Cleantech Investing in Israel

Phoebus Energy raises $1m to develop innovative heating system

2009-06-09T14:15:00.006-04:00

Phoebus Energy, which is developing a hybrid heating unit to more efficiently produce energy for institutions such as hotels, hospitals, and factories, has raised $1 million from the Galilaea Fund, a private investment fund, according a report in Globes.

Phoebus Energy was founded in 2007 and received a first round of $2.1 million in venture funding from Terra Venture Partners. The company and its CEO, Yoav Ben-Yaacov, were featured in Israel21c last year.

Galilaea is a strategic consultancy firm with representatives in Europe and Israel, and is managed by Lior Shilat, who served in the Prime Minister's Office as a director of the division for coordination, follow-up and control during Ariel Sharon's government.

Globes reports that in recent months Phoebus Energy has installed systems at eight sites in Israel and is negotiating with several hotel chains and hospitals in Israel and abroad for the installation of its systems.

Terra Venture Partners raises $15 million, makes first investments

CleanIsrael Cleantech Startup Showcase

Metrolight raises $3m, names Zvi Segal as new CEO

2009-06-04T17:53:00.003-04:00

Metrolight Ltd., a leading provider of electronic ballast solutions for energy efficient lighting, announced today that it has raised $3 million and appointed Zvi Segal as a Chief Executive Officer.

Zvi Segal, a veteran of Orbotech Group, Applied Materials and Teledata Communication, will lead Metrolight's growth phase driven by what Metrolight says is strong demand for its energy saving products and services from commercial, industrial and municipal customers across Europe and the US. Metrolight's High Intensity Discharge (HID) eBallast reduces up to 60% of energy consumed and doubles the life of a lamp.

Existing Metrolight shareholders including Virgin Green Fund, Gemini Israel Funds, Israel Cleantech Ventures led the $3 million financing round. MetroLight raised $9 million from these investors in August 2007.

Metrolight was founded in 1996 and is based in Netanya, Israel. Metrolight's U.S. headquarters are in Franklin, Tennessee.

According to Metrolight's Chairman Yoav Leeran, "The appointment of Zvi Segal is the next logical step in building a worldwide leader in energy efficient lighting. We expect Zvi will continue building a strong business with the best portfolio of high power commercial, industrial and municipal lighting solutions. The new money raised underlines the strong belief of the founders and the investors in the product, unique technology, market potential and the management team of Metrolight."

Zvi Segal adds, "I'm looking forward to working with Metrolight's highly skilled and knowledgeable team. The commercial and industrial lighting market is set for significant growth given the energy savings offered by high power electronic ballasts. Metrolight, based on its patented technology, is well positioned to be the leader of the movement to modern energy efficient lighting systems."

"High power lighting is probably one of the very few utilities that has not yet benefited from a transition to electronic technology. Zvi Segal will lead the company to build on its success in the market in offering products and associated services that substantially reduce energy consumption for the heavy lighting users," states Shai Weiss, Partner at Virgin Green Fund.

HCL CleanTech raises $5.5m from Khosla Ventures and Burrill & Company

2009-06-01T11:18:00.006-04:00

HCL CleanTech Ltd., a biofuels start-up based in Tel Aviv, announced today a $5.5 million Series A financing led by Khosla Ventures, Burrill & Company, and angel investor Zohar Gilon.

HCL CleanTech has developed a proprietary technology to make an old, industrially proven German process converting lignocellulosic biomass to fermentable sugars economically attractive. According to the company, it is these fermentable sugars which are considered the gateway to advanced biofuels (biobutanols, biodiesel, jet fuel etc) and biochemicals (bioplastics etc).

"Accessing cheap sugar locked in biomass is one of the greatest challenges now faced by those pursuing renewable fuels and chemicals. HCL CleanTech's technology represents a step change in accessing these sugars, and drops into the pretreatment step of any fermentation-based process or chemical reforming technique which starts with oligosaccharides," said Burrill & Company Director, Greg Young. "We are eager to see this proven at scale, at which point it becomes immediately relevant to adjacent industries aiming to use biomass as a feedstock."

HCL CleanTech was founded in 2007 by Prof. Avram Baniel, Prof. Ari Eyal and Eran Baniel.

The Series A funds will be used for R&D in Israel and for construction of a pilot plant in the United States schedule to be completed in 2010.

AquAgro invests $1.5m in Transbiodiesel

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GreenRoad raises $15m from DAG Ventures and existing investors

2009-05-28T13:22:00.005-04:00

GreenRoad, which is developing technologies to encourage safe and fuel-efficient driving behavior, announced today that it has raised $15 million in growth funding.

DAG Ventures, a venture capital investment partnership, led the round with participation from existing investors Benchmark Capital, Virgin Green Fund, Amadeus Capital and Balderton Capital.

GreenRoad also announced that Nick Pianim, managing director at DAG Ventures, was appointed to the company’s board of directors.

“We are very proud to have earned the confidence of DAG Ventures, as well as our existing institutional investors,” said Dan Steere, CEO of GreenRoad. “This investment of capital will enable GreenRoad to accelerate its expansion with fleet customers and partners.”

“We were encouraged by the company’s successive quarters of revenue growth, despite the current economic climate,” said Pianim. “GreenRoad’s ability to cut crash costs up to 50 percent and generate fuel savings of up to 10 percent has broad appeal to insurers and enterprise fleets across several industries. The GreenRoad Service presents a scalable approach to improving safety and fuel economy that resonates with commercial fleets looking to mitigate risk, offset volatile insurance and fuel costs and impact their bottom line immediately.”

