World’s first zero carbon city

It’s indeed an irony of sorts – an oil-rich state setting up the world’s first zero-carbon city.Abu Dhabi recently broke ground on Masdar City, the world’s first zero-carbon,zero-waste, car-free city.Masdar also announced aUS $22 billion development budget for the city.

The global milestone event was marked by the laying of a virtual corner stone by General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander
of the UAE Armed Forces, and a visually stunning production depicting life in the city.

An essential driver for the development of the city is carbon finance. Carbon emissions reduced by Masdar City will be monetized under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism.

In addition to full-time residents, Masdar City will seek to attract and encourage collaboration between experts in sustainable transportation, waste management,water and waste water conservation; green construction, buildings and industrial materials, recycling, biodiversity;, climate change, renewable energy and green financial institutions. Masdar will maximize the benefits of sustainable technologies, such as photovoltaic cells and concentrated solar power, through an integrated planning and design approach.

By implementing these technologies, Masdar City will save the equivalent of more than US $2 Billion in oil over the next 25 years, based on today’s energy prices. The city will also create more than 70,000 jobs and will add more than two percent to Abu Dhabi’s annual GDP.

To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://emagazine.managementnext.com