UAE starts work on world's first zero-carbon city

Yahoo News 10 Feb 08;

The UAE has the world's largest ecological footprint, consuming more natural resources per capita than any other nation, according to a 2004 report by the World Wide Fund for Nature.

The oil-rich United Arab Emirates was set to start work on Sunday on construction of the world's first zero carbon emissions city, a spokesman for the project said.

"Construction on Masdar City begins today," the spokesman told AFP, adding that the 6.5-square-kilometre (2.5-square-mile) development will cost 22 billion dollars and is set for completion in 2015.

Masdar City will house 50,000 people and will be run entirely on renewable energy including solar power, exploiting the desert state's near constant supply of sunshine.

The city, which is named after the Arabic word for "source", will be built in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. Residents will use electric-powered travel pods to move around the city.

The UAE sits on the world's fifth largest oil reserves and fourth largest gas reserves, most of them in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Proven oil reserves alone are expected to last for another 150 years but, like most oil-producing countries, the UAE wants to diversify to ease its reliance on oil.

The UAE has the world's largest ecological footprint, consuming more natural resources per capita than any other nation, according to a 2004 report by the World Wide Fund for Nature.


Work starts on Gulf 'green city'
BBC Online 10 Feb 08;

Abu Dhabi has started to build what it says is the world's first zero-carbon, zero-waste car-free city.

Masdar City will cost $22bn (£11.3bn), take eight years to build and be home to 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses.

The city will be mostly powered by solar energy and residents will move in travel pods running on magnetic tracks.

Abu Dhabi has one of the world's biggest per capita carbon footprints and sceptics fear Masdar may be just a fig leaf for the oil-rich Gulf emirate.

Others fear Masdar City - on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi City - may become a luxury development for the rich.

The project is supported by global conservation charity, the WWF.

Less power, less water

The city will make use of traditional Gulf architecture to create low-energy buildings, with natural air conditioning from wind towers.

Water will be provided through a solar-powered desalination plant, Masdar says. The city will need a quarter of the power required for a similar sized community, while its water needs will be 60% lower.

The city forms part of an ambitious plan to develop clean energy technologies.

In January, the government of Abu Dhabi announced a $15bn five-year initiative to develop clean energy technologies, calling it "the most ambitious sustainability project ever launched by a government".

As part of the plan, Abu Dhabi will become home to the world's largest hydrogen power plant.

The money is being channelled through the Masdar Initiative, a company established to develop and commercialise clean energy technologies, and Abu Dhabi hopes it will lead to international joint ventures involving much more money.

Abu Dhabi will invest $4bn of equity in the project and borrow some of the rest, Masdar said.

"We are creating an array of financial vehicles to finance the $22bn development," Masdar chief executive officer Sultan al-Jaber told Reuters news agency.

"We will monetise all carbon emission reductions... Such innovative financing has never been applied to the scale of an entire city."