Israel's 300 Days of Sun No Help as Offshore Gas Eclipses Solar Power

摘要

After struggling to grow citrus trees on a stretch of parched desert, Israel's Kibbutz Ketura instead devoted the land to harvesting the country's most abundant resource: sunshine. Yet as the kibbutzniks seek to expand their solar installations, the government is proving almost as formidable an obstacle as the scorched soil ever was. "Israel has the technology and plenty of sunshine, but the government is completely ignoring the renew-ables industry," said Yosef Abramowitz, a solar energy advocate who helped found Arava Power Co., the developer of the Ketura field.