OECD secretary-general Angel Gurría did us a great favor last week on his visit to Israel. Instead of fielding requests from senior government figures for assistance to Israeli industry, or financing joint research programs, and that kind of thing, he came with a thick volume the amazing title of which was “Clean-Tech Clustering as an Engine for Local Development: The Negev Region”, no less.
Which goes to show that a prophet is without honor in his own country. After all, for years, we of the Israeli cleantech industry have been crying from every possible platform: support and encourage the cleantech industry, and we'll deliver the sun. Let's swap power production from fuel oil for clean solar energy. Let's be groundbreakers and world leaders in this field. We have the know-how, the experts, the best researchers, and, of course, plenty of sun. Despite all these advantages, only a few months ago there were those ready to give the last rites to the Israeli cleantech industry. The government cut quotas, weakly financed companies collapsed, or were on the brink of collapse, and the future looked pretty gloomy.
A good start
Then, in one week, two positive events happened, arousing hope and inspiration: the Public Utilities Authority (Electricity) announced its decision to approve some 40 initiatives to produce solar power in mid-size installations, at a cost of about NIS 250 million. This is a small proportion of the total quota (300 megawatt), but still, a good start. This decision will at once provide an incentive for the local cleantech industry. This can be clearly seen in the massive interest on the part of international cleantech companies in coming to find Israeli clients at the forthcoming cleantech exhibition, which will take place in Israel at the beginning of July.
The other thing that happened last week was, as mentioned, the exciting report from Angel Gurría.
The OECD researchers discovered, for example, that in the Negev region alone there are some 50 active cleantech companies, twice as many as in any other part of Israel. They found that, in the Negev, there are four technology incubators, university research departments, and independent research centers, representing a third of all the cleantech research activity in the country. At the same time, private investment in cleantech in Israel is on the rise.
The OECD report echoes precisely what the present writer and senior figures in our cleantech industry have been saying and writing for years: everything must be done to ensure that part of the huge budget that will be injected into the Negev region as IDF training bases are transferred to the south (the figure mentioned is NIS 25 billion) is allocated for development of green industry. This will immediately provide much high quality employment, and, in the long term, energy efficiency and environmental protection on a scale seen today only in countries like Denmark, Sweden and Germany.
Once, we talked about making the desert bloom with sage quotations from David Ben-Gurion, the old man of Sde Boker. Now we have these insights from the secretary-general of one of the most respected organizations in the world. Has the time not come to adopt Gurría's report in a genuine way, for the benefit of the Negev and of Israel's power industry alike.
The writer is joint-CEO of Cleantech 2012, the 16th Annual International Summit and Exhibition for Water Technologies, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Recycling, Green Transportation and Green Building, to be held in Tel Aviv on July 3-4.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 13, 2012
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