“GreenRoad has a track record of delivering results and we are excited to continue investing in a company that is successfully responding to the global challenge of unsafe and inefficient driving,” said Elie Wurtman, general partner at Benchmark Capital and Chairman of GreenRoad’s Board of Directors.

GreenRoad is headquartered in Redwood Shores, California, with sales offices throughout the U.S. and UK and an R&D Center in Or Yehuda, Israel. The company was founded in 2003 by Hod Fleishman and Ofer Raz.

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Solaredge partners with BP Solar to test solar efficiency products

2009-05-27T12:40:00.007-04:00

SolarEdge is joining forces with BP Solar to test new products designed to help solar modules operate more efficiently in harvesting the sun's rays, the companies said today in a press release.

BP Solar, a unit of oil giant BP Plc, will integrate into its solar modules SolarEdge's electronics that are designed to reduce the losses in solar arrays. Those losses can cut their power output by as much as 20 percent.

In support of this activity, BP Solar and SolarEdge have been awarded a research grant by the Israeli and US governments as part of the BIRD Foundation (Bi-national Industrial Research and Development), which contributes to joint development.

Solar panels typically turn between 10 to 15 percent of the sun's light into electricity, but that output can be reduced by partial shading of the arrays and other glitches in the electronic equipment that transports power between the panels.

SolarEdge, based in Herzliya, Israel, produces equipment that can help eliminate inefficiencies in the solar module arrays.

The company's products also make the solar systems safer, according to Chief Executive Officer Guy Sella, and can be used to provide data to customers on cells or modules that are damaged and not producing power at their capacity.

SolarEdge currently has three products, including a chipset called the PowerBox that manufacturers can embed into their solar modules to boost power output, but can also be added on as a retrofit. There’s also an inverter and web-based monitoring software for identifying maintenance needs and energy loss, and preventing theft.

In an interview with Earth2Tech, Sella said SolarEdge is on track to reach “general availability” between late July and September of this year. The company is in the final stages of negotiations with two manufacturers and expects to complete those by the end of June. By July, SolarEdge plans to establish a subsidiary in Germany, and by September or October Sella expects to have a presence in the U.S., on the West Coast.

According to a report in Reuters, SolarEdge expects to have orders for equipment that generate more than 12 megawatts of electricity by the end of 2009, and as much as 80 MW in 2010. The company expects to be cash-flow positive in the fourth quarter of 2010, and could launch an initial public offering of shares in the second half of 2011, Sella said.

In December 2008, SolarEdge completed a $23 million Series B financing round. Vertex Venture Capital led the round and was joined by the company's existing investors, Genesis Partners, Walden International, and Opus Capital.

Sella told Earth2Tech that for the last three to four months SolarEdge has been in talks with an investor who may add $3 million to $5 million to the Series B round. He said they would be a “very big strategic partner” if the deal comes through.

SolarEdge has raised nearly $35 million in venture capital funding since its inception in 2006.

Earlier this week, SolarEdge announced the appointment of Zvi Lando as its VP of Global Sales.

Lando joins SolarEdge from Applied Materials where he served as vice president, general manager of the Baccini Cell Systems (BCS) Solar Business Group, the global leader in screen printing equipment for the solar industry.

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Tigo Energy raises $10m Series B from ICV, Matrix, OVP and Clal Energy

2009-05-27T00:03:00.002-04:00

Tigo Energy, a solar start-up whose unique technology significantly increases efficiency in photovoltaic solar installations, announced today that it has closed its Series B round of funding.

The $10 million round was led by Israel Cleantech Ventures and joined by all existing investors (Matrix Partners, OVP and Clal Energy). The series B financing represented a significant premium to Tigo Energy's $6 million Series A venture round in May of 2008.

Meir Ukeles of Israel Cleantech Ventures has joined the Tigo Board of Directors following the round. In January, Tigo Energy added three cleantech industry veterans to its board of advisers.

According to Tigo Energy President Ron Hadar, "Particularly given the state of the current financial and venture markets, Tigo Energy's rapid close of this round shows great confidence by the venture community in our product, progress and people."

Sam Arditi, the CEO of Tigo Energy, who will be on hand at InterSolar in Munich to showcase the Tigo Energy(TM) Maximizer System, is also pleased to announce that "the company's pipeline is full and quickly ramping revenue."

Founded in 2007, Tigo Energy has successfully deployed 18 installations in the United States, Europe and Japan. The company claims to now be rapidly moving to volume production.

Based in Los Gatos, California, in October 2008 Tigo Energy announced the opening of an office in Kfar Saba, Israel, that will focus on the company's engineering activities. Mordechay (Modi) Avrutsky heads Tigo Energy's Israel operation and serves as Vice President of Engineering.

More information about Tigo Energy's technology and business plan is available online in this presentation by the company. Gunther Porfolio discusses the company's technology in this recent post.

Tigo Energy adds three cleantech industry veterans to board of advisers

BrightView Systems raises $6 million from Israel Cleantech Ventures and Hasso Plattner Ventures

SolarEdge raises $23 million in venture capital

Ormat to build 330 MW geothermal plant in Indonesia

2009-05-17T14:10:00.004-04:00

Ormat Technologies is combining with Itochu Corporation to build a 330 megawatt (MW) geothermal power plant in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia.

The project will cost an estimated $800 million, according a report in Reuters. Ormat and Japan's Itochu Corp. were originally awarded the contract in 2006 and are working in collaboration with Indonesdian energy firm PT Medco.

On Wednesday, Indonesia's energy ministry urged PT Medco to speed up construction. "We want this project to be built quickly because it is very important for Indonesia," J. Purwono, director general of electricity at the ministry, told reporters, adding, "we badly need more power plants."

