Carbon-Neutral, Zero-Emissions City: Unrealistic? Maybe Not

Take a good look. This could be the future.


(from FOXNews, used w/o permission)

"Desert Oasis: Oil Sheiks Plan 'Green' City, Look to Alternative Energy"
FOXNews (July 8, 2008)

"ABU DHABI, UAE — The United Arab Emirates won't run out of oil for about a century, but it's already committing billions to help wean the world off the very product that made it rich.

"The UAE, which pumps millions of barrels of oil every day, wants to become an alternative energy hub. It has made an initial investment of $15 billion for its Masdar Initiative, which it hopes will establish it as a leader in the field of green energy.

" 'We have a long history of being suppliers of sources of energy,' said Masdar CEO Dr. Sultan Al Jaber. 'We want to maintain that and always be enablers and a catalyst for providing the world with clean solutions of power.' "

I'm not always a huge fan of the UAE ("Filtering, Censorship, and Dealing With It" (September 14, 2007), "The Internet: USA Rules, UAE Rules " (August 14, 2007)), but it looks like they've got a very good idea here.

The biggest project on tap is "Masdar City, an eco-oasis in the desert that will be entirely carbon neutral, creating no emissions and no waste." That, and the Zayed Future Energy Prize, could make quite a difference, a few decades down the road.


(from FOXNews (July 8, 2008))

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