The 9th Eilat-Eilot International Conference has come to an end, and it was an amazing event.
This year some 750 members from across the spectrum of clean energy participated.
The conferenced opened dramatically when the Minister of Energy announced that she is freezing gas exploration for a year, is establishing the Renewable Energy division in the Ministry, and that she views gas as a transitional fuel. She added that from now the emphasis will be on renewable energy. The announcement was heralded with numerous headlines in media, social networks and government offices.
This year we were afforded a rare opportunity to hear the Supervisor of Banks detail the perspective of the financial regulator’s outlook on renewables in the economy and which sees the Bank of Israel committed to assisting in upholding government targets and the Paris Agreement. The anticipated climate crisis is expected to cause shockwaves to the economy. Global transitioning from an economy based on fossil fuels to a low carbon emissions economy involves countless changes, significant loss of value on assets, global carbon taxes that will alter the value of goods, changes to the employment market, and more. The Bank of Israel and the Supervisory body are committed to think tanking on the long term options and taking steps to ensure a gradual changeover as a way of easing the change for the public. Regulations that will become valid during 2022 will require disclosing and reporting climate risks based on international standards.
We had an excellent meeting with the Minister of Energy and 50 female leaders in the field of energy, the purpose being to acquaint and link up for joint work.
Unfortunately Covid-19 significantly reduced the number of participants and delegations from abroad compared to pre-Covid conferences but we did not raise our hands in defeat and succeeded in hosting Alexander Richall, Manager of Technologies in the UAE city of Masdar; Anna Shipsberg, of the USA State Department, and other dignitaries.
This year the program focused on reaching government goals for integrating renewable energy; investments and financing for renewables, a fast growing field; and innovation in all its diversity. Accordingly, the conference also presented 25 booths with the top innovative technologies in the clean energy market.
EnergyVest: the competition presented leading Israeli initiatives in the field of renewable energy for international investors.
Ten promising innovation startups competed, each presenting a breakthrough concept in cleantech that could lead to significant carbon reductions.
First place went to Structure Pal, which develops AI based systems for reducing cement in construction. SiliB came in second place with its development of Li-ion silicon based batteries.
We are closing this 9th Conference with very optimist expectations. Following years in which the economy and government dragged their feet, preferring fossil fuels that require deep drilling, at last we see that the Regulator has realized the advantages that clean energy brings to the electricity economy, public health, and the climate crisis.
Let’s hope that in the coming two years, clean energy will become a significant player in Israel’s electricity supply mix, that we will see the economy flourishing and continuing to attract more new players and more investments, and that today’s innovations will become tomorrow’s real time technologies. And of course we aim to get as close as possible to the targeted 30% renewables.
Thanks to you all for being with us.
We look forward to seeing you at the 10th Eilat Eilot Conference.
The Eilat Eilot Renewable Energy Team
