We are promoting policies to encourage the use of energy from renewable sources that do not damage nature and the environment. We support the government’s pledge to significantly increase renewable energy targets by 2030, to significantly reduce the use of coal, and to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles. We are advancing a national plan for solar roof panels that will reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

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Opposing Oil Shale Drilling and Shale Oil Production

In recent years, the government has made a series of welcome, positive steps towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. However, at the same time, it has also given the go-ahead to 12 different oil and oil shale development initiatives in Israel.

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These initiatives were the focus of a new report that we released at the 4th Israeli Climate Conference on November 4, 2019. While we are delighted that public awareness of the climate crisis is growing in Israel and globally—as reflected in a series of government decisions made over the past decade—we are also concerned at the large number of liquid fossil fuel exploration and development initiatives that are being greenlighted in Israel. This worrying tendency is reflected in the increase in the exploration and development of onshore oil reserves that require conventional or unconventional development, and of oil shale fields where overall production volumes could total hundreds of millions of barrels.

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Some of these development initiatives pose a serious threat to quality of life, the environment, and ecosystems in Israel. We simply do not understand how these initiatives, which the government has approved, align with its commitments to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution, or to the many positive steps it has taken regarding the environment in recent years.

Our report exposes the utter absurdity of the current reality, whereby the government is greenlighting environmentally damaging energy production projects while simultaneously promoting government initiatives and partnerships to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases. SPNI is therefore calling on the government to freeze all shale oil drilling and exploration projects.

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Supporting the Government’s Solar Roof Panel Project

Our work with the Israel Electricity Authority to examine the potential for generating energy from solar roof panels was one of the key factors that inspired its public campaign encouraging Israelis to install photovoltaic roof tiles on private homes.

There are many financial benefits to installing the panels, including savings on the monthly electricity bills, reducing air pollution, living costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. In view of this, the Israel Electricity Authority has called on the owners of private homes with roofs to install solar roof panels and thus reduce their electricity costs or sell solar energy back to the grid.

To encourage Israelis to install the panels, and to provide the public with as much information as possible, we have joined forces with local authorities to organize open days around the country where we can offer information and advice and answer consumer questions.

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This Just In: There Is Something New Under the Sun!

SPNI’s planning and birdwatching team have published a report examining the ecological sensitivity of Israel’s water bodies. The report found that solar panels, which generate renewable energy without damaging nature, can and should be installed on most of these, which together cover an area larger than the city of Tel Aviv!

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The report was written in response to the many initiatives to install solar panels on reservoirs. We would like to direct these initiatives to reservoirs that are not ecologically sensitive and protect those that are. Under the National Master Plan, TAMA 10-dalet-10, no plan is required to install solar panels on reservoirs, just a building permit, which can be obtained from the Local Planning Committee. The issue of installing solar panels on ecologically sensitive reservoirs often flies under the radar of environmental organizations, who are not aware of such schemes because they are dealt with by local and regional planning institutions.

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Our report points out that, out of 4,200 artificial bodies of water in Israel, 4,016 cover an area totaling some 53,000 dunams. This is five times the size of the solar field at Ashalim in the Negev, which at around 10,000 dunams is the largest of its kind in Israel, and larger than the entire Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Further, these sites are of no particular ecological importance, and energy panels can be installed on them without endangering the environment or wildlife. In contrast, however, the report found that there are 184 bodies of water, covering a total area of around 5,000 dunams, which are defined as areas of ecological importance and need to be protected from development of any kind. Ninety-seven of these bodies of water have high ecological importance and are located in the north of Israel. Of the rest, 51 are in the south of the country, 16 are in Haifa, nine are in central Israel, seven are in Jerusalem and four are in Judea and Samaria.

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Israel’s artificial bodies of water are of high ecological significance, in particular for birds, including several globally endangered species. They are subjected to various development processes, including alterations to water, soil, and vegetation infrastructure, such as reservoir sealing and infrastructure development, and in particular the construction of floating solar energy facilities.

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In order to formulate policies that will protect the ecological function of Israel’s water bodies and enable them to be put to optimal use, including for renewable energy infrastructure, we identified those of ecological importance, with a view to protecting them from any development that might harm their ecological function.

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In 2020, we will continue to promote renewable energy production on roofs and other suitable spaces and will lobby the government to make a decision on this important issue. We will also continue to oppose onshore and offshore oil and gas drilling as part of our campaign to promote the transition to green energy.