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.

• Israeli startup develops ambitious plant to rid the world of waste. Shai Pinczewski, the founder and CEO of waste disposal company REN Waste, discusses his company's state-of-the-art treatment plant that he claims can rid the world of municipal trash by transforming it into recycled material and also produce electricity.

• 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.
  

• Turning olive pits into energy. Israeli start-up Genova is setting up its first pilot plant to produce energy from biomass in the form of olive waste.

Exxon Mobil partners with Ben Gurion U. to develop hydrogen fuel system

ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), QuestAir Technologies Inc., Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq:PLUG) and Ben Gurion University of the Negev are collaborating to commercialize an on-vehicle hydrogen production system for use in a fuel cell-powered lift truck application.

According to Cleantech.com and Globes, Plug Power will seek to commercialize unique technologies developed by ExxonMobil, QuestAir Technologies, and Ben Gurion University that take liquid fuels - gasoline, diesel, ethanol or biodiesel - and convert them into hydrogen onboard the vehicle where it will be used in a fuel cell power train.

"By developing a system that converts liquid hydrocarbons into hydrogen directly on a vehicle without the need for storage, we hope to demonstrate significant infrastructure, logistics and cost advantages compared to other hydrogen vehicle systems, all while reducing the impact on the environment," said Emil Jacobs, VP of research and development at Exxon Mobil Research and Engineering.

BG Negev Technologies and Applications Ltd., Ben Gurion University's technology transfer company is responsible for the university's share in the program. The university is represented by the Blechner Center and Prof. Moti Hershkowitz. The university and its partners have been developing the individual components that make up the on-vehicle hydrogen fuel system. Sulfur is controlled by an ExxonMobil proprietary S-Trap developed in conjunction with the university. Plug Power will be responsible for integrating the fuel system with its GenDrive fuel cell power system for lift truck applications.

Globes notes that a competitor to this project is Israeli start-up Enginuity Ltd., which is developing technology to produce hydrogen on-board the vehicle as needed, utilizing a modified internal combustion engine with a zero emission solution. Investors in Enginuity include the Ormat Group and the ATI - Ashkelon Technological Industries incubator.