(ENVIRO) Eco-Devo Trip To Israel A Great Success

"A Colorado delegation's weeklong economic development mission to Israel last month was 'a success on all fronts - business, academic and research,' according to Gov. Bill Ritter, who led the group.

'We created a solid foundation for future economic activity, set the stage for immediate follow-up meetings in Colorado and laid the groundwork for long-term collaboration,' said Ritter.

Accomplishments of the mission cited by Ritter's staff include:



• The Colorado delegation agreed to help establish workforce-development ties among Noble Energy, the Technion Israel Institute of Technology and Colorado School of Mines, to help supply Israel with the workforce to develop the vast natural gas reserve discovered off the country's coast last year.

• Colorado State University and Ben-Gurion University's Desert Research Center signed a collaborative agreement on water-conservation and related technologies.

• Colorado's Departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture,entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Desert Agro Research Center focused on water technologies such as desalination, treatment and conservation.

• The Governor's Energy Office entered an agreement with BrightSource Energy to examine whether cogeneration technologies involving large-scale concentrated solar and natural gas can be utilized on projects in Colorado.

In addition, Israeli clean-energy, water-technology, bioscience and venture-capital companies met with counterparts in Colorado to discuss cooperation." (source)