Joshua Levinberg Awards Winners Of Israeli Competition For Student Projects In Renewable Energy

    TEL AVIV, ISRAEL, November 21, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The ISES competition recognizes outstanding student research in renewable energy in areas such as the use of sustainable energy, solar energy, wind energy, wave power, tidal power, biomass, renewable alternative fuels, conversion, storage and transportation of renewable energy, and energy saving. The projects can be concerned with all aspects related to renewable energy: science, technology, economics, management and planning, law, society etc. It is open to students in all universities and colleges in Israel.

Among the winning projects were Solar-Driven CO2 Reduction process, Vibration Based Energy Harvesting and Photo-Current Generation in Hybrid Organic- Inorganic Photovoltaic Devices. Other winning projects were model for analysis of techno-economic ventilation system for municipal wastewater and development of solar panels adjusted for cheap manufacturing.

The ISES promotes science, technology and application of renewable energy. The Society organizes lectures, meetings and conferences on renewable energy, supports disseminate and information exchange between entities in the energy sector and the public, and promotes cooperation with organization in Israel and abroad that can advance the use and awareness of sustainable energy in Israel. It is also the Israeli section of the International Solar Energy Society.

Israel is a world leader in Renewable Energy technologies and has thriving solar thermal collector industry and innovative startups in the areas of renewable energy and energy sustainability. Since the 1950's it has introduced breakthroughs such as selective coating in solar thermal collector, design to absorb as much sunlight as possible while losing very little energy, and the Organic Rankine Cycle used for waste heat recovery and biomass power plant.

Joshua Levinberg is a well-established Israeli entrepreneur, the co-founder of Gilat Satellite Networks, a leader in the international market of production and supply of satellite based communications networks. He was involved in investing and establishing a number of high-tech companies in Israel that have gained global market presence, and he is currently Senior Advisor for Business Development and Corporate Strategy at Gilat.

Levinberg is also a player in the area of the of sustainable industries, as co-founder of Agropeace Bio, an Israeli company engaged in the development of large-scale castor plantations in Africa, used for biodiesel activities. The castor seeds are extracted for oil and are used for the biodiesel industry and for other commercial usages. Growing fields of castor for oil has many substantial benefits - in addition of helping to absorb CO2, the use of renewable bio-oils instead of petroleum based oils for the production of biopolymers, lubricants and other applications, contributes to the creation of sustainable industries. Other important benefit is the castor's ability to grow on arid, waste or marginal land, where food crops can't grow.

# # #