Israele. Dalla Ben Gurion University of the Negev sviluppo di tecnologia per desalinizzazione in Giordania.

Ben-Gurion University Of The Negev Technology Being Developed For Use In Jordan Desalination Plant
August 20, 2009
Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev are developing technology to scale up a novel method for achieving very high recoveries in desalination by reverse osmosis to be used in a Jordanian desalinization plant.
The team, lead by Dr. Jack Gilron of the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research (ZIWR) and Prof. Eli Korin of the Department of Chemical Engineering, has developed a method of exploiting the finite kinetics of membrane fouling processes by periodically changing the conditions leading to membrane fouling before it can occur. The team was recently awarded grants from the NATO Science for Peace program and the Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC).
Working in collaboration with colleagues from University of Colorado and the Hashemite University of Jordan, the group will be developing technology and setting up pilot facilities to produce ~120 m3/day (31,000 gallons) at desalination sites in Israel and in Jordan. Dr. Gilron explains that "the process will be tuned to reduce brine volumes to 33-50 percent of those generated in conventional reverse osmosis. This greatly reduces the environmental burden and improves the economics of the inland desalination process."
Gilron continues, "Water scarcity and the need to develop new water resources for populations not on the seacoasts are driving efforts to desalinate brackish water and municipal wastewater with ever-increasing efficiencies."
Related to the above development, BGN Technologies – the University's technology transfer company and the ATI (Ashkelon Technology Incubator) Cleantech Group have established a new company, ROTEC (Reverse Osmosis Technologies) to commercialize the technology. Israel's national water company, Mekorot, selected ROTEC as one of a handful of promising companies in which it invests R&D funding to help promote novel water treatment technologies worldwide and in Israel.
The Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research is part of BGU's Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, recognized internationally as a leading scientific institute in arid zone research.
ROTEC (Reverse Osmosis Technologies) is a water treatment company that develops novel technologies to improve desalination processes of brackish groundwater. For more information, www.rotec-water.com
About Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and American Associates Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is a world-renowned institute of research and higher learning with some 19,000 students on campuses in Beer-Sheva, Sede Boqer and Eilat in Israel's southern desert. It is a university with a conscience, where the highest academic standards are integrated with community involvement, committed to sustainable development of the Negev. American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision, creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. For more information, please visit www.aabgu.org.
SOURCE: American Associates and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Israele: 15 kibbutzim trarranno energia elettrica da impianti fotovoltaici solari.

"The Arava Power Company (APC) announced Sunday that it had signed agreements with 15 kibbutzim and moshavim around the country to produce 100 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity. One hundred MW represents fully a third of the 300 MW quota allocated for solar energy from medium-sized fields.Having secured agreements with most of the kibbutzim in the southern Arava, with its abundant sunshine, APC made its announcement to coincide with the Eilat-Eilot International Renewable Energy Conference taking place next week.Arava Power holds all the necessary licenses and permits to begin work, the company said, and the existing power lines are sufficient to transfer the electricity to the national grid as soon as the fields are built, APC President Yosef Abramowitz told The Jerusalem Post Sunday.The medium-sized field – from 50 KW to 5 MW – market was opened recently when the Public Utility Authority- Electricity (PUA) announced the feed-in tariff of around NIS 1.60 per kilowatt hour.The 100 MW is just the beginning, the company said. APC CEO Jon Cohen called on the National Infrastructures Ministry and PUA to raise the quota from 300 to 1,000 MW, thus expressing the company’s confidence that solar energy has a bright future in Israel.“We are implementing Prime Minister Netanyahu’s vision to cease use of fossil fuels within a decade and [help Israel] develop alternative energies for itself and the world,” he said, in a statement.“The goal to produce 300 solar megawatts is an important step towards implementing the government’s decision to produce 5 percent of Israel’s energy consumption from renewable sources by 2014, but it’s not enough: In order to achieve this goal, at least 1,000 megawatts are needed, and the market indicates that only mid-size solar fields can fill the gap faster than any other source,” he said in a statement.The other potential type of solar energy is solar thermal, which concentrates sunlight to heat water to power a turbine. PV converts sunlight directly into electricity. Abramowitz contended that solar-thermal fields could not be built fast enough to help reach the 2014 goal, whereas PV fields could.Regarding additional solar capacity, a public hearing for the feed-in tariff for large fields is currently under way and Abramowitz said APC was ready to push forward in that arena as well – but not at the currently proposed tariff of NIS 1.05.“We have told PUA that a tariff of NIS 1.05 is not financially attractive enough for developers. It needs to be at least NIS 1.40,” he told the Post.Given the right tariff, APC is ready to build large solar fields alongside each of the 15 medium-sized fields, the company said.“We’re in a huge growth period. In each of the 15 mid-size field locations, we are also planning to build a large-size field, adding another 500 megawatts to Arava Power’s pipeline. Together with our partners from Siemens, we are weighing additional proposals from investors,” Abramowitz said in a statement.In order to connect those large fields to the grid, a new 161-kilovolt power line has to be run around or under Machtesh Ramon. The north-south line from Eilat to the center is mostly laid, except for the Machtesh Ramon part. APC and PUA have been in discussions about the best route for such a line.APC has also suggested running a larger capacity high-voltage power line down to Eilat so that the area could provide energy to the center, but such a project is still pending approval and several years away from fruition, Abramowitz conceded.Nevertheless, APC contended that it was ready to make a reality out of the Eilat-Eilot Regional Council goal of becoming an alternative energy center.“With its plentiful sunshine and ample open space, Israel’s Arava region has established itself as one of the most innovative solar hotspots in the world and Arava Power is leading the region’s renewable energy efforts,” said Udi Gat, Eilat-Eilot Regional Council head. “The investment by Arava Power in this region underscores the important role we play as an incubator for supporting, advancing and promoting novel renewable energy initiatives.”
Siemens Israel CEO Eliezer Tookman, APC’s partner, added, “Siemens brings to the table vast knowledge and experience in complex project management from a technical standpoint, as well as training local technical teams in general, long-term strategic commitment, and expertise in maintenance and operation of projects and products for decades at the highest level. We anticipate and are readying ourselves for this task of building multiple fields, and hope that it’s only the beginning of a solar revolution in Israel.”APC also released a graph showing its valuation rising from $2.5m. in mid-2006 to $48m. today. APC’s initial and still current investors were American Jews recruited to the initiative by Abramowitz.Siemens bought a 15% stake in APC a few months ago. Earlier this year, Siemens also bought Israeli solar thermal company Soleil for $400m. Last week, the company announced it was ceasing to do business in Iran.

Fonte: EHUD ZION WALDOKS per "Jerusalem Post"- 07.02.2010