US-Israel programme awards USD 4.8m to clean-tech R&D projects

Dollars in green. Author: 401(K) 2012.

Five US-Israeli energy research and development (R&D) projects will receive USD 4.8 million (EUR 4.1m) in grants from the US Department of Energy (DoE), and Israel's Ministry of Energy (MoE) and the Israel Innovation Authority.

The projects, which are supported under the ninth annual selection of the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Energy programme, are in the areas of hydrogen storage, advanced biofuels, sustainable transportation and energy efficiency. Including cost sharing, their total value is USD 10.5 million, DoE said last week.

The five selected projects are listed below:

US partner	Israeli partner	Project
Power Authority of the State of New York	Brenmiller Energy Ltd of Rosh Ha'ayin	to develop high temperature storage based in combined heat and power (CHP)
AdvanceBio LLC of Milford, Ohio	CelDezyner Ltd of Rehovot	to develop a process for production of ethanol from lignocellulosic feedstocks
ALD NanoSolutions Inc of Broomfield, Colorado	QDM Ltd of Rehovot	to develop third generation high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cables
Detroit Bikes of Detroit, Michigan	SoftWheel Ltd of Tel Aviv	to develop an energy-efficient, low-maintenance, high-performance bicycle
Triton Systems Inc of Chelmsford, Massachusetts	TerraGenic Ltd of Kadima	to develop a safe hydrogen transport and storage system

BIRD Energy has so far provided about USD 30 million to 37 projects, including the latest winners, which have raised more than USD 200 million in follow-on funding to commercialise clean energy technologies.

The programme is designed to stimulate cooperation between Israeli and US companies through funding joint R&D in technologies such as solar, wind, biofuels, energy storage, fuel cells, smart grid, and water and energy efficiency.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.861)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!