Abu Dhabi’s green move gathers pace

The UAE’s response to global warming begins at home.

Last month the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) launched a $5 billion initiative to establish the world’s first totally green city in Abu Dhabi.
The development extending over six square kil-ometres plans to achieve zero carbon dioxide emissions and zero waste and includes plans to invest $350 million in solar energy generation.

The new city is scheduled for completion by late 2009, and comes as part of a series of projects adopted by the emirate recently to curb the greenhouse gas effect on the climate.

Abu Dhabi also plans a 100-megawatt solar power plant. Solar power is a growing global trend among environment-conscious investors.

The plant will be expandable to 500 mega-watts, with a target to generate enough power for 500,000 households. A pilot project is being planned in Dubai as well with the announcement by Tecom, a subsidiary of Dubai Holding, that it will supply all its developments with clean solar energy.

“We have chosen to invest heavily in alternative energy, despite the fact that the UAE is among the top producers of oil worldwide, and given the country’s ambitious economic development plans,” Masdar’s chief executive officer, Sultan Al Jaber, told Gulf News.

Gulf News