenge.  

Selected out of more than 4,000 entries from around the globe, each winner received $100,000 to further develop their ideas, which had to fall into three broad categories: Renewables, Grid and Eco Homes/Eco Buildings. 

GridON, based in Givatayim, was rewarded for its current-limiter device, which protects the electric grid from disruptions and power outages, increasing the grid’s reliability and enabling it to handle the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources better. The technology was developed in collaboration with Bar-Ilan University.

WinFlex, a Kiryat Yam-based company, won based on its inflatable wind turbine made from inexpensive cloth sheets. The lightweight wind turbine is said to reduce installation costs by at least 50 percent.

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Israel Looks to Export Water Tech to World’s Mines

As reported in Globes.co.il: The Foreign Trade Administration has a new plan to double Israel’s water technology exports, by 2012.

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor’s Foreign Trade Administration has a new plan to double Israel’s water technologies exports, by 2012, from the $1.5 billion in exports in 2010. The new plan targets coal, copper and gold mines in South Africa, Brazil, Chile, and Australia.The Ministry of Industry’s commercial attaches have begun seeking business opportunities for integrating Israeli water technologies in the mining industry. Israel NewTech director Oded Distel told “Globes”, “The nature of mining combined with growing water shortages and growing public awareness of the need to purify wastewater has made Israeli technologies, considered leaders in the field, relevant. It would be a terrible waste if we miss the momentum to integrate Israeli technologies in this niche.”

Distel added, “The government has decided in principle to expand the international activity of Israeli cleantech companies and fulfilling their business potential in the global market. We decided to focus our efforts on the mining industry because Israeli companies have something to offer them.”

Israeli irrigation equipment makers, water desalination companies, companies developing energy saving technologies for desalination, and developers of sewage treatment technologies are participating in the program. They include desalination plants operator IDE Technologies Ltd., Amiad Filtration Systems Ltd., Whitewater Technology Group, water quality monitoring systems developer Blue I Water Technologies Ltd., and Mapal Green Energy Ltd.

16 Israeli water technology companies recently visited South Africa, after previously visiting mines in Australia, Brazil, and Chile. When the potential in these countries is met, the second circle of countries includes Canada and China. Distel said that these visits yielded talks between Israeli cleantech and engineering companies and mining corporations.

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Latest News Israel

Israel Cleantech Ventures Congratulates Its 5 Portfolio Companies on Their Selection to the 2010 Global Cleantech 100 List

As reported by IVC:

Israel Cleantech Ventures Congratulates Its 5 Portfolio Companies on Their Selection to the 2010 Global Cleantech 100 List

Five companies in Israel Cleantech Ventures’ (ICV) portfolio were named this week in the prestigious 2010 Global Cleantech 100, produced by the Cleantech Group in collaboration with UK based Guardian News & Media.

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Latest News Israel

Israel to promote cleantech, new funding mechanisms

As reported by IVC:

EUREKA, a pan-European industrial R&D network, is comprised of 40 European govt’s, including the EU, and companies within those countries. Israel is the only non-European member.

Israel holds the rotating presidency of EUREKA, a pan-European industrial R&D network, and has some specific areas it would like to promote, Israel Shamay told The Jerusalem Post recently.

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Latest News Israel

Emefcy Bio-Energy Systems Has Been Named a 2010 Global Cleantech 100 Company

As reported by IVC:

Emefcy Bio-Energy Systems Has Been Named a 2010 Global Cleantech 100 Company

Emefcy Limited, a global leader in Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) implementation for wastewater treatment, today announced it has been named in the prestigious 2010 Global Cleantech 100, produced by the Cleantech Group. The list is produced as part of the Global Cleantech 100 program, run in collaboration with the Guardian News.

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Israel Celebrates Groundbreaking Innovation in new IPC Brochure

International investors and innovation aficionados are invited to rejoice with the launching of a new publication celebrating Israel’s innovative success including a compilation of some of Israel’s most revolutionary technological breakthroughs across several industries, including in Cleantech, Agrotech, Life Sciences, IT, Communications, and Homeland Security.

The new brochure, “Israel – Global Center for Breakthrough Innovation,” produced by Israel’s Investment Promotion Center of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, bolsters Israel’s position as an innovative powerhouse and a preferred target for foreign direct investment. Israel’s innovative professionals are a central focus of the brochure, which emphasizes the country’s human capital as the vital component that binds together all the key elements of its success.

The new brochure can be viewed through the Invest in Israel website, by clicking here.