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8 HASHALOM November
2016
November 2016
HASHALOM
9
ISRAEL
Israeli Researchers Use Spinach Leaves
To Generate Clean Fuel
Popeye, the famous cartoon character, sang “I’m strong to the
finish ’cause I eats me spinach, I’m Popeye the sailor man.”
Spinach, which contains iron, is indeed known for its nutritional
value; but who knew it can also generate electricity? Well, a
group of Israeli researchers has come up with a cell that uses
sunlight to generate power from spinach leaves extract.
Using a simple membrane extract from spinach leaves,
researchers from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
have developed a bio-photo-electro-chemical (BPEC) cell that
produces electricity and hydrogen from water using sunlight.
A source of renewable energy
The raw material of the device is water, and its products are
electric current, hydrogen and oxygen. “The unique combination
of a man-made BPEC cell and plant membranes, which absorb
sunlight and convert it into a flow of electrons highly efficiently,
paves the way for the development of new technologies for
the creation of clean fuels from renewable sources: water and
solar energy,” according to a Technion statement.
The BPEC cell developed by the researchers is based on the
naturally occurring process of photosynthesis in plants, in
which light drives electrons that produce storable chemical
energetic molecules, which are the fuels of all cells in the
animal and plant worlds.
In order to utilize photosynthesis for producing electric current,
the researchers added an iron-based compound to the solution.
This compound mediates the transfer of electrons from the
biological membranes to the electrical circuit, enabling the
creation of an electric current in the cell.
“A closed cycle that begins with water and ends with water”
The electrical current can also be channeled to form hydrogen
gas through the addition of electric power from a small
photovoltaic cell that absorbs the excess light. This makes
possible the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy
that is stored as hydrogen gas formed inside the BPEC cell.
This energy can be converted when necessary into heat
and electricity by burning the hydrogen, in the same way
hydrocarbon fuels are used.
However, unlike the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels – which
emit greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere
and pollute the environment – the product of hydrogen
combustion is clean water. Therefore, “this is a closed cycle
that begins with water and ends with water, allowing the
conversion and storage of solar energy in hydrogen gas, which
could be a clean and sustainable substitute for hydrocarbon
fuel,” according to the researchers.
ISRAEL
Sukkat Shalom
A Tabernacle of Peace
A Beit Ha’am Anthology in
Memory of Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres (1923-2016) was born in Vishniev, Poland and came
to Israel at the age of 11. Peres was an Israeli politician and public
figure. He served as the ninth President of the State of Israel between
2007 and 2014. He was Prime Minister between 1984 and 1986,
and again for another seven months following the assassination of
Yitzhak Rabin in November 1995. He was a member of the Israeli
Knesset for nearly five decades, and during some of that time also
served as a senior cabinet minister.
The earlier years of his public life were devoted for the most part to
building Israel’s defense infrastructure. He was appointed Director
General of the Ministry of Defense at the age of 29, and was among
the founders of the Nuclear Research Center in Dimona and Israel
Aerospace Industries.
During his term as Foreign Minister in Yitzhak Rabin’s second
government (1992-1995), Peres was instrumental in initiating peace
talks between Israel and the PLO, which led to agreements and the
signing of the Oslo Accords. In recognition of that peace process,
Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat were awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize Shimon Peres was sworn in as President of the
State of Israel in July 2007. (To date, he is the only Israeli who ever
served both as President and Prime Minister). In his inaugural
address, Peres said the following:
“I did not dream of becoming President. My
dream as a boy was to be a shepherd or a poet
of stars. Having been elected, it is a great honor
for me and I do not disparage it…”
After leaving office as President, he resumed his
position as head of the Peres Center for Peace.
Peres died at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan
on September 28, 2016.
His funeral was held on Friday, September 30, 2016, at the
Resting Place of the Great Leaders of the Nation on Mount
Herzl. Over 70 leaders and dignitaries from across the globe
attended the funeral, including presidents, prime ministers,
counts and kings, who came to pay their last respects.
Concept and development: Department for Diaspora Activities, 2016-5777
Main editor: Gusti Yehoshua-Braverman, Head of theDepartment for
Diaspora Activities
Materials collection: ErellaGoren, YanivNachmias, Yael Dinur, RoloWeiner
Writing, editing and production: ErellaGoren
By Einat Paz-Frankel - No Camels