The Israel-United States Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD Foundation) will invest $9 million in 12 joint projects between Israeli and US companies.
The BIRD Foundation promotes cooperation between Israeli and U.S. companies in various technology areas and assists in identifying strategic partners in both countries, in order to develop and commercialize novel technologies and products.
Four of this year's projects are cleantech-related:
(1) NanoReady Ltd. and Applied Nanotech will jointly develop conductive copper ink. Caesarea, Israel-based NanoReady develops, markets and manufactures nano particles from a wide variety of materials. By more seamlessly and efficiently integrating with and enhancing product manufacturing processes, NanoReady particles enable superior finished products, while also reducing energy consumption and processing time and cost.
(2) Oree Inc. and Intematix Corp. will jointly develop a planar illumination LED module. Oree, based in Ramat Gan, Israel, has received venture capital funding from Genesis Partners and Gimv. In November, Oree announced that it had secured a $4 million venture loan from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Kreos Capital for manufacturing and the expansion of business development activities.
(3) Power Paper Inc. and GE GRC-Lighting will jointly develop a self-powered organic light-emitting diode (OLED) for lighting. Power Paper develops and markets technology applications that operate with the thin and flexible, environment-friendly micro-power source that the company has developed. In November, Power Paper raised $30 million from Apax Partners, Clal Industries and Investments and the Infinity Venture Capital Fund.
(4) Transiodiesel Ltd. and the NYSE-listed Rohm and Haas will jointly develop an enzymatic process for biodiesel production. Transbiodiesel Ltd. has patented technology on the use of unique immobilized lipases for the production of biodiesel from different oils, including plant oils, animal fats and recycled greases. In October, the AquAgro Fund acquired 23.5% of Transbiodiesel in return for a $1.5 million investment.
The BIRD Foundation said that it had received a record number of requests for funding in 2008. It expects that the trend will continue because of the global economic situation.
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Showing posts with label biodiesel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biodiesel. Show all posts
Monday, December 22, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
AquAgro invests $1.5 million in Transbiodiesel
Transbiodiesel, an Israeli biodiesel startup that is developing a novel technology to produce the fuel, has raised $1.5 million from the AquAgro Fund and signed a cooperation agreement with an unnamed American biodiesel company, according to a report in Globes.
The enzymatic process Transbiodiesel uses can apparently produce biodiesel in a more environmentally friendly manner. The overall process is also supposed to be cheaper than standard methods for making biodiesel.
Transbiodiesel CEO Sobhi Basheer founded the company at the L.N. Innovative Technologies Ltd. incubator's Agudat Hagalil Ltd. R&D center in the Israeli Arab city of Shfaram in the Galilee. Bashir helped established Agudat Hagalil in 1999.
Basheer and L.N. Innovative Technologies each own 35% of Transbiodiesel, AquaAgro owns 25%, and Altshuler Shaham Ltd. and Zeev Bronfman jointly own 5%.
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Evogene, Orfuel and Leviev Group to establish biodiesel company in Namibia, Africa
Computerized Electricity Systems raises $3.75m from AquAgro Fund
Friday, September 12, 2008
Evogene, Orfuel and Leviev Group to establish biodiesel company in Namibia, Africa
Evogene, Orfuel, and the Leviev Group have announced an agreement to establish a biodiesel company in Namibia, Africa.
The new company will be focused on the growth of specialized castor plants for use as feedstock for biodiesel. It will be headquartered in Namibia, with operations in Namibia and possibly other African countries.
Evogene and Orfuel, an Ormat subsidiary, have already been working together since September 2007 on developing non-edible plants for commercial biodiesel production, and the castor plants for the new venture will be selected from varieties being developed in the Evogen-Orfuel collaboration. The collaboration is being funded with a grant from the BIRD Foundation.
Land for the crop growth will come from the Leviev Group, which will also provide logistical infrastructure for the project.
"This collaboration fits well into Evogene's business model in the field of biodiesel, and constitutes an additional stage towards commercialization of the plants developed through the joint project with Orfuel in one of the potential target locations," stated Ofer Haviv, Evogene's president and CEO. "We are convinced that with our extensive capabilities in plants together with the vast experience of the Leviev Group in Africa, we will be able to develop improved feedstock addressing the needs of the alternative fuel industry."
Netafim in negotiations with sugarcane ethanol project in Mozambique
In other news, BioEnergy Africa has raised $15.2 million on the London Stock Exchange to fund development of a 438 million liters per yea sugercane ethanol plant in Mozambique.
