I just returned from San Diego last night after a very interesting week listening to many of the pioneers of solar electric power at the ASES Solar 2008 Conference. Brad Collins, Executive Director of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) gave a very interesting talk about what he learned at the first World Future Energy Summit (WFES) held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Mr. Collins spoke of a project called MASDAR (which in Arabic means the source). MASDAR is a new project comprising a company, a university, a venture fund, and a research and technology park all wrapped up in a new city. All zero carbon, zero waste and utilizing a national carbon capture and storage network.
MASDAR is designed to be a research hub, a focal point, a “one-stop shopping” center for clean tech, renewable energy, and green building. It is certainly a bold and visionary action with four main objectives. One, it is designed to diversify the petroleum-based economy of the UAE. Two, it is designed to keep Abu Dhabi a strong relevant player in the changing global energy markets. Three, it establishes a research and technology base that will attract further talent and capital. Fourth, it addresses the pressing issues of global energy and climate. The government plans on building the city in two years.
MASDAR is owned by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, which is wholly owned by the government. It is a $15 billion initiative, which in a nation of 350,000 residents, represents $43,000 per resident. At the center of the 6 km² carbon neutral city will be the MASDAR Institute, a nonprofit independent research university built with the help from the Massachusetts Institute of technology (MIT) of the United States. The institute is set up to be a regional and international center for research and technology in clean energy. There will be a clean tech investment fund and various initiatives to jumpstart new companies.
After listening to Mr. Collins’ presentation I was struck by one question. The United States has plenty of desert, it has plenty of capital, and it has plenty of world-class research universities; so why not build a carbon neutral research city in the United States to establish a world technology leadership model?
What an amazing project, and how ironic that such an initiative is coming from one of the most oil-rich nations in the world while America, with all its diverse resources and cutting-edge research institutions, is only able to report on such progress. Matt, I think your question “why not here?” resonates on many levels. I feel like this blog touches on some aspect of that weekly! Even if our government were not willing to pick up the tab for such a project as the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company is doing, couldn’t our many world-renowned universities and labs put private funding forward? I know this raises many issues of ownership (attendant upon which are rights to whatever facilities are built), but it is in the private sector that we’ve seen much of our progress in renewable energy. But I might be writing off the government too soon; the winds seem to be shifting in this country, and maybe a flagship project such as this one would appeal to whomever our next president is as a stunning way to confirm America’s commitment to renewable energy. I hope he (or she) rises to the challenge.