Prof. George Ola and Prof. Surya Parkash from the University of Southern California won the Eric and Sheila Samson Prime Minister's Award in the amount of one million dollars for the development of a variety of technologies for the use of methanol as a substitute for fuels used in transportation * The award is granted by the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Science, Technology And the space and foundation foundation * This is the biggest prize in the world in the field
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Science, Technology and Space Yaakov Perry announced yesterday, October 15, 2013, the winners of the Prime Minister's Award for Innovation in the Alternative Energy for Transportation field for the first time.
Prof. George Ola and Prof. Surya Parkash from the University of Southern California won the award for developing a variety of technologies for the use of methanol as a substitute for fuels used in transportation, an overall strategy known as the "methanol economy". The award is granted by the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space and the Foundation .
Minister of Science, Technology and Space Jacob Perry said at the event: "This is the biggest award in the world in the field of oil substitutes for transportation. Israel aspires to find an answer to a global challenge and to free itself from national and global dependence on oil, in order to change world orders at the regional strategic level, also at the economic level and of course in the environmental reality."
The award, in the name of Eric and Sheila Samson, in the amount of one million dollars, through Keren Hayesod, is the largest financial award in the world in the field and is awarded to a researcher or research that has advanced the subject significantly. The winners were chosen from candidates recommended for the award by university presidents from Israel and the world. After sorting and screening work by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space, the winners were chosen by an international committee of judges who submitted their recommendation for approval to a board of trustees led by Prof. Yitzhak Apluig, former president of the Technion.
Prof. George Olah, born in 1927, completed his three academic degrees at the Technical University of Budapest in Hungary, which he left in 1956. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1994. He is currently a professor of chemistry and engineering at the University of Southern California and heads the " Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute" which he founded. Prof. Ola published 1,400 scientific articles and 120 patents are registered to his name. He wrote more than 20 books, including a book on the "economy of methanol" and was awarded dozens of prestigious awards, including 15 honorary degrees from universities around the world.
Prof. Prakash Surya, born in India in 1953, is a professor of chemistry at the University of Southern California in the USA and, together with Prof. Ola, directs the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute. He completed his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry in India at Bangalore University and the Madras Institute of Technology, India. He completed his doctoral and post-doctoral studies at the University of Southern California in the USA under Prof. George Ola. Prof. Parkash has published more than 680 scientific publications and 11 books, and more than 40 patents and patent applications are registered under his name.
Prof. Ola and Prof. Parkash jointly developed the idea of a "methanol economy", which has the potential to make a significant contribution to solving the transportation problem based on petroleum-based fuels, which are running out and whose prices are dictated by the oil monopoly. In their research, they proposed new processes for the synthesis of methanol from different sources so that it can be used as an energy source for transportation and reduce the dependence on diesel and gasoline, which are currently used for transportation. The proposed solution includes absorbing carbon dioxide emitted by burning fuels, recycling it and converting it to methanol. This solution will also contribute to reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, and to reducing the "greenhouse effect", since carbon dioxide is one of the "greenhouse gases" that cause global warming. Based on this research, the researchers published an extensive book on the subject and developed a variety of technologies, some of which are under economic feasibility study. On the basis of the technology they developed, a facility was established in Iceland a year ago to produce methanol from carbon dioxide, which, if proven successful, could lead to the expansion of the application and development of the technology.
The researchers also developed processes for processing natural gas, methane, found in the Itamar and Levitan reservoirs in Israel, into liquid methanol with an optimal composition and high efficiency, which can also be used as fuel for transportation. Another process they are working on is the direct oxidation of methanol in fuel cells to produce electricity.
Today, FFV (flex-fuel vehicles) vehicles are being developed in the world in which the engine is suitable for several types of fuel and their mixtures. In Israel, the standard allows the use of up to 3% methanol in fuel in a regular vehicle, but the Dor Alon station is conducting experiments to use fuel containing 15% methanol and 85% gasoline.
"Here is a scientifically based proposal that has been proven to have the potential to be implemented, a technology that can bring about a significant change in the transportation fuel market," says Prof. Yitzhak Apluig, who headed the board of trustees that selected the award winners. "The work of Professors Ola and Prakash offers a variety of technologies whose application can reduce dependence on transportation fuels and also reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air."
