Jerusalem Gets Switched on to Renewable Energy

From The Jerusalem Post (http://www.jpost.com/), by Stuart Winer

A joint Israel-US conference on renewable energy sources kicked off on Tuesday in Jerusalem with the first ever demonstration of a commercial hydrogen fuel cell in Israel.

The Energy Independence of Democracies in the 21st Century conference, which is sponsored by, among others, the US Department of Energy, the American Jewish Congress, and the Ministry of National Infrastructure, focuses on developing renewable energy resources to enable national energy independence.

National Infrastructure Minister Yosef Paritzky and Minister-without-Portfolio Uzi Landau will both attend the conference, which continues over Wednesday and Thursday.

The cell, slightly smaller than a desktop computer, generated enough electricity to run a laptop computer using hydrogen from an attached gas cylinder.

Former US senator Rod Grams, addressing the conference, stressed the importance of energy independence to both Israel and the United States.

"We have faced energy crises and Israel has no natural energy resources of its own," Grams said."By gaining independence we lessen the chance of energy being used as a weapon."

"Israel does have brain power, so let's turn that into energy," Grams said. Randa Fahmy Hudome, until recently the US assistant deputy secretary of energy, said US President George W. Bush has pledged $1.7 billion for hydrogen fuel research.

"Our administration feels hydrogen is the way," Hudome said. "We need to make the technology available for everyday life." Hudome explained that the interest in hydrogen fuel cells is focused on powering vehicles and not an all-encompassing method of generating electricity.

"Diversification is secure," she said. "If one source becomes unavailable then you still have others."

Hydrogen fuel cells, which use hydrogen gas to generate heat, electricity, and water, are gaining popularity as the answer to environment friendly vehicles powered by home-grown resources. Although the technology was invented in the Sixties, the high cost of units limited application to extreme circumstances such as spacecraft and nuclear powered submarines.

With oil resources running low, the United States is looking for ways to wean itself off gasoline.

Several large car manufacturers in the US are testing hydrogen-powered prototype cars and the industry is gearing itself for what may be the most radical change since the invention of the internal combustion engine.