{"id":2821,"date":"2012-06-20T15:37:50","date_gmt":"2012-06-20T15:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=2821"},"modified":"2015-12-21T12:46:09","modified_gmt":"2015-12-21T18:46:09","slug":"postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Postcard From Mark Brownstein In Sderot, Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
(Credit: www.allnumis.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cRemember, when you hear the siren, you have 15 seconds to find cover.\u201d\u00a0 Such is life in the southern Israel town of Sderot only a few kilometers away from the Gaza Strip.\u00a0 Fortunately, for my tour<\/a>, today\u2019s rocket attacks fell on the outskirts of town and did not affect our visit.\u00a0 Israelis often point to such events as the reason why environmental issues are often not very high on the public policy agenda.\u00a0 How hard is it to spend any time thinking about global warming, when there are more tangible and immediate threats confronting you?<\/p>\n

And yet, global warming is having an immediate and tangible impact here as well.\u00a0 Our visit to Sderot came after a tour of Israel\u2019s largest desalination plant located in the neighboring town of Ashkelon on Israel\u2019s Mediterranean coast.\u00a0 Israel is chronically short of water, consuming 2 billion cubic meters of water per year where the nation\u2019s natural hydrology is capable of producing, on average, 1.2 billion cubic meters per year, according to Abraham Tenne, head of the Desalination Division of the Israel Water Authority.\u00a0 Mr. Tenne was blunt in reporting the facts.\u00a0 The Israel Water Authority expects average rainfall to decline by 15 percent by 2040, while Israel\u2019s population is expected to continue to grow by 1.7 percent each year.\u00a0 The drought of 2008, where rainfall was only 65 percent of the current average, was a powerful reminder that today\u2019s water situation is bad, and unchecked, it will only get worse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr. Tenne is understandably proud of the building or upgrades to Israel\u2019s three desalination facilities, which are key to solving the problem, but he is quick to remind us that, as important as this technology is to Israel\u2019s future, it is a last resort.\u00a0 Israel\u2019s consumption of 2 billion cubic meters of water by a population of roughly 8 million stands in sharp contrast to Arizona\u2019s consumption of 8 billion cubic meters of water by a population of roughly 7 million.\u00a0 He visited Arizona last year for an international water conference where he was asked to speak on desalination, and was shocked to see flood irrigation \u2013 the practice of watering crops by flooding the field \u2013 commonly practiced.\u00a0 He contrasts this with Israel, where drip irrigation is standard practice for 95 percent of all agricultural production, and where the amount of water used is precisely controlled by technology that monitors the moisture at the root of the plant, delivering only what is required to maintain healthy growth.\u00a0 He then tells us about London, which just inaugurated its first desalination plant, while doing little to fix the local water system where 40 percent of the water flowing through the system is lost to leaks.\u00a0 And then, for the second time in two days, I hear of smart grid technology being deployed in Israel to pinpoint leaks.<\/p>\n

Although recent discoveries of significant natural gas reserves off the Israeli coast suggest that Israel may be able to completely wean itself off coal, over 35 percent of the nation\u2019s installed electric generation capacity comes from coal-fired power plants, including one right next door to the Ashkelon desalination plant we visited today.\u00a0 But even when the desalination process is driven by natural gas-fired power plants, as this facility is (it generates its own electricity and actually sells some excess production back to the grid) the fact of the matter is that Israel\u2019s total water system \u2013 not just desalination, but the pumps necessary to move water around the country \u2013 consumers 6 percent of the total electricity produced in Israel.\u00a0 Thus, the battle to conserve water is also a battle to save energy, which in turn is a battle to avoid carbon emissions that contribute to global warming, and make Israel\u2019s water situation worse.<\/p>\n

