While its name may conjure up images of sweeping desert vistas, some of the world’s most visited religious sites, and decades of conflict in one of the most politically unstable regions of the world, the tiny nation of Israel may be poised on the brink of becoming a clean energy leader, although not in the traditional sense.

Following the model set by its high-tech leaders, such as Comverse Technology, whose billing systems power telecommunications firms across the globe, Israeli green energy companies plan to develop new methods and technologies in country, and export to where the demand is located.

But as a country surrounded by oil producing nations that have historically been unfriendly to it, Israel could have much to gain from its green-energy investment. Proof-of-concept facilities could provide working models for buyers abroad, while providing the local populace with clean, reliably-priced energy.

Though Israel has a climate ideal for solar, and a government friendly to green legislation, it still provides evidence that a country need not have a consumption engine as massive as the United States’, or be in as stable and protected an environment as Germany to make green energy a profitable, attractive part of the national economy