May 05 2008

Masdar - the World's First Carbon-Free City

I heard an interesting NPR story this morning on Abu Dhabi's goal to build the world's first carbon-free city.

Called Masdar, the demonstration city of 50,000 inhabitants will cost $22 billion to construct. The city will cover about six square kilometers (nearly four miles), with no point further than 200 meters from a transport link.

In addition to being mass transit friendly, the community will be powered entirely by renewable energy.

The community will also be home to the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology and 1,500 businesses.  Notable business partners include General Electric, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mitsubishi, Rolls-Royce, and Conergy, which is planning a 40 MW solar plant.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) is home to approximately 10% of the world's oil resources, so why are they doing this?

I recently heard Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co., speak at a Cleantech Forum in San Francisco.  Al Jaber believes that Masdar should be built to help develop the next generation of renewable energy technologies.  Recognizing that oil is a finite resource, the UAE is looking at the cleantech industry as a sustainable long-term investment.  It makes perfect sense given the country's understanding of global energy markets.  Partnerships with leading academic institutions and corporations, and interest from global capital markets, could make Masdar an epicenter of cleantech innovation.

Posted by: Keely Wachs | Comments (0) digg delicioussend to a friendprint entry

 

Categories

Community , Energy , Environment , Solar , Sustainable

Leave a comment


E-mail this post


Your Name:
Your Friend's Email:

Subscribe to Blog rssIcon

> Go

Recent Comments

  • This is being rather generous to Lutz. 1. The "Volt", in no small part, will be targeted as a product to people who care about energy and environmental issues. These people don't embrace Lutz' antideluvian concepts of rejecting science. How responsible is it for a GM executive to be rejecting the science? 2. As well, Lutz didn't exactly sound too enthusiastic about the Volt itself. 3. And, GM public communications has 'defended' Lutz in rather absurd ways. -A Siegel
    > view entry


  • This article is right on - small businesses have a huge role to play in sustainability. Not only do they add up in aggregate, but many small businesses operate in industries that can have a significant environmental impact depending on the exact practices, like dry cleaners, auto repair shops, etc. Green is also starting to affect the bottom line more and more, customers are increasingly voting with their feet for more sustainable businesses as can be seen from the growth of sites like http://www.ecovian.com. This is also a huge opportunity for small businesses to leapfrog their bigger brothers by being more agile in adopting these measures. -Emily
    > view entry


  • Great entry, Katie. Love the level of detail you managed to get in there! Probably won't be able to compete with coal and oil any time the next decade, but definitely a great technology to look into! Keep it up :) -Rune (Norway)
    > view entry


Recent Posts