An old Israeli joke describes how God led Moses through the desert to the Holy Land for 40 years, through hardships and dangers, only to lead the Israelite nation to the only spot in the Middle East where there isn’t a drop of oil.

Two thousand years later, things have remained pretty much the same. Today, Israel is considered an “island-state”, with over 99% of its capacity produced from imported fossil fuels.

In alignment with global trends, Israel has experienced a recent surge of new ventures in the field, comprising commercial, academic and regulatory initiatives. Although a pioneer and home to world leaders in the RE field, the post-80s low oil pricing era left the Israeli RE industry relatively dormant in comparison with its blossoming high-tech activity. (more…)

There has been a great deal of talk and excitement about the electrification of transportation that is expected to occur over the next few years. The Prius proved to everyone that electric technology can work as well as or better than only gas power. Now, companies such as Tesla and Mission Motors are proving that high-performance and electric not only belong in the same sentence but that these terms are increasingly becoming synonymous.

How far along are we? Its already common to see Teslas’ quietly cruising around many parts of California and partially electric bicycles are becoming an increasingly regular sighting.

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Like many countries, Thailand has an issue with waste.  From buildings, to manufacturing and agriculture, to consumer goods and tourism leftovers, mountains of garbage go to landfill each year. Agriculture alone in Thailand churns out 58,190,000 tons of refuse annually (Land Development Department, Government of Thailand).  Think about that the next time you frolic on a Thai beach. 

Throughput of industrial system today, from source to end consumer, ends up in landfills or incinerator.  For every truckload of product with lasting value, 32 truckloads of waste are produced.  On a finite planet, it doesn’t take a genius to realize this sort of system is totally unsustainable. 

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Energy involves many complex issues, from how it is sourced to where it is used.  Crafting intelligent energy policy also means understanding how cultural, social, and political issues come into play.

Dr. Michael Quah is one of the well versed experts in this area.  With qualifications from Harvard and Yale, a 20+ year career in as an engineer and consultant, his latest work is with Energy Studies Institute and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.  He also does research and development for the U.S. Army around energy technologies.

According to Dr. Quah, taking a systems-of-systems approach is advantageous.  The bigger picture view, taking into account even some of the smallest details, is useful to understanding complex interrelationships.

With energy, nothing can be oversimplified.  Beyond that, energy projects– whether from renewable or traditional energy sources– need to be carefully analyzed for lifecycle costs and long term impacts.

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