Yosef Abramowitz.

Jewish American business entrepreneur Yosef Abramowitz has been chosen by CNN as one of its six leading “Green Pioneers” in the global environmental movement, as part of the network’s 2012 “Going Green” special series. Abramowitz, who founded the solar industry in Israel, is also behind the nation’s leading solar developer “Arava Power Company”.

Abramowitz, who is married to Rabbi Susan Silverman, sister of known comedienne Sarah Silverman, moved from Newton, Massachusetts to Kibbutz Ketura back in 2006 and co-founded the Arava Power Company with David Rosenblatt & Ed Hofland. The company set out to supply 10% of Israel’s electricity needs through renewable solar energy. Specifically, APC works with Kibbutzim, Moshavim, and Bedouins in the south of the country.

The company has also set out a social mission, along the lines of Tzedakah (charitable giving) and the law of Pe’ah, with a modern twist. Four corners of the Ketura Sun solar field have been dedicated to four different non-profit organizations that benefit from the funds earned by each corner for the next 20 years.

The special CNN series, which also includes Kenyan conservation activist Ikal Angelei, environmentalist heroine princess Sayyida Tania Shabib Al Said of Oman and the organizers of the upcoming 2012 London Summer Olympic Game for their efforts to make it the greenest Olympics to date, will air throughout the coming two weeks on CNN. Here is a sneak peek at the Israeli representative: