Arab-Israeli startup harnesses clean energy

The World Bank calls Yafa Energy ''a product of great interest'' and now Europe has tipped its hat to the Arab-Israeli start-up by awarding it the prestigious Eureka prize. The prize awards companies who stand out in research and whose discoveries have the potential to be developed. Yafa, the company whose innovative research in the 'clean energy sector' has made it famous of late, was awarded the accolade for its new technology in harnessing solar energy. Yafa engineers found a way to collect solar thermal energy and turn it directly into steam, which can then be used to power turbine industries or to cool industrial processes. The beauty of the technology is that excess energy can be converted into electrical energy which can then be used by the same company or even sold. The first prototype of the system should be up and running within two years. Founded just two years ago by mechanical engineer Salih Manasra, Yafa Energy is the first Arab-Israeli company ever to scoop the Eureka prize. ''Our technology generates steam for industrial applications and currently no other electrical system can compete'', Manasra said in an interview with the Israeli Foreign Ministry. ''No photovoltaic panel or diesel boiler can collect as much heat. Solar thermal energy has no equivalent.'' Now the company has set its sights on cracking the Middle Eastern and north Africa. Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia and Algeria are all on the list. ''Our society still faces challenges,'' admits Manasra - funding the 800,000 euro prototype, for one. But potential funders from Jordan have already come forward, as has the financing arm of the World Bank.