Summary of the Eilat-Eilot 7th International Conference for Renewable
and Clean Energy

The 7th Conference ended just over a month ago. The Conference’s greatest success was, first and foremost, the fact that it was attended by 500 guests from Israel and abroad, who came despite the difficult years experienced by the industry. Their attendance demonstrated the dynamism and desire to continue driving this market, out of a belief in sustainable economic development. The true hard core of this industry in Israel were in present, and we thank all those who participated.

The following important points emerged at the Conference:
1. The Energy Minister promised that 2017 would be the year of renewable energy, and that 1000 megawatts of quota would be released by means of tenders for the cheapest electricity rate.
2. The Electric Corporation declared its readiness for a new era of decentralized electricity production.
3. The Association of Renewable Energy Companies inaugurated the field of innovation at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
4. Eilat and the Arava declared their intention to be an energy independent region, relying solely on renewables.
5. We presented a vision of 100% renewable energy in the future – many countries are heading towards achieving this goal by 2035.
6. Significant possibilities were presented for Israeli companies to break out into the wider world, and gain exposure in the developing world.
7. Tools and ideas were presented for crossing the “Valley of Death” with technological innovation (a termused to describe the financial difficulties experienced when transitioning from the startup phase).
8. The Israeli regulator presented the future tenders and guiding principles in implementing renewable energies in Israel.
Many other ideas and discussions emerged in the sessions and at meetings in the corridors of the Conference. Please visit the Conference website to see the speeches of the opening session, lecture presentations and of course photos.

We look forward to meeting you again at the Eilat-Eilot 8th International Conference, same place, same time.
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Investors Event at the Eilat-Eilot Conference for Renewable and
Clean Energy
One of the main events at the Conference was the Investors Event, at which
presentations were made by the ten leading start-ups in Israel in the field of
clean energy.
The ten finalists were chosen out of dozens of companies that applied and competed for the big prize – a fully financed trip by the Export Institute, to the world’s most important clean tech conference – the CleanTech Forum in San Francisco in January 2017. Four of the selected companies are Capital Nature’s portfolio companies.

Judges at the Conference were investors from around the world, who asked the companies questions after a short 7 min. presentation. The investors also introduced themselves, and one of them, the person responsible for innovation at the giant electricity company EON, gave an interesting lecture in which he presented his view of trends in the field, and how the company is investing and promoting young technology companies.

The big winner was announced at the gala evening, and this time it was ElectRoad, a company that is developing a revolutionary solution for wirelessly charging electric cars from the road, hardly needing a battery. The CEO of the company, Oren Ezer, will shortly be off on a fully-funded trip to San-Francisco! Sponsors of the event were Capital Nature, MIT forum, the Ministry of the Economy’s NewTech and the Export Institute.

List of Presenting companies
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Sustainergy 4International Youth Competition and Conference on Sustainable Energy

The competition and Youth Conference aims to encourage outstanding young scientists from Israel and abroad to aspire to, and recognize the opportunities available for the development of solutions that support the conservation of the Earth’s resources. This is the 4th competition, and after an extensive selection process ten teams with ten different projects in the field of off grid systems/infrastructures were chosen. They were accompanied by five mentors over five intensive days in which they worked, studied, and toured renewable energy sites and energy efficiency projects in Eilat and Eilot region. Above all, enjoying the experience of working with young people from other countries and cultures.

The competition concluded at the Eilat-Eilot Conference. All ten teams were able to display their projects in the Conference exhibition hall. During the opening session there was an award ceremony for the three winning teams
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The Manbeta (Regional Accelerator Program)
Last month a judging day was held to choose the new ventures to be funded by the Manbeta in 2017. The ventures presented were very interesting, and we are happy to report that there has been a significant improvement in the quantity and quality of the applications we received. The committee chose four ventures, which will already start working with the Manbeta next month:

1) DecodeChess from Kibbutz Ketura – a venture in the field of decoding and explaining chess moves on the computer.
2) A venture developing a unique biological filter that will allow marine agriculture wastewater to be treated. The venture is led by two researchers from the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute (IOLR) and the Dead Sea and Arava Science Center.
3) A venture for antibacterial treatment of fish using seaweed in aquaculture, presented by two researchers from the IOLR.
4) Continued funding of the MAX group (Samar dung beetle trap) of Kibbutz Samar, which has made great progress in proving its technology and developing a product for trapping dung beetles and other insects using solar traps.

Another of the ten ventures presented on judging day will be chosen later. The possibilities include: an ethylene gas sensor for monitoring and transporting agricultural produce; a technology for removing sulfide form biogas; or a portable solar water pump for off grid areas. We wish them all every success.
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Workshop on launching a new pilot at the Off-Grid Technologies Demonstration Village – mobile solar pump

At the beginning of December, we held a workshop summarizing the 18 months’ fruitful collaboration between the Association of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) and Eilat-Eilot, with the aim of developing a technology for solar water pumping in off grid areas.

Participating in the event were 40 invited guests from the Eilot region – people involved in technology, tour guides, environmental studies students from the Arava Institute and leaders of the Off-Grid Demonstration Village.Together they learned about the local needs of farmers in Ethiopia and the severe water problem that affects and shapes the farmers’ ability to establish local food crops for their subsistence and economic security. The workshop presented the fascinating process of planning and building the pilot for a mobile solar water pump, which will replace the costly and polluting diesel pumps, and provide a two-fold answer for the farmers:
1. During the day, pumping water for a number of farmers in several different allotments;
2. Storing surplus energy for other farm needs, such as operating electrical machinery requiring considerable energy (electric saw), and charging mobile phones. The first prototype has been successfully built, including a small agricultural plot for demonstrating the full process as it will operate in Ethiopia, a water tower, and a low pressure irrigation system. At the end of the workshop there was a training session in the system’s operation, and a one-year pilot was started in the village, after which we hope to launch the first systems in Ethiopia for use by farmers. The solar pump was developed by EWB as part of a joint project with Eilat- Eilot, funded by the US Embassy’s MEPI program.
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http://www.eilateilot.org/newsletter/