Masdar City
By Nicole Perrault
Photos courtesy of Masdar Institute of Technology
Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, implements renewable energy — and raises the standard for others to follow in its carbon-free footsteps.
No standard cars will be let in. No carbon and no waste will be used inefficiently. By 2025, 40,000 residents and hundreds of businesses will begin relying entirely on solar energy and other renewable energy sources. Masdar City, Abu Dhabi will be located 17 km from downtown and will serve as an example of emerging global sustainability.
Although the first construction phase for the city won’t be finished until 2015, some students have already begun to live at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, a university formed in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It will become a top research facility that will eventually function entirely on sustainable sources.
SunPower Corp., a company responsible for major solar energy system breakthroughs, has been chosen to construct the 1-megawatt solar power system on the Masdar Insitute’s roof. This solar-powered device will be installed using a canopy structure, which will provide the building with shade and renewable solar power. According to Jörn Jürgens, the managing director at SunPower Corp., this system will allow the residential quarters at the Masdar Institute to use 51 percent less energy and 54 percent less water than other buildings of its size in the United Arab Emirates.
“The system will provide a record-breaking efficiency of at least 19.3 percent in standard conditions,” says the SunPower Managing Director Jörn Jürgens. The building will be wired to monitor energy consumption and produce data for further research.
Masdar City also looks to manage and reduce carbon emissions in conjunction with solar power. Current projects for the city include gas leak reduction, combining heat and power and utilizing carbon dioxide recovery. In cooperation with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Masdar City will also begin capturing carbon dioxide emitted from power plants and transporting it via a national pipeline network for injection into Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas reservoirs. This will enhance oil recovery, which can help to produce more valuable oil for Abu Dhabi and surrounding cities.
Masdar City use of innovative technology is nothing short of applied brilliance. Abu Dhabi is creating a city that will set a new standard for renewable living.
Once Masdar City’s policies prove to be effective, other countries can follow suit in implementing renewable technology. What do you think about their ideas? Let us know in our comment section below.
