During a ceremony in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening, JNF-Canada, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund and Startup Nation Central awarded their $1 million Breakthrough Climate Solutions Prize (CSP) to three Israeli projects seeking to solve the issue of global warming.
The award, said to be the largest incentive prize in the history of the Jewish state, is an initiative designed to “encourage and support groundbreaking research and development for climate solutions which will minimize greenhouse gas emissions,” the organizations said.
The award winners included Profs. Shanny Barath and Yechezkel Kashin from the Technion–Israel Institute for their CyanoCementation project, Prof. Brian Rosen from Tel Aviv University for his research into green ammonia as a clean fuel source, and Prof. Menny Shalom from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, who developed rechargeable Zinc Air Batteries.
Dr. Doron Markel, KKL-JNF’s chief scientist, oversaw the award’s selection process, which was led by top academic experts in relevant fields.
The winners “have the potential to significantly impact the reduction of carbon concentration in the atmosphere, either by enhancing the shift to renewable energies—hence reducing greenhouse gas emissions—or by carbon fixation, either through natural process or artificial one,” Markel said.
“Over the past few months, we received tens of submissions from Israel’s top research institutions that vied to be recognized by The Breakthrough Climate Solutions Prize presented by JNF-Canada in collaboration with our partners - KKL-JNF and Start-Up Nation Central,” stated Jeff Hart, the executive chair of the Climate Solutions Prize.
“Once again, we have been inspired by the vision and ingenuity of the Israeli scientific community and the remarkable innovations in various Climate Tech fields, and we congratulate our three winners for their exceptional vision,” Hart added.
According to Startup Nation Central, there are more than 850 climate change startups in Israel, allowing the nation to contribute to the global conversation on climate action.
