ISRAEL-US: Partnership for Clean and Secure
Energy Solutions
Event Co-Chairs: Lisa Wolf and Beata Shneyer
November 8, 2009
16:30–20:00
AJC JERUSALEM
Beit Moses, 11 Mesilat Yesharim Street, Jerusalem
Please RSVP to Noa at
Israel@ajc.org.il or 02-625-5281
Join us for an important discussion on ways to promote economic development and security through alternative energy solutions, and explore ways in which Israel and the U.S. can cooperate to achieve these goals.
Program
16:30 – 17:15 Welcome Reception
17:15 – 18:00 Keynote Address: "Assuming Leadership in the Post-oil World"
Dr. Isaac Berzin, PhD, Director, Institute for Renewable
Energy Policy
18:00 – 19:15 Panel Discussion: US-Israel Security Through Clean
Energy Collaboration
Moderator:
Z’ev Gross, Head of Infrastructure Resources
Management Division, Ministry of National Infrastructures
Panelists:
Hezi Kugler, Chairman, Israeli Clean Energy Alliance
Astorre Modena, PhD, General Partner, Terra Venture Partners
Dr. Gal Luft, Executive Director, Institute for the Analysis of
Global Security
Richard Laster, Professor of Environmental Law, Hebrew
University
19:15 – 20:00 Refreshments and Conversation with Speakers
19:45 Optional viewing of keynote panel via webcast from
J-REC Conference in San Francisco
AJC Jerusalem would like to thank Gvahim for its generous sponsorship support
17:15 – 18:00 Keynote Address: "Assuming Leadership in the Post-oil World"
Dr. Isaac Berzin, PhD, Director, Institute for Renewable
Energy Policy
18:00 – 19:15 Panel Discussion: US-Israel Security Through Clean
Energy Collaboration
Moderator:
Z’ev Gross, Head of Infrastructure Resources
Management Division, Ministry of National Infrastructures
Panelists:
Hezi Kugler, Chairman, Israeli Clean Energy Alliance
Astorre Modena, PhD, General Partner, Terra Venture Partners
Dr. Gal Luft, Executive Director, Institute for the Analysis of
Global Security
Richard Laster, Professor of Environmental Law, Hebrew
University
19:15 – 20:00 Refreshments and Conversation with Speakers
19:45 Optional viewing of keynote panel via webcast from
J-REC Conference in San Francisco
AJC Jerusalem would like to thank Gvahim for its generous sponsorship support
Speaker Biographies
Dr. Isaac Berzin, Founding Director, Institute for Renewable Energy Policy
Dr. Isaac Berzin was named one the 100 most influential people in politics, business, and science in 2008 by the Time magazine for his work in algal biofuels. He Dr. Isaac Berzin is a Senior Fellow at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel (IDC) and the Founding Director of the Institute for Renewable Energy Policy (IREP). In addition, Dr. Berzin is an Affiliated Scientist at MIT, where he worked on a NASA-sponsored project, developing bioreactors for the International Space Station. His innovative work in Cleantech has won numerous awards including the Frost and Sullivan Award (2006), Platts Global Energy Award (2006) and American Society of Competitiveness (ASC) Awards 2005, 2006, 2007. Isaac holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
Hezi Kugler, Chairman, Israeli Clean Energy Alliance
Hezi Kugler is the former Director General of Israel’s Ministry of National Infrastructures. He currently is President of Kugler Development & Investments Ltd., Tel-Aviv, and is Chairman of The Israeli Clean Energy Alliance, a not-for-profit public purpose company dedicated to promoting the Israeli clean energy sector. Mr. Kugler serves also as a lecturer in the University of Haifa School of Natural Resources and the Environment, in the Energy Policy and Management MA program, where he lectures on Israeli Energy Policy. Mr. Kugler was in the past senior partner in the Hertzliya, Israel law firm "Eitan Mehulal Pappo Kugler", lecturer in the Tel-Aviv College of Management, Economics Department on Securities Law, and has served as a member of boards of directors for Israel-based subsidiaries of major international and local Israeli companies. As Director General of Israel's Ministry of National Infrastructures from September 2006 – May 2009, Mr. Kugler played a central role in devising Israeli policy on a balanced "fuel basket" with a much higher emphasis on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and cleaner sources of generation. He led initiatives on the first major projects for solar energy plants in Israel, streamlining of government procedures for land-allocation and related statutory processes, revision of regulations so as to grant incentives to investors, and close interaction with the financial sector for funding of ventures. Mr. Kugler spearheaded funding initiatives in the clean-tech industry for start-ups, fostered close cooperation between the Israeli government and the US Department of Energy, and established public-private partnerships in support of joint programs.