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel. The only OPEC member in Southeast Asia., Indonesia has become a net importer of oil in recent years.

The vast archipelago, with hundreds of active and extinct volcanoes, has the potential to produce an estimated 27,000 MW of electricity from geothermal sources.

Ormat Technologies is the NYSE-listed, U.S.-based subsidiary or Ormat Industries. Ormat Industries, located in Yavne, Israel, is one of the world's leading vertically integrated companies dedicated to providing solutions for geothermal power, recovered energy generation (REG) and remote power.

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BrightSource and PG&E sign 1,310 MW solar power deal

2009-05-14T00:08:00.005-04:00

BrightSource Energy announced today that it has entered into a series of contracts with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) for a total of 1,310 megawatts (MW) of solar thermal power.

These power purchase agreements, covering seven projects, supersede the agreements PG&E executed with BrightSource in April 2008 for up to 900 MW of solar thermal power.

The first of these solar power plants, sized at 110 MW and located in Ivanpah, California, is contracted to begin operation in 2012. BrightSource will build and place in commercial operation each of its plants as quickly as permitting and infrastructure allow.

All seven projects are expected to produce 3,666 gigawatt-hours of power each year, equal to the annual consumption of about 530,000 average homes.

“Today’s agreements reflect the technological milestones that the BrightSource Energy team has achieved over the past year,” said John Woolard, CEO of BrightSource Energy. “Our technology is setting the bar for efficient production of solar energy. We’re thrilled by the opportunity to help PG&E and other leaders bring energy customers more clean and reliable solar energy.”

“The solar thermal projects announced today exemplify PG&E’s commitment to increasing the amount of renewable energy we provide to our customers throughout northern and central California,” said John Conway, senior vice president of energy supply for PG&E. “Through these agreements with BrightSource, we can harness the sun’s energy to meet our customers’ power requirements when they need it most – during hot summer days.”

BrightSource Energy now has contracted to sell more than 2,600 megawatts of power to be generated using its proprietary solar thermal technology. Headquartered in Oakland, Calif., BrightSource Energy is a privately held company with operations in the United States and Israel.

BrightSource Industries (Israel) Ltd. ("BSII"), formerly known as Luz II Ltd., headquartered in Jerusalem, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BrightSource Energy. The BSII team provides product development and engineering services, and supplies the solar fields, including heliostats, solar boilers, and control systems for all of BrightSource Energy's projects.

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BrightSource signs large solar deal with PG&E

Better Place unveils battery switch technology in Japan

2009-05-13T23:23:00.006-04:00

Better Place today unveiled the prototype of its battery switch technology in Yokohama, Japan. The system is a key component of Better Place's planned infrastructure of electric car exchange stations and charge spots.

Better Place showcased its battery switch platform using a modified NISSAN electric crossover SUV to demonstrate how to switch a depleted battery for a fully charged one.

“Today marks a major milestone for the automotive industry as well as for Better Place,” said Shai Agassi, Founder and CEO, Better Place, in a company press release. “For nearly a century, the automotive industry has been inextricably tied to oil. Today, we’re demonstrating a new path forward where the future of transportation and energy is driven by our desire for a clean planet and a robust economic recovery fueled by investments in clean technology, and one in which the well-being of the automotive industry is intrinsically coupled with the well-being of the environment.”

The Renault-Nissan Alliance is partnering with Better Place in Israel to enable zero-emissions mobility throughout the country by 2011. The realization of zero-emissions mobility in Israel will require the deployment of battery switch stations as well as a steady and reliable supply of vehicles adapted to accept the switchable-battery layout required by the Better Place business model.

“Japan has always been at the forefront of automotive engineering and design and maintains a strong sense of environmentalism,” said Kiyotaka Fujii, President of Better Place Japan and Head of Business Development for Asia Pacific. “The launch of Japan’s electric vehicle study is an important milestone in achieving a zero-emission transportation society, and our successful demonstration of charging vehicles with both fixed and switchable batteries is an important contribution towards moving the entire industry forward.”

Moshe Kaplinsky, CEO of Better Place Israel, told Globes: "This is a great achievement for Better Place and for Israel. The technology, which was developed in Israel, was presented in the heart of Japan's automobile industry. The development and demonstration of the battery replacement technology brings us significantly closer to completing the company's solution for developing a full recharging infrastructure for electric cars."

Related Posts:

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BusinessWeek covers "Israel's Cleantech Pioneers"

2009-05-10T11:16:00.007-04:00

Israel's cleantech industry is the focus of an article in the current issue of BusinessWeek.

A feature article, titled "Israel's Clean Technology Pioneers," includes coverage of companies and venture capital funds including Ormat Technologies, BrightSource Industries, Netafim, and Israel Cleantech Ventures. It also includes a quote from the author of this blog.

Highlights of the article include:

Yavne, a hazy industrial corridor in central Israel, seems at first glance an improbable haven for geothermal technology. Its largely barren environs offer no geysers or volcanoes, the essential raw materials for geothermal energy. Yet this small city of 32,000 is home to Ormat Technologies, a $2 billion multinational listed on the New York Stock Exchange that builds geothermal power plants around the world, from Colorado to Kenya.

Israel's siege mentality is driving its six-decade quest to coax more from the soil, water, air, and sunlight than do most other nations on earth.... "The world is now realizing it has to deal with things that Israel has had to tackle for 50 years," says Jacques Benkoski, a venture capitalist with Silicon Valley-based U.S. Venture Partners. "Doing more with less is becoming the standard."

