As per the report from Jerusalem, Israel’s government approved on Sunday a proposal by Energy Minister Dr. Yuval Steinitz that aims to produce 30% of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030, with an emphasis on solar energy says.
During the discussion, it was decided that the Ministry of Energy will evaluate and update the goals for 2030 by the end of 2024. An intermediate goal was established, with the goal of first generating 20% of electricity from renewable sources by the end of 2025 .
Steinitz said in a statement that “setting a new target for 30% renewable energy is a real revolution. This means that, in the next decade, we will have to triple the construction of new solar installations. In addition, I decided that the priority would be se will be used for the construction of power plants linked to infrastructure and the expansion of existing plants “.
Describing his vision of the future, Steinitz said that “towards the end of the process, in about seven years, Israel may reach the first place in the world in the amount of electricity produced from solar energy. This is a continuation of the The policy I have has led for several years the transition from coal, oil and polluting fuels to natural gas and renewable energy. “
“Therefore, the air pollution emitted by some 20 power plants throughout Israel will decrease in a few years by more than 90%, and we, and our children, will breathe cleaner and healthier air,” added the Minister of Energy .
Steinitz’s prediction that Israel will rank first in global solar emissions may be a bit ambitious, as the Paris Climate Accords, which Israel signed in 2016 along with 194 other countries, spells out in its framework a goal of 32% of energy generated by renewable sources by 2030.
A much more ambitious example is the “Green New Deal,” which presidential candidate Joe Biden has said in the past served as “inspiration” for his own climate plans. The agreement sets a 100% renewable energy target for the same year, 2030.
As part of the plan, the Ministry of Energy said that it does not intend to approve new authorizations for the construction of power plants for the generation of power to natural gas at the national level, unless it is for the addition of new production units, or replacement or improvement. an existing unit.
In addition, the government plans to advance the examination of restrictions on natural gas exports in 2021. To this end, the professional team will convene a periodic review of the committee’s recommendations to examine government policy on the economics of natural gas in Israel, presenting its recommendations. to the government before January 2021.
Israel’s Minister of Environmental Protection Gila Gamliel opposed the plan, saying it places a problematic emphasis on natural gas
ISRAEL’s Minister of ENVIRONMENTAL Protection, Gila Gamliel, opposed the plan, saying it puts a problematic emphasis on natural gas, while setting a low level compared to other developed countries.
“Based on data and analysis conducted by professionals in my ministry, and in order to bring Israel in line with other advanced OECD countries, a target of 40% should be set by 2030. Already today, close to 50% of electricity production from solar sources can be achieved in developed areas, “said Gamliel.
“The real meaning of this decision is the adoption of a target of 70% electricity generated by gas, which is a polluting fossil fuel. This is a false signal for the economy, which undermines the certainty that is required from entrepreneurs to pass to an economy and to use energy from non-polluting renewable sources ”, the minister continued.
“The proposed target encourages huge economic investments in gas infrastructure, in contrast to all the efforts made in Israel and around the world to reduce dependence for energy production on fossil sources that pollute and increase climate change,” concluded Gamliel .