The board of trustees that examined the recommendations for the award and decided on the winners included the head of the National Economic Council in the Prime Minister's Office, Prof. Eugene Kendall; Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space Prof. Ehud Gazit; Chairman of Keren Hayesod Modi Zandberg; Nobel laureate Prof. Aharon Chachanover; four renowned scientists from around the world; and a representative of the donor's family.
The prize itself will be awarded to the winners on November 12 this year as part of an international conference on oil substitutes promoted by the Directorate of Oil Substitutes in the Prime Minister's Office headed by Eyal Rosner, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space and the Foundation. Government officials from around the world, international experts and senior investors will attend the conference, which is being held for the first time in Israel, with the aim of holding a forum for the formulation of international policy in the field of oil substitutes and positioning Israel as a leading industrial and knowledge center.
Eyal Rosner, head of the National Program for Fuel Substitutes, said: "Israel has set itself an ambitious goal - to reduce the use of fuel for transportation by 60% by the year 2025. In order to reach this goal, innovation, creativity and no less - a smart and strong policy are needed. Israel is preparing to be a world leader in this field, we must reduce dependence on oil and dependence on oil-producing countries and thus strengthen the world economy."
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Miracles,
Do you really believe that if a quick replacement for oil is not found, even if it is at the cost of the continued destruction of our blue planet, the State of Israel will be destroyed?!
According to the above quote from Jacob Perry - the environmental factor is the last factor mentioned - he cares more about politics and "regional strategy". And Eyal Rosner's quote does not mention the environmental factor at all.
Perry claims that it is necessary to "free ourselves from the national and global dependence on oil", but at the same time makes us dependent on another perishable substance, meaning that he is not interested in freeing himself from oil because it is perishable, but for other reasons - apparently political.
Also, the award is "awarded to a researcher or study that has advanced the subject significantly" - for some reason, they are in a hurry to promote this subject in a "significant" way, and according to Rosner to reduce it "by 60% by the year 2025" - what does this mean? That they predict that the oil will run out in 20 years from now? There is no chance that the oil will run out in 20 years, but they want to make Arab oil irrelevant in 20 years, and perhaps also on the way to make a lot of money from converting our natural gas to the fuel of the future.
Do they really expect that the State of Israel will be destroyed within 20 years, unless a quick economic substitute for oil is found?! Sounds a bit far-fetched.
I agree with Assaf that there is currently no such good alternative, but I do not agree that the solution should be immediate. They want to find a quick solution and adopt 60% of it in just over a decade. what's the rush Isn't it better to make a better and more calculated plan, which will bring a solution that will last for several good ages and not only until the next natural resource is depleted again?
Roy
Are you talking to me or to the Arab countries that say out loud "Let's destroy the Zionist entity"? Since when is it wrong to defend yourself from someone who wants to kill you?
Miracles, the other option for no victory is not only loss, but also cooperation. And in the context of solar energy, let's not forget that the Arabs have enough desert sand to produce silicon for solar cells, and they have enough sun to produce energy with them.
Assaf, solar energy is just one example of non-degradable energy, there is also the energy of the oceans, the energy of the wind, and many other different types of energy, which can be used without harming the earth.
My point is that the use and research of such energy should be encouraged so that it does become an alternative, i.e. an alternative energy, and perhaps on the way also try to make our cousins understand that this is the future, and they should focus on non-degradable and non-polluting energy rather than nuclear energy and oil.
Roy
"The main thing is to win the war against the Arabs" - I understand that you prefer to lose?
Sorry for the "digging". But the fact that the Arab economy is built only on oil exports is not realistic because it perpetuates corruption and unemployment. With the Arabs they would not depend on oil, their talents would be expressed
In my opinion, solar energy in its current form is not an alternative. The citizens of Israel reject solar energy, because it is not profitable. Israel has no problem buying oil.
The government is so blinded by the "cold" war with the Arab countries that it is trying to find a substitute for oil.
Instead of using an inexhaustible source of energy, such as the sun - solar energy, they continue to curse the earth and suck its resources - the main thing is to win the war against the Arabs.
The State of Israel has a smart Prime Minister. In my opinion, the country should diversify its energy sources (the gas will also run out eventually, and we don't know how much gas we really have). Israel needs nuclear energy, and the ability to produce nuclear fuel.