Google co-founder Sergey Brin and several U.S. politicians have paid visits to Israel recently to learn about water- and energy-conservation technologies. "We can't rely on others for our safety and security," says Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, who is looking to import Israeli solar expertise.

Israel is a nation of contradictions, socialist in many ways but laissez-faire when it comes to the economy. The national equivalent of a startup, it was founded by people willing to make a go of it in a swath of land dominated by desert.

"The cleantech economy here hums independently, on market forces and innovation, despite the political situation," complains Glen I.A. Schwaber, 39, a founding partner at $75 million Israel Cleantech Ventures, a VC firm that he runs with Harvard classmate Jack S. Levy.

Today Hatzerim and two affiliated kibbutzes remain majority owners of the company that has grown into Netafim, a $500 million high-tech drip-irrigation giant employing 2,600 people in 110 countries.

BrightSource's technology seems right out of science fiction. As the van traverses the final mile to a test center in Dimona, what looks like a burning oil rig looms in the distance. Inside the maximum-security complex, passengers present their passports and don protective boots to guard their feet from the scorching sands. A semicircular array of 1,641 mechanized coffee-table-size mirrors pivot to reflect the desert sun's rays onto the boiler atop the rig, which BrightSource calls a "power tower." The company's power towers produce superheated steam for turbines. They "offer the maximum level of efficiency," says Alan E. Salzman, managing partner of Silicon Valley's VantagePoint, BrightSource's largest investor.

What if Israel could find the will to harness the power of its drip pipes, power towers, and desert fish farms? "Israel has such a geopolitical vested interest to steer this innovation," says Jonathan Shapira, a corporate attorney in Boston who organizes and blogs about Israeli cleantech. "Innovating around scarcity is increasingly the world's story."

Better Place applauds Hawaii's electric car legislation

2009-05-10T05:52:00.010-04:00

Hawai'i will require large parking lots to reserve spaces for electric cars and to provide recharging capacity if a bill passed by the state's Legislature is signed into law.

The measure would take Hawai'i one step closer to developing a viable electric-vehicle market, supporters say.

"We think it's a great step forward for Hawai'i," said Pete Cooper, spokesman for Better Place Hawaii, which is seeking to create a $1 billion statewide charging network for such cars.

The Legislature gave Better Place's initiative a boost this week when it approved a bill authorizing the issuance of up to $45 million in special-purpose revenue bonds for the company's planned network.

Better Place signed an agreement with Hawaiian Electric Co. in December 2008 to make such service possible as early as 2011, and the initiative has the backing of Gov. Linda Lingle. Better Place told legislators it wants to develop a system to support more than 10,000 electric vehicles in Hawai'i by 2014, according to a report in the Honolulu Advertiser.

Better Place has raised more than $300 million and is partnering with utilities and governments to install its electric vehicle infrastructure in Israel, Denmark, Australia, Portugal, Ontario, Hawaii, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Better Place's primary R&D center is in Israel. Shai Agassi, Better Place's Founder and CEO, was named to the Time 100 in April 2009.

The electric-vehicle bill was among a handful of adopted measures that environmentalists applauded yesterday as the Legislature wrapped up its session.

One bill would increase the tax on a barrel of oil by $1 to help the state explore alternative energy and protect local agriculture. Another bill would require public utilities to produce 25 percent of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020 and 40 percent by 2040.

The electric-vehicle bill would require that any parking lot with at least 100 public stalls be required to set aside 1 percent of the total spaces for electric cars by Dec. 31, 2011. The requirement would increase to 2 percent when at least 5,000 electric vehicles are registered in the state.

The bill also mandates that at least one recharging mechanism be made available in the parking lot.

The bills now go to Gov. Lingle for her review.

Better Place and Hawaii to partner on electric car project

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B-Solar, solar cell start-up, raises $3m from Genesis Partners

2009-05-05T23:59:00.013-04:00

B-Solar Ltd., a solar cell start-up based in Israel, has raised $3 million from Genesis Partners in a first round of fund-raising. B-Solar also raised an undisclosed sum from angel investor and serial entrepreneur Gidi Barak, founder of IXI Mobile and DSP Communications (aquired by Intel in 2000), according to reports in Globes and The Marker (Hebrew) and a press release from Genesis.

B-Solar, founded in December 2007, is in stealth mode and does not have a web site, and little information about the company is publicly available. The company plans on establishing a manufacturing facility in 2010 to produce its photovoltaic cells, initially at a production capacity of 70 megawatts per year.

B-Solar's co-founder and CEO is Yossi Kofman. According to Kofman's bio, B-Solar "develops and manufactures photovoltaic (PV) bifacial, silicon solar cells that can provide 15-20% more energy per dollar production than the best of breed counterparts."

In the press release, Kofman states: “B-Solar will become a leading manufacturer of photovoltaic cells, producing hundreds of megawatts per year, while maintaining our technological leadership and competitive advantage". He adds, “B-Solar is in contact with a number of international photovoltaic panel manufacturers who have expressed interest in the product".

Yossi Kofman, who holds a D.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, was previously the co-founder and CEO of Modem-Art, a fabless semiconductor company acquired by Agere Systems (now LSI Logic) for $145 million in 2005. Modem-Art's investors included Genesis Partners, which is now backing Kofman at B-Solar.

B-Solar's other founders are Professor Naftali Eisenberg (CTO), Dr. Lev Kreinin (Chief Scientist), and Dr. Ninel Bordin (Scientist) of the Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT). Professor Eisenberg founded and led the photovoltaic solar energy center and the non-conventional optics laboratory at (JCT), and, together with his colleagues, Dr. Kreinin and Dr. Bordin, turned the center into a leading university laboratory in the field of silicon based solar cells.

