Bar-Ilan University launches research center for energy and sustainability; school for sustainability and the environment
Bar-Ilan University to invest hundreds of millions of shekels in research, ventures and training in the field of energy and sustainability over the next decade. Among the technologies under development: hydrogen-based drones, fuel cells to create green energy, a green wall and sodium-based batteries. University President Prof. Arie Zaban said: “Energy and sustainability are intertwined. If we don’t solve the energy problem we won’t be able to operate in a sustainable environment. These are two issues that have a decisive impact on the future of humanity and we’re now addressing them through a center that includes 55 research groups and a home that will train the next generation of practitioners in the field.”
Bar-Ilan University has inaugurated a Center for Energy and Sustainability, in the presence of Energy Minister Karine Elharrar, and launched a Multidisciplinary School for Sustainability and the Environment. Over the next decade, Bar-Ilan will invest hundreds of millions of shekels in research and environmental projects in Israel and around the world.
At the launch of the Center for Energy and Sustainability Minister of Energy Karine Elharrar said, “As David Ben Gurion put it, security is energy. We need a combination of different types of energy and the crisis in Europe shows that we can’t give up on any of them at the moment. We must lead the world of energy and an institute like the one inaugurated at Bar-Ilan is the place from which results will emerge. I welcome and hope for cooperation with the Ministry of Energy, because the connection between regulators, academia and those in the field is what will march the State of Israel forward.”
The Center for Energy and Sustainability includes 55 research groups and will focus on research and development of renewable energy from the early stages to active technologies. In addition, the center will work to cultivate entrepreneurs and researchers who are tomorrow’s potential leaders of the energy industry in Israel.
The research center established on campus will advise, initiate and promote research while building collaborations with industry. Networks, AI, storage, hydrogen, current stability and high voltage are some of the topics that will be researched by Bar-Ilan’s experts. The center employs leading researchers from Israel and abroad, in collaboration with government ministries, entrepreneurs, industrial companies in the fields of science and technology, as well as experts in the fields of regulation, the environment, climate, sustainability and education.
Alongside the research center, the Multidisciplinary School for Sustainability and the Environment will be the university’s teaching center and will train the next generation of practitioners in these fields. In recent years, there has been a steady increase in the number of applicants for degrees in environmental-related fields at the various educational institutions.
The Multidisciplinary School for Sustainability and the Environment will unite all of the university’s programs for environmental studies under one roof, initiate and support the development of new programs and majors, and develop innovative teaching methods. In addition, it will run courses taught in a hybrid or online manner open to students from all academic disciplines on campus.
Senior officials from the Israel Electric Company and the Doral Group also spoke at the inaugural event. Amir Livne, Vice President of Strategy at the Israel Electric Company: “Just like during COVID-19, we are faced with an existential need that requires mobilization of the minds. This cannot be achieved without research and academia, and we have the best minds in the world here to meet this challenge.”
Roee Furman, Managing Director of Doral Energy-Tech Ventures, Doral Group’s innovation and investment arm: “We are pleased and excited to collaborate with researchers at Bar-Ilan University, who are world leaders in the development of the energy and climate technologies of the future. We are facing a decade of opportunities for real change in the fight against the climate crisis and we at Doral are proud to be a pioneering force in funding and supporting applied research that will place Israel at the forefront in the war on global warming.”
Photo (left to right): Prof. Lior Elbaz, who is developing hydrogen-based technology that powers drones, Bar-Ilan Council of Trustees Chairman Shlomo Zohar, Minister of Energy Karine Elharrar, Bar-Ilan President Prof. Arie Zaban and CEO Zohar Yinon
Courtesy: Bar-Ilan University
