Mission To Israel Shifts Focus To Environmental Technologies
May 26, 2010 1:57 PM
McGuinty Highlights Existing Partnerships With Companies In Israel
Ontario's trade mission began today in Tel Aviv and then travelled to southern Israel to see how the public and private sector are working together to spur innovation.
Ontario partnered with Better Place -- headquartered in California -- in 2009 to help establish an electric car network in Ontario. Premier Dalton McGuinty, along with Economic Development and Trade Minister, Sandra Pupatello, visited the company's research and development facility in Tel Aviv where they met with the company's CEO, Shai Agassi.
The Premier also visited the AORA solar tower in the Arava desert in southern Israel. The tower uses technology developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science, which the Ontario delegation visited on Tuesday. The installation produces power using mirrors that reflect solar rays at the tower, which then produces electricity.
The Premier then travelled to the Arava Institute where he met with faculty and students who are part of an environmental studies program run in cooperation with Ben-Gurion University.
QUICK FACTS
- For every 10,000 electric vehicles on the road, Better Place estimates that Ontario will offset more than 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually.
- Since 2003, more than 1,300 megawatts of renewable electricity capacity has come online in Ontario -- enough to power more than 400,000 homes.
- Ontario is Canada's leader in wind power and solar photovoltaic capacity. The province is home to both Canada's largest wind and solar farms.
LEARN MORE
ontario.ca/premier
"We have a lot to learn from Israeli scientists and entrepreneurs who have embraced the challenge of sustaining life in the challenging desert climate. Ontario's own high-skilled workers and researchers are eager to explore partnerships with those who brought electricity and water to the desert."
– Dalton McGuinty
Premier of Ontario
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