In 2007, Eisenberg authored an article on "Dialectic microconcentrators for efficiency enhancement in concentrator solar cells." In 2008, Eisenberg, Kreinin and Bordin co-authored an article on "A novel method for determining bulk diffusion length in bifacialsilicon solar cells."

Avishai Drori, a graduate of the Jerusalem College of Technology, and a veteran of Israel's high-tech industry, is B-Solar's Director of Product Management.

Following the $3 million investment, Genesis Partners' team members Dr. Eyal Kishon and Gary Gannot will reportedly join B-Solar's board of directors.

Gary Gannot, General Partner at Genesis Partners, stated, “We believe this is a unique investment in a high-potential company that will both spearhead research and development in the field and become a leading PV manufacturer. The global PV industry is poised for continued dramatic growth in demand, and we believe that B-Solar’s innovative technology and products will help realize the potential of this large and emerging market".

Genesis Partners is also backing SolarEdge, a stealth solar start-up developing advanced power-harvesting solutions for photovoltaic arrays that will lower the average cost per watt produced. Herzliya, Israel-based SolarEdge raised $23 million in a Series B financing round in 2008.

SolarEdge raises $23 million in venture capital

Shai Agassi named to Time 100 list of world's most influential people

2009-04-30T14:34:00.006-04:00

Shai Agassi, Founder and CEO of Better Place, the electric car infrastructure start-up, was named today to the Time 100, a list of the world's most influential people.

This is the second year running that a leader of Israel's cleantech industry has been named to the Time 100. Isaac Berzin, founder of GreenFuel Technologies and the Institute for Alternative Energy Resarch at IDC Herzliya, made the list in 2008.

Agassi was born in Ramat Gan, Israel and graduated from Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology, where he received a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

Better Place has raised more than $300 million and is partnering with utilities and governments to install its electric vehicle infrastructure in Israel, Denmark, Australia, Portugal, Ontario, Hawaii, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Better Place's primary R&D center is in Israel.

Alan Salzman, CEO of VantagePoint Venture Partners, a major investor in Better Place, says that Agassi is "the closest we've seen to a Steve Jobs of clean tech — visionary, technologist, businessman. What's it like working with him? Exhilarating, exhausting, challenging, gratifying. He recently turned 41. Wonder what he'll do after transporting us to a better place?"

Agassi was also recently profiled in the New York Times Magazine.

Related Posts:

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ETV Motors raises $12M Series A round from Quercus Trust and 21Ventures

2009-04-26T00:01:00.004-04:00

ETV Motors Ltd., a Herzliya, Israel-based start-up developing innovative electric vehicle propulsion technology, has announced its Series A investment round. The round was led by Quercus Trust of Newport Beach, California, with New York-based 21Ventures co-investing.

The $12 million milestone-driven investment will, according to the company, enable ETV Motors to move rapidly ahead with a multi-year research and development program in which it is partnering with universities and development organizations.

ETV Motors also revealed details about its development of enabling technologies for hybrid range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs). The company’s activity is focused on a novel, high-efficiency, dual-power micro-turbine and a proprietary high voltage lithium-ion battery. Integration of these optimized components will result in an innovative electric vehicle propulsion platform.

"We believe that REEVs are the optimal approach," said Dror Ben David, CEO of ETV Motors. "Our micro-turbine on-board charger and 4.7V lithium-ion cathode chemistry will facilitate the coming generations of environmentally-friendly, cost-effective, light-weight and safe electric vehicles."

"There are huge opportunities for disruptive, enabling technologies in the automotive field" said David Anthony, Managing Partner at 21Ventures. 'The approach of the ETV Motors team is based on innovative science, together with a sound vision of the future of electric vehicles. At 21Ventures, we see this as a game-changing approach, and we are pleased to be working with the company."

21Ventures' primary geographic focus is Israel, where over half of the funds investment capital has been deployed to date. 21Ventures currently manages more than $250 million worth of investments in 25 companies in Israel and the United States. More than half of 21Ventures’ investments are in clean energy companies.

Quercus Trust, funded by multimillionaire David Gelbaum, has quietly become one of the most active investors in the global cleantech industry. According to Greentech Media, David Gelbaum and Quercus Trust have made at least 47 cleantech investments. Five of Gelbaum's cleantech investments, in cooperation with 21Ventures, are in Israeli startups: 3GSolar, BioPetroClean, ETV Motors, TechnoSpin Wind, and Variable Wind.

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Israel boasts 6 water startups, including Emefcy and AquaPure, in Artemis Project list

2009-04-25T22:35:00.008-04:00

A list of the top water technology companies in the world, announced last week by the Artemis Project, includes six water startups based in Israel.

The Artemis Project, a California-based consultancy and research firm, sponsored the first Top 50 Water Companies Competition to identify the leading game-changing technologies that provide venture grade investment opportunities in the water sector. The companies were selected by a panel of experts based on an integrated matrix of four criteria: technology, intellectual property and know-how, team and market potential.

Israel's representatives in the Top 50 include:

#4 Emefcy: Emefcy, based in Caesarea, is the developer of the MEGAWATTER™ platform, a bio-electro-chemical process for electricity and hydrogen production using wastewater as a fuel. This technology addresses a market of industrial wastewater treatment plants in which anaerobic treatment is not applicable, thus expensive-to-operate aerobic treatment is applied. Emefcy currently runs several prototypes and plans to commence field piloting in Q3/2009. Emefcy raised a first round of financing from Israel Cleantech Ventures in 2007.