Astorre Modena, PhD, General Partner, Terra Venture Partners
Before founding Terra, Astorre was a Principal at Israel Seed Partners, a leading seed-stage venture capital in Israel with more than $260 million under management. Until recently, Astorre was an active key investor in the establishment of Cellint, a new cellular startup that is growing rapidly. Prior to Israel Seed, Astorre was with McKinsey & Co., based in Paris, where he consulted to leading Italian, French and Israeli manufacturing and financial corporations. Astorre holds a B.Sc. in Physics and Outstanding Students Program ("Amirim") from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Ph.D. in Plasma Physics from Imperial College in London. Astorre was a researcher in the laser-plasma physics department at Imperial College in London and Ecole Polytechnique in Paris working in their nuclear fusion energy program. Astorre has co-authored more than 25 scientific papers in prestigious journals such as Nature.
Dr. Gal Luft, Executive Director, Institute for the Analysis of Global Security
Gal Luft is executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS) a Washington based think tank focused on energy security and co-founder of the Set America Free Coalition, an alliance of national security, environmental, labor and religious groups promoting ways to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. He specializes in strategy, geopolitics, terrorism, energy security, natural resources and economic warfare. Newsweek Magazine called him a "tireless and independent advocate of energy security," the business magazine Poder called him "one of the most recognizable figures in modern energy and security issues," and Esquire Magazine included him in its 2007 list of America's Best and Brightest. Dr. Luft has published numerous studies and articles on security and energy issues in various newspapers and publications such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The American Interest, Commentary Magazine, Middle East Quarterly, LA Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. He is co-author of Energy Security Challenges for the 21st Century (2009) and Turning Oil into Salt: Energy Independence Through Fuel Choice (2009.) He appears frequently in the media and consults to various think tanks and news organizations worldwide. He holds degrees in international relations, international economics, Middle East studies and strategic studies and a doctorate in strategic studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS,) Johns Hopkins University.
Richard Laster, Professor of Environmental Law, Hebrew University
Richard Laster received his B.A. in 1966 at the University of Virginia, his J.D. at the University of Richmond, his LL.M. at Harvard Law School and an LLD from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Faculty of Law.He is a member of the Virginia Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Israel Chamber of Advocates, the International Council of Environmental Law and the International Academy of Environmental Law.From 1973 to 1979 he was legal advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency in Israel. From 1979 to 1989 he was a Partner in the law firm of Laster & Zisquit and since then in the law firm of Laster & Gouldman. Among his numerous other functions, Dr. Laster is a Professor of Environmental Law at the Faculty of Law, the School of Geography and the School of Environmental Sciences of the Hebrew University, and has served as Chairman of the Committee for Revision of Noise Regulations (1984–1990), Chairman of the Israel Environmental Law Association (1990), Member of the International Association on Water Quality (AIDA), Secretary of the Israel Society for Ecology and Environmental Quality Sciences (1992-1998, 2000-2006), Chair of the Society for Health Education in Israel (since 1990) and Member of the Israel Chamber of Advocates’ Committee on Environmental Law. He has published extensively on environmental law, environmental problems and pollution-related health problems in Israel. Prof. Laster is married and has three children and two grandchildren.
Z'ev Gross, Head of Infrastructure Resources Management Division, Ministry of National Infrastructures
Mr. Gross, LLB, currently serves as the Head of the Infrastructure Resources Management Division for the Ministry of National Infrastructures, and possesses thirty years of experience in the corporate legal sector, business development and energy policy. His experience is both in Israel and abroad, and covers the private as well as the public sectors. Mr. Gross' background has enabled him to focus on the business aspects of the transition to energy efficient and renewable energy technologies, thereby facilitating the creation of programs for their deployment. Prior to working at the Infrastructure Resources Management Division, Mr. Gross was Deputy General Counsel for Insyst Ltd. Israel / Clinical Discovery Israel, and spent 13 years in various prominent law firms in Israel. Mr. Gross holds a Bsc in Geology from Hebrew University, and an LLB from Bar-Ilan University.