Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Khalifa Funding Massive Eco-Experiment

Jake de Grazia - Contributing Writer
Posted on Monday 29th March 2010

The most powerful man in Abu Dhabi has hired architects to design a zero-carbon city. He wants it to be free of cars, free of skyscrapers, and entirely powered by the sun.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan is the President of the United Arab Emirates and the emir (commander) of the city of Abu Dhabi. And, according to the BBC, he has already committed between USD 15 billion and USD 30 billion to the creation of Masdar, an urban community of 50,000 that will serve as a model for all future eco-cities.

Masdar is a big, dreamy project with a simple but revolutionary tagline:

Only use energy when you have exhausted design.

For more details, read the BBC News article and listen to the radio program that the article introduces.

GREENandSAVE's LINKandLEARN:

Speaking of the cities of the future: Kaid Benfield, whose work we regularly post on G&S News, is a great blogger to follow.

Speaking of big dreams: Bloom Energy is another revolutionary project to watch.

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