#7 AquaPure: AquaPure, based in Dalton, was founded in 2002 to provide the municipal and groundwater treatment markets with innovative and proprietary Non Thermal Plasma (NTP) technology to remove micro pollutants from contaminated drinking water. AquaPure has raised funds from Ludan Engineering and the Office of Chief Scientist. According to the company, AquaPure performed successful pilot testing in California, and scale up to a commercial beta unit test is scheduled to operate during Q1 and Q2 2009 in order to generate revenues starting Q1 2010.

#21 CheckLight: CheckLight, based in Kiryat Tivon, is developing, manufacturing and marketing cost effective, wide spectrum, automatic bioluminescencebased water quality tests for rapid screening and real-time water quality monitoring. CheckLight has raised up to $3.5 million from Whitewater Technology Group, an Israeli investment company.

#36 ProWell Technologies: ProWell Technologies, based in Tel Aviv, is the developer of "Air Shock", an innovative, non-destructive and environmentally friendly technology for water well rehabilitation, development and stimulation.

#48 Lesico CleanTech: Lesico CleanTech is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lesico-Leshman Group, and specializes in the development and marketing of technologies for the treatment of industrial brine in general and for the treatment of brine at brackish water desalination facilities in Israel in particular. Current brine removal methods create severe environmental problems, contaminate water sources and soil, and face strict regulations that ban the expanded use of these methods. Lesico CleanTech, in cooperation with Ben-Gurion University and its Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, has consequently developed technological solutions for the reduction of the volume of brine by means of accelerated evaporation and by recycling and reusing brine using electro-dialysis.

#49: BioPetroClean: BioPetroClean, based in Petah Tikva, specializes in bioremediation of industrial wastewaters. The company's Automated Chemostat Treatement (ACT) technology can be applied to a wide variety of sites, including oil refineries, terminals, drilling sites, marine ports, power stations, contaminated reservoires and storage tanks. BioPetroClean has raised $8.5 million from 21Ventures and Quercus Trust.

“The Artemis Project’s Top 50 Water Companies Competition winners have excelled in key strategic areas in the emerging advanced water technology sector,” said Laura Shenkar, Principal of The Artemis Project. “We are excited to spotlight these innovative companies for the first time on the world’s stage and congratulate them for their achievements in introducing the solutions that will reinvent the water landscape.”

"We are proud to be selected as one of the top five winners of the Artemis Project’s Top 50 Water Companies Competition" said Eytan Levy, Emefcy's co-founder and CEO. "It verifies our belief that our mission of applying a profitable, innovative new source of energy is on the right path," says Levy.

Related Posts:

Emefcy signs collaboration agreements, raising Series A funds

BioPetroClean raises funds from 21Ventures

CheckLight raises $3.5 million from Whitewater

Miya Water partners with Michigan on "Green Jobs for Blue Waters" initiative

2009-04-25T21:40:00.005-04:00

Miya Water is partnering with the State of Michigan, the Detroit Water and Sewage Department, and the city of Farmington Hills to set up pilot demonstration projects to lower the amount of water lost through Michigan's aging municipal water systems.

The so-called "Green Jobs for Blue Waters" initiative was unveiled last week by Lt. Gov. John Cherry. The goal is to eventually broaden out the program and establish a Michigan training center to help create new jobs in fields like engineering, manufacturing, installation and maintenance.

"As these projects expand, we will train more Michigan workers and develop expertise that we can export nationally and globally as well," Lt. Gov. John Cherry said in unveiling the initiative.

"No question, it's a business opportunity, but we see it as a business opportunity for Michigan as well," said Booky Oren, Miya's President and CEO. "I think that when you are dealing with efficiency, you create more from existing resources."

Most water system operators make "major mistakes" in seeking to immediately replace pipes when leaks occur, he said.

"By controlling pressure, you immediately reduce the water loss amount and only after that you have a lot of data (about) what's going on, and then you begin to prioritize where you replace pipes," Oren said.

Miya, based in Tel Aviv, specializes in developing urban water-loss technology. Miya’s mission is to help the cities of the world benefit from the huge opportunity presented by water loss reduction and effective management of urban water. Miya’s offering presents a comprehensive water loss solution for municipalities, from audit of the city’s water system to full project execution and maintenance.

According to a report in the Michigan Business Review, The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department provides an average of 675 million gallons of drinking water per day to nearly 4 million customers across 1,079 square miles in Southeast Michigan.

While amounts of loss vary according to location and age of the system, the department's latest estimate is that it loses an average of 9 percent of its drinking water supplies to leaks, said Pam Turner, interim director.

"This is treated water that we're losing out of the system," she said.

Miya workers will initially staff the two pilot projects, Oren said.

"No question that as soon as possible we need to find the right partners. Most of the jobs need to be by the local (companies) or even employees of the local utility," he said.

The project resulted from Gov. Jennifer Granholm's economic investment trip to Israel in November and a corresponding partnership agreement she signed with Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai.

"We have to understand that there is this nexus between water and energy," said Cherry, who leads a joint Michigan-Israel water technology working group. "This initiative is the next step in that progression to a new Michigan - alternative energy, blue water and on and on as we build the dream of a Michigan future.

"Ultimately what our goal here with this initiative is to put Michigan in the position of global leadership and expertise with water management systems."

Ben-Gurion University signs deal with Bayer CropScience

2009-04-23T10:11:00.003-04:00

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev signed an agreement with Bayer BioScience N.V., a subsidiary of Bayer CropScience, to develop solutions to help plants cope with extreme temperatures and limited water availability.

The agreement builds upon the expertise and breakthrough results from Dr. Simon Barak's laboratory at the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR), according to an announcement by the University.

Barak's team is identifying genes that allow plants to tolerate the harsh environmental stresses characteristic of arid regions, and its study was published recently in the journal Plant Physiology.