The company is in discussions with Tel Aviv, Israel-based Netafim to design, procure, and install a subsurface drip irrigation system for the project’s cane fields. At full capacity, the project will include approximately 60,500 acres of planted sugarcane.
Related Posts:
Monsanto to invest in Evogene, collaborate on plant research
Evogene and Orfuel receive biodiesel grant
Technion forum: Israel can be global biodiesel leader
The new company will be focused on the growth of specialized castor plants for use as feedstock for biodiesel. It will be headquartered in Namibia, with operations in Namibia and possibly other African countries.
Evogene and Orfuel, an Ormat subsidiary, have already been working together since September 2007 on developing non-edible plants for commercial biodiesel production, and the castor plants for the new venture will be selected from varieties being developed in the Evogen-Orfuel collaboration. The collaboration is being funded with a grant from the BIRD Foundation.Land for the crop growth will come from the Leviev Group, which will also provide logistical infrastructure for the project.
"This collaboration fits well into Evogene's business model in the field of biodiesel, and constitutes an additional stage towards commercialization of the plants developed through the joint project with Orfuel in one of the potential target locations," stated Ofer Haviv, Evogene's president and CEO. "We are convinced that with our extensive capabilities in plants together with the vast experience of the Leviev Group in Africa, we will be able to develop improved feedstock addressing the needs of the alternative fuel industry."
Netafim in negotiations with sugarcane ethanol project in Mozambique
In other news, BioEnergy Africa has raised $15.2 million on the London Stock Exchange to fund development of a 438 million liters per yea sugercane ethanol plant in Mozambique.
The company is in discussions with Tel Aviv, Israel-based Netafim to design, procure, and install a subsurface drip irrigation system for the project’s cane fields. At full capacity, the project will include approximately 60,500 acres of planted sugarcane.
Related Posts:
Monsanto to invest in Evogene, collaborate on plant research
Evogene and Orfuel receive biodiesel grant
Technion forum: Israel can be global biodiesel leader
Monday, September 1, 2008
IC Green Energy launches takeover bid for German biodiesel manufacturer Petrotec
IC Green Energy, a subsidiary of Israel Corp., has announced a takeover bid for Petrotec AG, a Germany-based biodiesel company, valuing Petrotec at about 28 million euros.
Petrotec says IC Green Energy has already bought a 42% stake in the company, and remaining shareholders are to receive a voluntary takeover offer at the same price (2.70 euros per share).
Petrotec is a manufacturer of biodiesel based on alternative feedstocks. The company produces biodiesel with its multi-feedstock technology from yellow grease, animal fats and virgin vegetable fats and oils. In 2007, Petrotec produced 50,800 tons of biodiesel. It has the capacity to produce up to 185,000 tons of biodiesel a year at its two plants in Germany.
IC Green Energy CEO Yom Tov Samia told Globes, "The acquisition of Petrotec is ICG's first investment in the European market as part of our strategy to deepen its activity in the value chain in the biofuels market."
At a Tel Aviv University event in May, Samia outlined IC Green Energy's "12-12 Vision" to be one of the 12 leading companies worldwide in the field of renewable energy by 2012. In order to achieve this goal, IC Green Energy aims to process 4-5% of the global biofuel market (~4 million tons), and Samia emphasized that the company's biofuel production will be based solely on non-edible feedstock.
Related posts:
IC Green Energy invests in HelioFocus
IC Green Energy and Yom Tov Samia
Petrotec says IC Green Energy has already bought a 42% stake in the company, and remaining shareholders are to receive a voluntary takeover offer at the same price (2.70 euros per share).
Petrotec is a manufacturer of biodiesel based on alternative feedstocks. The company produces biodiesel with its multi-feedstock technology from yellow grease, animal fats and virgin vegetable fats and oils. In 2007, Petrotec produced 50,800 tons of biodiesel. It has the capacity to produce up to 185,000 tons of biodiesel a year at its two plants in Germany.
IC Green Energy CEO Yom Tov Samia told Globes, "The acquisition of Petrotec is ICG's first investment in the European market as part of our strategy to deepen its activity in the value chain in the biofuels market."
At a Tel Aviv University event in May, Samia outlined IC Green Energy's "12-12 Vision" to be one of the 12 leading companies worldwide in the field of renewable energy by 2012. In order to achieve this goal, IC Green Energy aims to process 4-5% of the global biofuel market (~4 million tons), and Samia emphasized that the company's biofuel production will be based solely on non-edible feedstock.
