TAU announces new 'supercenter' for renewa...( Natural resources are rapidly being ...)

Natural resources are rapidly being depleted. Traditional energy sources, like oil, have become hostages to a weakening world economy. The future, it seems, may depend on renewable energy new technology that bridges scientific disciplines and commercial opportunities.

Tel Aviv University has just taken a big step toward making renewable energy a daily reality.

At Israel's international conference on renewable energy last month, Tel Aviv University announced it will create a new "Supercenter" to develop renewable energies. The Supercenter will conduct pioneering research in groundbreaking solar energy applications, wind energy, biofuels and energy storage, taking advantage of the transformational and incremental technologies already being explored by Tel Aviv University researchers.

Opening the conference, "Renewable Energy and Beyond," hosted at Tel Aviv University, keynote speaker Al Gore discussed the soaring price of oil and the continuing threat of greenhouse gases, warming the planet to what Gore said could be the "point of no return." Gore came to Tel Aviv University in May to accept a $1 million Dan David Prize for his work on "social responsibility with particular emphasis on the environment." The Supercenter is Tel Aviv University's profound response to the serious environmental issues facing the world.

Robert Goldberg, Chairman of the Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University, announced the creation of the new Supercenter during the conference. Gore attended the conference along with other American energy luminaries, including Harvard University Prof. Michael B. McElroy and deputy assistant secretary Steven Chalk of the U.S . Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

The proposed Supercenter "will be much more than a hatchery for new clean technologies," said Prof. Abraham Kribus, an engineer and solar energy expert. "It will be a multi-disciplinary
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