Two of these genes have been studied in detail and the team found that by removing either of the two genes, the tolerance of the model plant, Arabidopsis, to heat, salt and drought could be increased.

The agreement signed between BGN Technologies -- the technology transfer company of Ben-Gurion University -- and Bayer CropScience will allow the identification of additional genes that have an effect on making plants more "stress-resistant".

Barak said the new collaboration will allow his team to further sift through the estimated 30,000 Arabidopsis genes to identify additional candidate stress tolerance genes.

BioScience is one of three business groups of Bayer CropScience, a subsidiary of Germany's Bayer AG with sales of 6.4 billion euros in 2008.

Ben-Gurion U. researchers develop green window technology

Ben-Gurion University partners with Israel Cleantech Ventures

Arrow Ecology wins California waste treatment deal; also in talks to build Maryland facility

2009-04-21T18:11:00.004-04:00

Arrow Ecology, a waste-treatment company based in Haifa, Israel, and its partners partners have won a $17 million municipal solid waste to biofuel conversion project in southern California.

According to a report in Globes, Arrow Ecology's share of the project is $7-8 million, plus maintenance fees over the 20-year franchise.

Arrow Ecology will handle 50,000 tons of municipal solid waste a year sent from CR&R Waste and Recycling Services Inc., operates in the greater Los Angeles area.

Arrow Ecology was founded in 1975 to treat industrial waste, oils, and sludge. Its solid waste unit has 35 employees, and is now hiring marketing staff, process engineers, and machine engineers.

Consensus Business Group of the UK and a large Israeli investment company have invested $15 million in Arrow Ecology to date. The company's ArrowBio Process can recycle over 90% of municipal solid waste and converts the rest into biogas, such as methane and carbon dioxide, greatly reducing the need for landfills. Some of the biofuel can be used by heavy machinery.

According to another news report, Arrow Ecology is also in talks to construct an environmentally friendly waste treatment plant in Frederick County, Maryland.

Melvin Finstein, president of ArrowBio USA, and other representatives of Arrow Ecology, met in March with Frederick County local officials at the 24th International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management in Philadelphia.

Excerpt of Finstein's interview with the Frederick County Gazette are available here.

Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Erdan calls for freeze on planned coal-fired power plant

2009-04-20T14:48:00.001-04:00

Israel's new Environmental Protection Minister, Gilad Erdan, has issued a detailed objection to the planned coal-fired power plant in Ashkelon.

Born and raised in Ashkelon, Erdan has long been a vocal opponent of Israel Electric Corp.'s plans to build two additional coal-fired units at the Rutenberg Power Station. Erdan asked the interim cabinet secretary to freeze plans for the new units and called for an updated plan for the energy marke that takes into account the recent discovery of natural gas off Israel's coast, the global economic crisis, and international climate change agreements.

Erdan listed eight reasons why another coal-fired power plant was unnecessary:

The discovery of large deposits of natural gas at the Tamar site, off Haifa, and the Dalit site, off Hadera, necessitated a reappraisal of the situation;

The financial crisis has already led to a 10 percent decrease in electricity use and momentum could be used to activate the national conservation campaign to reduce use by 20%;

The emergency plan put in place by the National Infrastructures Ministry last year had passed through planning committees faster than expected, thus putting more megawatts based on natural gas at the availability of the IEC;

Erdan urged upgrading and "re-powering" existing plants to produce more electricity rather than building new ones;

He urged the country to adopt energy streamlining measures such as those being advocated worldwide;

Even if a coal-fired plant needed to be built at some point, it should be built at a later date, after technological improvements made operation cleaner;

Noting that European countries had set renewable energy goals of 20% by 2020, Erdan called for Israel to do the same;

Finally, Erdan argued that it was counterproductive to build a highly polluting power plant when Israel would most likely have to abide by the post-Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions set to go into effect in 2012.

BrightSource Energy plans 600MW solar thermal project in Nevada

2009-04-18T09:23:00.001-04:00

BrightSource Energy, Inc., developer of large-scale solar thermal energy plants, announced last month that it has reached agreement on the principal terms of a private land contract with the Coyote Springs Land Company in Nevada.

The agreement marks a critical step in the development of a solar thermal energy project that could provide up to 600 megawatts of clean reliable solar thermal energy to both the Nevada and California markets.

"With abundant sun and access to key markets in Nevada and California, the Coyote Springs site is an ideal location to develop clean, reliable and low cost solar thermal energy," Tom Doyle, executive vice president of project development for BrightSource.

The power from BrightSource's project could serve not only Coyote Springs, but also other BrightSource customers such as the Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric, said Keely Wachs, a spokesman for BrightSource, according to Greentech Media.

BrightSource Industries (Israel) Ltd. ("BSII"), formerly known as Luz II Ltd., headquartered in Jerusalem, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BrightSource Energy. The BSII team provides product development and engineering services, and supplies the solar fields, including heliostats, solar boilers, and control systems for all of BrightSource Energy's projects.

Arnold Goldman, the founder of BrightSource Energy, recently addressed the CleanIsrael meetup group in Tel Aviv. A transcript of his remarks is available on the group's web site.

Related Posts:

BrightSource Energy and SCE sign 1.3 GW solar thermal deal

BrightSource / Luz II dedicate Negev Solar Energy Development Center

BrightSource Energy raises $115 million in latest round of funding

BrightSource signs large solar deal with PG&E

Aqwise signs cooperation agreement with Mekorot to field-test biological treatment system for drinking water

2009-04-18T08:45:00.004-04:00

Aqwise, a Herzliya, Israel-based provider of advanced solutions for wastewater treatment, has signed a cooperation agreement with Mekorot, Israel's national water company, for field-testing an innovative technology for biological treatment of nitrate contamination in drinking water.

