Minister Ben Eliezer:  "Israel must lie in the van of the countries developing alternative energy sources. The Ministry of National Infrastructures will locate the most promising projects in order to achieve this aim." The Director-General of the Ministry of National Infrastructures presented today (Tuesday) to the Knesset Science and Technology Committee the activities of the Ministry in the subject.

The Minister for National Infrastructures, Binyamin (Fuad) Ben Eliezer, ordered the intensification of the efforts of his Ministry to add alternative energy sources, and ordered a series of steps be taken in this direction.

In accordance with the directions of the Minister, the Director-General of the Ministry, Mr. Hezi Kugler,  presented three major steps:

The first was the appointment of a senior manager who would head the field of alternative and renewable energy and would coordinate the work of the Ministry in this field. The appointment was expected to be made within a month of the publication of an internal tender by the Ministry.

A second step presented was the three-fold increase of the budgets allocated to initiatives in this field and the assignment of greater resources for support of new initiatives aimed at the development of alternative and renewable energy sources.

The third step presented by Kugler was the setting up of a fast track for the selection of projects in advanced stages of the development of alternative energy sources, possessing commercial potential and of interest to the private market.

The program will be presented to the public in a conference devoted to the subject, to be held at the end of March 2007. Sources in the Ministry of National Infrastructures stated that applications for support would be submitted up to May 2007. The names of those who would receive funding would be announced in the coming summer.

The major activities in the subject were presented by the Director-General of the Ministry of National Infrastructures, Mr. Hezi Kugler, in a discussion held today in the Knesset Science and Technology Committee.

The Minister for National Infrastructures, Binyamin (Fuad) Ben Eliezer, said: "Israel must lie in the van of the countries developing new energy sources as an alternative to crude oil and external pollutant sources. The Ministry headed by me will strive to locate the most promising projects in order to achieve this aim."