MK Amnon Cohen, chairman of the Knesset Committee on the Environment, said Monday that the government was not keeping to its own timetable in promoting and implementing alternative energy programs. The comments came during a discussion on alternative energy, attended by Water and Energy Minister Uzi Landau.
Cohen said that this week's hot weather, which prompted calls by the Israel Electric Company, showed that the government's policies were ineffective, since alternative energy was supposed to make up for shortfalls in electrical production. According to the government's timetable, 5% of Israel's current energy needs were supposed to be supplied by alternative means, while that number would grow to 10% by 2020. Since 2011, less than half of a percent of energy in Israel comes from alternative sources, Cohen said.