With the Democratic National Convention in full swing, expect much attention focused on alternative energy, Cleantech and environmental issues. After all, House Speaker Pelosi has mentioned that her goal is to save the planet and Al Gore will show up and do his usual speech on how global warming will destroy the planet if we don’t do anything ASAP. I don’t want my cynicism to show through but have the DNC and Obama’s organizers taken any measures to ensure that this convention is environmentally friendly? How much energy is being used to run the event? Just asking.

Anyway, a great article out in the Jpost today about how Israel is on the way to being a world leader in Cleantech. While Shai Agassi’s electric car initiative has gained many headlines around the world, Israel is also very quietly making strong inroads, in solar and water technologies. The article focuses on how Israel is developing the technology for the purpose of letting larger nations do the implementation. Much like the current technological revolution, Israel has been behind many of the advances that have powered us forward. The view is that Cleantech will be Israel’s next boom industry as technologies will be developed that power a move away from crude oil towards alternative energy sources.

The article quotes Isaac Berzin, an expert in using algae to curb greenhouse gases: “Israel should be a world leader - creating the solutions the world is looking for. Investments are coming to Israel [as a result] and lots of jobs are created. Let’s say you develop a major solar technology, which is cost effective etc. What’s the demand for electricity in Israel? A small fraction of world demand. If your only output is Israel then you are in trouble. Hi-tech was great for Israel. Where were the markets? Out there, which is absolutely fine.”

It’s interesting that the one thing Israel lacks is natural resources. The one thing Israel has loads of is brainpower, ingenuity and entrepreneurship. Isn’t it ironic that Israel is using its’ main resource to try and level the economic playing field by developing technology that will greatly lessen the need for natural resources.

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Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

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Globes out today with an article about Project Better Place CEO, Shai Agassi’s recent address to the House of Representative’s Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.  Agassi, an Israeli uber-entreprenuer who had sold his software firm to German software giant SAP, had pretty compelling statitics backing his new venture — a venture focused on developing the infrastructure for mass-market electric cars.

Couple of points from Agassi’s presentation

• for the cost of 2 months of oil ($100B), the U.S. could put in place electric car infrastructure to end oil dependence
• for the price of 1 year worth of oil ($500B), the U.S. could “creat[e] fully renewable electrical generation sufficient to power all of the nation’s vehicles”
• Operating costs for electric cars is about $0.06/mile while traditional combustion engines cost $0.16/mile

You can see the entire webcast that took place last week here.  It’s an Interesting discussion and we’ve discussed Agassi’s plans previously on this site.  We’ve also interviewed one of his initial investors, Israel Cleantech.  Shai’s blog is also a good resource for his plans.

Shai and Co. have made a lot of PR success in Israel and it appears that from a partnership perspective, they are putting the pieces together.  Large Israeli investors continue to throw money at cleantech and it appears U.S. investors are also getting bulled up on the project.

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