Vancouver, Canada (GLOBE-Net) - On January 21^st, 2008, at the World Future Energy Summit held in Abu Dhabi, the capital and second most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi unveiled the Masdar Initiative, a plan to invest upwards of $15 billion to establish an international clean technology research centre, the world’s first carbon neutral city, and projects focused on hydrogen, solar, wind power and hydrogen fuel cells. This initiative could make the fossil fuel rich region a global leader in renewable energy solutions.

This article, the first in a GLOBE-Net Series on "Greening the Gulf", investigates the challenges facing the Persian Gulf region as it strives to become a more environmentally sustainable.  The series will examine such issues as water management, renewable energy, and the where the region might stand in a ‘post-oil’ world.

The Motivation for Going Green

Oil exporting nations have profited greatly over the past several years as the price of oil rose to an unprecedented $100 per barrel.  This is particularly true in the Persian Gulf, the world’s largest single source of crude oil and home of the United Arab Emirates, where rising oil prices have helped to raise the standard of living and have propelled the region towards First World status.

Until the 1960s the UAE was an impoverished desert country whose residents survived through subsistence fishing, farming and small-scale trading. The oil industry has given the UAE unprecedented wealth. By 2006, it was producing 2.5 million barrels of oil per day.

This rapid wealth came with a very high environmental cost.  The nation has become one of the highest per capita users of energy, brought on through extensive use of air conditioning, chilled swimming pools, a huge market for low mileage and expensive sporting vehicles, and public facilities such as a mall with an indoor ski slope that produces real snow.  According to a 2006 World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report, the UAE produces the world’s highest greenhouse gas emissions per capita.

Growing concern about its GHG emissions and the prospect of depleted oil reserves has led the UAE to explore ways to reduce its consumption of fossil fuel  and to reduce its carbon footprint. In early 2007 it initiated plans for investing in renewable energy and in developing the world’s first carbon neutral city.

In the next decade it has been estimated that demand for oil will start to outstrip available supplies of conventional crude and by the end of the century, global conventional reserves are expected to be depleted.  Already oil producing nations have begun cutting back on exports in order to hold on to energy supplies for domestic use.  Indonesia has stopped exporting oil completely.

Instead of hoarding its oil, the UAE plans to continue exports and to reap the profits from an oil hungry planet.  It will use these profits to sustain its prosperity as a nation and to fund clean energy research projects on a scale the world has never before seen.

"It may seem surprising that, with all the available hydrocarbon reserves, alternatives are figuring increasingly in Gulf region power planning. However this is displaying the classic wisdom: ‘In victory plan for defeat.’ In other words, when times are good, build resources against future uncertainty," said David Weaver, Group CEO of ESR Technology, an international engineering, safety and risk consultancy based out of the United Kingdom.

"We realize that the world energy markets are diversifying, so we need to diversify too," said Sultan Ali al-Jaber, chief executive of the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, the government arm that manages the Masdar Initiative. "We see the growth of renewable energy as an opportunity, not as a problem."

Masdar the Carbon Neutral City

The carbon neutral city, Masdar, is the largest component of the Masdar Initiative, a plan to put the UAE on a path to renewable energy.  According to The Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company(ADFEC), there are four key elements to the Masdar Initiative:

• An Innovation Center to support the demonstration, commercialization and adoption of sustainable energy technologies;
  
• A world-class University offering specialist graduate programs in renewable energy and sustainability, in partnership with leading international universities and research institutes.
  
• A specialized Development Company focused on the commercialization of emissions reduction, and Clean Development Mechanism solutions as provided by the Kyoto Protocol on climate change;
  
• A Special Economic Zone tailored to hosting institutions which will invest in development and production of renewable energy technologies and products.

The city itself will be seven square kilometers in size designed to house 50,000 people. It will have no cars.  Much of its energy needs will be provided by solar solutions as Abu Dhabi’s UAE’s solar radiation potential is 2,200 kilowatt hours per square meter per annum.

A design study is being carried out for a $500 million solar power plant for the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company Masdar," Weaver said. "The project is a large one with the scope calling for the design, supply, installation and operation of a 500 megawatts solar plant.

Buildings in Masdar will be limited to five stories, and packed around narrow streets no more than 3 metres wide and 70 metres long to "develop a micro-climate and keep the air moving".  The city will be also aligned north-east to south-west to give the "optimum balance of sunlight and shade" and 80% of all roof space will be used to generate solar power.

Additional cooling will be provided by wind towers which will harness the desert breeze and "flush out" hot air.

According to UK based Foster and Partner Architects, the company in charge of designing Masdar, the city will contain three distinct levels:

• A light railway to connect the city with nearby Abu Dhabi;
  
• A second level reserved for pedestrians;
  
• A third set aside for personalized rapid transport pods.

Masdar city is due to open in late 2009 and will be home to several major sustainability projects which the UAE hopes will make it the global hub of sustainable energy innovation.

Amongst the projects is the establishment of the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, a graduate-level scientific engineering institution offering PhD-level teaching as well as conducting research.  The Institute will be a joint research venture into green energy with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Scientists who join the program will be able to attend M.I.T. courses in Boston and will be assisted in developing research and courses at Abu Dhabi M.I.T. with hopes it will create a technology corridor between the US and the UAE.

"The Masdar Institute will serve as the nucleus of the Masdar Initiative, feeding it with talent and innovative technologies to enhance economic development and promote new industries using renewable energy and resources in the emirate and the region," said Sultan Al Jaber. "This cooperative agreement will lead to a superior relationship between the Masdar Institute and MIT to jointly address global energy issues."

Under the Initiative Abu Dhabi is looking to implement a carbon capture and storage system which will reduce the UAE’s carbon dioxide emissions by up to 40% while increasing oil production by up to 10%.  Beginning last year, ADFEC has been conducting feasibility studies and developing a roadmap for a comprehensive carbon capture and storage network for the UAE and linking with future CCS projects in the Persian Gulf region.

A $250 million Masdar Clean Technology Fund will also be created to finance renewable energy research projects conducted by private companies. The fund will focus on the development and commercialization of technologies in renewable energy, energy efficiency, carbon management, water usage and desalination, with emphasis on technologies applicable to the Middle East and North Africa.

Starting in 2009, the annual Zayed Future Energy Prize ($2 million) will be awarded to three individuals or organizations from around the world that demonstrate excellence in innovation, development and implementation of sustainable energy solutions.

Sending a Signal

The Emirates’ entry into the renewable energy arena comes at a time when many developed nations have yet to reach a consensus of what action to take with respect to climate change adaptation or mitigation.  In doing so the UAE is sending a clear message that solutions are possible.

"This is the first oil-producing state that has accepted and agreed with the concept that oil may not be the only source of energy in the future," said Fred Moavenzadeh, director of the Technology Development Program at M.I.T. "That is a significant realization."

The UAE has realized that living the good life is providing opportunities to finding a better life.  The United Arab Emirates is doing just that, using its new found wealth to live well now and design a better future.  It has begun to address the problem of "where will we be, post-oil.