We are spending tomorrow with some of Israel\u2019s leading experts in solar energy, but already I am wondering why a nation so obviously blessed with ample, strong sunlight, seems to have so little invested in deploying solar power.\u00a0 Solar hot water heaters have been required here since 1980, and as my friend, and EDF consultant, Roger Duncan, often reminds me, solar hot water heating is often the most overlooked cost-effective solar technology, but given Israel\u2019s pressing challenge of finding both secure and sustainable supplies of electricity, the government\u2019s policy of 10 percent renewable energy by 2020 seems incredibly modest.\u00a0 A nation with the determination and technological prowess to erect the world\u2019s most sophisticated missile defense system surely should be able to do better and tomorrow will be about finding out why not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cRemember, when you hear the siren, you have 15 seconds to find cover.\u201d\u00a0 Such is life in the southern Israel town of Sderot only a few kilometers away from the Gaza Strip.\u00a0 Fortunately, for my tour, today\u2019s rocket attacks fell on the outskirts of town and did not affect our visit.\u00a0 Israelis often point to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[84830,693,177],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-2821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grid-modernization","category-natural-gas","category-renewable-energy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPostcard From Mark Brownstein In Sderot, Israel - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Postcard From Mark Brownstein In Sderot, Israel - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cRemember, when you hear the siren, you have 15 seconds to find cover.\u201d\u00a0 Such is life in the southern Israel town of Sderot only a few kilometers away from the Gaza Strip.\u00a0 Fortunately, for my tour, today\u2019s rocket attacks fell on the outskirts of town and did not affect our visit.\u00a0 Israelis often point to ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-20T15:37:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-12-21T18:46:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2012\/06\/Israel-postcard-credit-www.allnumis.com_-300x213.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Brownstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MarkSBrownstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Brownstein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/20\\\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/20\\\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mark Brownstein\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/da32b35f88d76761f9999da3c096ec38\"},\"headline\":\"Postcard From Mark Brownstein In Sderot, Israel\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-20T15:37:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-21T18:46:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/20\\\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":771,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/20\\\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/Israel-postcard-credit-www.allnumis.com_-300x213.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Grid Modernization\",\"Natural Gas\",\"Renewable Energy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/20\\\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/20\\\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/20\\\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\\\/\",\"name\":\"Postcard From Mark Brownstein In Sderot, Israel - Energy Exchange\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/20\\\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/20\\\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/Israel-postcard-credit-www.allnumis.com_-300x213.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-20T15:37:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-21T18:46:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/da32b35f88d76761f9999da3c096ec38\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/20\\\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/20\\\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/20\\\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/Israel-postcard-credit-www.allnumis.com_-300x213.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/Israel-postcard-credit-www.allnumis.com_-300x213.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/20\\\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Postcard From Mark Brownstein In Sderot, Israel\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/\",\"name\":\"Energy Exchange\",\"description\":\"Accelerating the clean energy revolution\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/da32b35f88d76761f9999da3c096ec38\",\"name\":\"Mark Brownstein\",\"description\":\"Senior Vice President, Energy Program Mark Brownstein is Senior Vice President of Energy at Environmental Defense Fund, and a member of EDF\u2019s executive team.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.edf.org\\\/people\\\/mark-brownstein\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/MarkSBrownstein\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/author\\\/mbrownstein\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Postcard From Mark Brownstein In Sderot, Israel - Energy Exchange","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Postcard From Mark Brownstein In Sderot, Israel - Energy Exchange","og_description":"\u201cRemember, when you hear the siren, you have 15 seconds to find cover.\u201d\u00a0 Such is life in the southern Israel town of Sderot only a few kilometers away from the Gaza Strip.\u00a0 Fortunately, for my tour, today\u2019s rocket attacks fell on the outskirts of town and did not affect our visit.\u00a0 Israelis often point to ...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/","og_site_name":"Energy Exchange","article_published_time":"2012-06-20T15:37:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-12-21T18:46:09+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2012\/06\/Israel-postcard-credit-www.allnumis.com_-300x213.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Mark Brownstein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@MarkSBrownstein","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Brownstein","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/"},"author":{"name":"Mark Brownstein","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/da32b35f88d76761f9999da3c096ec38"},"headline":"Postcard From Mark Brownstein In Sderot, Israel","datePublished":"2012-06-20T15:37:50+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-21T18:46:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/"},"wordCount":771,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2012\/06\/Israel-postcard-credit-www.allnumis.com_-300x213.jpg","articleSection":["Grid Modernization","Natural Gas","Renewable Energy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/","name":"Postcard From Mark Brownstein In Sderot, Israel - Energy Exchange","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2012\/06\/Israel-postcard-credit-www.allnumis.com_-300x213.jpg","datePublished":"2012-06-20T15:37:50+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-21T18:46:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/da32b35f88d76761f9999da3c096ec38"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2012\/06\/Israel-postcard-credit-www.allnumis.com_-300x213.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2012\/06\/Israel-postcard-credit-www.allnumis.com_-300x213.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/06\/20\/postcard-from-mark-brownstein-in-sderot-israel\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Postcard From Mark Brownstein In Sderot, Israel"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/","name":"Energy Exchange","description":"Accelerating the clean energy revolution","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/da32b35f88d76761f9999da3c096ec38","name":"Mark Brownstein","description":"Senior Vice President, Energy Program Mark Brownstein is Senior Vice President of Energy at Environmental Defense Fund, and a member of EDF\u2019s executive team.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.edf.org\/people\/mark-brownstein","https:\/\/x.com\/MarkSBrownstein"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/author\/mbrownstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2821\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2821"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}