Sunday, December 9, 2007

Israel21c coverage of cleantech

Israel21c has recently published a number of articles related to the cleantech sector in Israel:

  • 'Energy Towers' offer major source of alternative energy. Professor Dan Zaslavsky of the Department of Agricultural Engineering at the Technion - Israel Institute of Science, explains his project to build "energy towers" to produce cheap electricity. The massive towers, 1000 meters tall and 400 meters in diameter, would use convection to power turbines at the base of each tower.
  • Israeli collaboration with Exxon fuels hopes for a greener future. A team of scientists from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, international petrochemical giant ExxonMobile, Canadian gas purification company QuestAir Technologies, and US energy products company Plug Power have developed a new hydrogen fuel cell technology.
  • Intel develops the eco-chip, with Israeli help. Intel recently unveiled the latest addition to its processor family: a new chipset provisionally named 'Penryn.' The innovative hafnium-based "Hi-k" processor, which reduces electricity loss, or "capacitance," through the use of third-generation silicon materials, also does away with the need to incorporate eco-unfriendly lead and halogen materials in the production process. Intel's R&D center in Haifa played a crucial role in working out how the new chip micro-architecture could be manufactured on a commercial scale.
  • Sharon's legacy turns wasteland to parkland. Israel's largest landfill, the Hiriya garbage dump, is being transformed into 2000 acre recreational area. Nearby, a waste transit station is a becoming a model of environmental innovation. The project may take up to 20 years and cost $250 million.