Related posts:
IC Green Energy invests in HelioFocus
IC Green Energy and Yom Tov Samia
Monday, January 7, 2008
Ormat backs off biodiesel facility, to continue collaboration with Evogene
Ormat Industries Ltd. today announced that it is postponing plans to develop and build a commercial biodiesel facility. Ormat announced 18 months ago that it would invest $35-50 million in a biodiesel production facility within two years. Ormat is foregoing construction of the biodiesel plant because prices for commodities, including commodities for biofuel production, have soared rendering biodiesel much more expensive to the point of not being economically viable.
Ormat, however, will continue to focus on its collaboration with an academic institution, whose identity it declines to disclose, and with Evogene Ltd. on the development of plants for biodiesel production.
In December 2007, Orfuel, an Ormat subsidiary, and Rehovot-based Evogene, a leading Ag-Biotech company, signed an agreement with the BIRD Foundation (Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation) to obtain a $1 million grant for support of a joint biofuel project.
According to a press release issued by the companies, Evogene and Orfuel are collaborating to develop non edible plants displaying improved oil yield and capable of being grown in non arable lands, thus address key problems facing the biofuel industry. These plants are expected to significantly decrease feedstock costs for biodiesel production. Under terms of the collaboration, Evogene will utilize its advanced biotechnological capabilities (such as gene and molecular marker discovery), in the development of the enhanced crops which will then be evaluated in field trials conducted by Orfuel. In addition, Orfuel will evaluate suitability and methodologies for using such crops for biodiesel production. Upon project completion, Evogene and Orfuel intend to establish a joint venture aimed at commercialization of the developed plants
Ormat, however, will continue to focus on its collaboration with an academic institution, whose identity it declines to disclose, and with Evogene Ltd. on the development of plants for biodiesel production.
In December 2007, Orfuel, an Ormat subsidiary, and Rehovot-based Evogene, a leading Ag-Biotech company, signed an agreement with the BIRD Foundation (Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation) to obtain a $1 million grant for support of a joint biofuel project.
According to a press release issued by the companies, Evogene and Orfuel are collaborating to develop non edible plants displaying improved oil yield and capable of being grown in non arable lands, thus address key problems facing the biofuel industry. These plants are expected to significantly decrease feedstock costs for biodiesel production. Under terms of the collaboration, Evogene will utilize its advanced biotechnological capabilities (such as gene and molecular marker discovery), in the development of the enhanced crops which will then be evaluated in field trials conducted by Orfuel. In addition, Orfuel will evaluate suitability and methodologies for using such crops for biodiesel production. Upon project completion, Evogene and Orfuel intend to establish a joint venture aimed at commercialization of the developed plants
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
New Israeli agritech fund established
"Globes" reports that a new agritech fund, the Central Arava Fund, established with the support of Australian Jewish investors, will begin operating in April 2008. The new fund aims to establish agrotech and agrobiotech companies in the Arava region of the Negev. A second goal is to create high-tech job opportunities for residents of the Arava after their studies.
The Central Arava Fund expects to raise an initial $5-8 million, and raise an additional $40 million in the second stage. The bulk of the financing will come from Australian Jews. Arava residents and companies will be able to invest in the fund with minimum investments of $25,000.
Central Arava Fund's managers will be Eliezer Manor and Gil Lissai. Manor, a physicist, is a veteran venture capitalist, and founder of the Israel Venture Association. Lissai has experience in agriculture. He has worked with farms in both the Arava and in other countries and advised high-tech ventures and exporters.
The fund's mangers and investors discuss their plans in more detail in this YouTube video. The fund is apparently considering investing in biofuels and other alternative energy technologies related to agriculture.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Evogene and Orfuel receive biodiesel grant
Evogene Ltd. and Orfuel Inc., a US subsidiary of Ormat Industries Ltd., have signed an agreement with the BIRD Foundation (Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation) to obtain a $1 million grant for support of a joint biofuel project.
The Evogene and Orfuel joint project is aimed at providing substantially improved feedstock sources for biodiesel production. The companies will collaborate to develop non-edible plants that display improved oil yields and are capable of being grown in non-arable lands, thus addressing key problems facing the industry.
(Sourced here)
The Evogene and Orfuel joint project is aimed at providing substantially improved feedstock sources for biodiesel production. The companies will collaborate to develop non-edible plants that display improved oil yields and are capable of being grown in non-arable lands, thus addressing key problems facing the industry.
(Sourced here)
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Technion forum: Israel can be global biodiesel leader
Israel can become a global leader in the development of crops for biodiesel production, concludes the 7th Energy Forum sponsored by the Samuel Neaman Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology. The forum aims to position Israeli renewable energy research and industry on the world map. (Read the full article here.)
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