The agreement was signed in the framework of WaTech, Mekorot’s entrepreneurship and partnership center for water technologies.

Aqwise has recently begun developing innovative solutions for contaminants removal from drinking water. According to the company, these solutions are based on the unique technology and extensive knowledge that were achieved in the company in the field of biological treatment of wastewater, through the development and implementation of its moving-bed technology, AGAR (Attached Growth Airlift Reactor) process, utilizing biomass carriers.

Nitrate is one of the most common contaminants of groundwater in the world and originates in agricultural fertilization, cesspits and dairy farming. Tens of thousands of wells in the US and in Europe contain Nitrate concentrations that exceed permitted standards. As a result, a significant part of the wells is closed and millions of cubes of potential drinking water are not being used.

Elad Frenkel, CEO of Aqwise, commented “The company engages in constant research and development of innovative technologies for wastewater treatment and is glad to penetrate the drinking water treatment field, thus significantly expending its potential target market. Cost-effective groundwater contamination treatment has a great importance, especially nowadays, when the global water crisis becomes severe. The cooperation with 'Mekorot' is strategic for the company”.

Mekorot CEO Ido Rosilio said, "The collaboration with Aqwise will help Mekorot find an effective and environmentally friendly solution for treating contaminants in drinking water. This solution can help return tens of thousands of cubic meters of clean water to Israel's water reservoirs."

Related Posts:

AqWise wins EU Eureka grant to develop wastewater treatment system

AqWise to supply technology to wastewater treatment facility in Israel

Israel Cleantech buys 11% of AqWise

Ormat installing solar panels at factory in Israel

2009-04-07T13:49:00.005-04:00

Ormat Industries Ltd., the parent of NYSE-listed Ormat Technologies, a world leader in geothermal and recovered energy power generation, will collaborate with Sunday Solar Energy Ltd. to install an NIS 20 million ($5 million) photovoltaic power system on the roof of Ormat's factory in Yavne, Israel.

The system will have a capacity of 1 megawatt and surplus power not used by Ormat will be sold back to the Israel Electric Corporation. Ormat will thus benefit from the feed-in tariff established by Israel's Public Utilities Authority (Electricity) for the sale of electricity at NIS 1.97 per kilowatt/hour.

Ormat is also participating in the tender for construction of a solar thermal power plant at Ashalim in the Negev.

Sunday Solar to power Israeli kibbutzim

A "Renewable Light Unto the Nations"

SOVNA developing urban wind farms, releases video of pilot project

2009-04-07T11:45:00.004-04:00

SOVNA, a Tel Aviv-based startup that installs vertical micro wind turbines atop high-rise buildings, is currently featured on Israel21c.

Erez Ella, a noted Israeli architect whose projects include the Museum Plaza in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of Sovna's co-founders and participated in the CICC Cleantech Tour of Silicon Valley in 2008. Previously called ALT E, SOVNA was also featured in Ha'aretz last year.

Below is a short video that includes images from SOVNA's pilot project atop an Israeli skyscraper and commentary from the founding team of Guy Shahar (CEO), Erez Ella (CTO) and Danny Cohen.

Related Posts:

Israel sets feed-in tariff for wind power

Israeli cleantech startups to visit Silicon Valley

ALT E to develop urban wind farms

Better Place and Haifa cooperate on electric car infrastructure

2009-04-06T23:39:00.006-04:00

Every new building to be built in Haifa, Israel's third largest city, must include infrastructure compatible with charge spots for electric cars, according to a memorandum of understanding between Better Place and the Municipality of Haifa.

The document was signed by Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav and Better Place Israel CEO Moshe Kaplinsky, according to a March report by Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahranot.

According to the agreement, Haifa will also conduct a three-year pilot study to examine the feasibility of using electric cars and will allow Better Place to build exchange stations and charge spots throughout the city.

"Local authorities' heads are showing much interest in taking part in the electric car project in order to improve the quality of life of their residents," Kaplinsky said last month.

"Mayors understand the need to prepare for the coming of the electric car and to lay out an infrastructure that will, for the first time, allow fast, convenient and available charging. Better Place has already set up 400 charging stations in various cities."

Related Posts:

Better Place partners with 19 Israeli companies

IDF considers Better Place infrastructure and electric troop carriers

Better Place appoints Israel CEO, declares Israel as primary R&D center

Israel developing hybrid electric Hummer

2009-04-06T23:14:00.003-04:00

Israel Military Industries (IMI), the Ramat Hasharon, Israel-based defense company, is developing an electric version of the Hummer all-terrain vehicle.

According to Globes, this is a project of IMI's Slavin Land Systems Division, which also develops and upgrades armored vehicles and tanks.

The Israeli electric Hummer will use a powerful battery-operated electric motor combined with a diesel engine, which functions as a generator and recharger for the batteries when necessary. The combination extends the effective operating range of the Hummer from a few dozen kilometers on electric power to more than 450 kilometers, with a single tank of diesel fuel.

The electric Hummer is especially effective for military missions that require silence. The vehicle is also low-maintenance, has high survivability, clean emissions, and high performance. It is supposed to reach speeds of over 120 km/h and has rapid acceleration. Use of a generator for self-recharging is aimed at providing independent mobility without the need for a special recharging infrastructure.

IMI believes that the electric Hummer project has the potential for upgrading 200,000 military Hummers that are nearing the end of their operational lives worldwide.

IDF considers Better Place infrastructure and electric troop carriers