World’s first carbon-free city
NO CARS ALLOWED: Masdar will be filled with shaded streets to encourage walking. A solar-powered transit system will take you to the airport.
It may seem strange that the emirate of Abu Dhabi, one of the planet’s largest suppliers of oil, is planning to build the world’s first carbon-neutral city.
But in fact, it makes a lot of financial sense. The 3.7-square-mile city, called Masdar, will cut its electricity bill by harnessing wind, solar, and geothermal energy, while a total ban on cars within city walls should reduce the long-term health costs associated with smog.
Masdar is still on the drawing board — construction begins in January, with a very tentative completion date of 2009 — but the result will be watched closely around the world.
“If they can construct a zero-carbon city in this climate, you can do it anywhere,” says Richard Young, a research manager with SustainLane, which evaluates sustainable cities and products. “It will have tremendous economic impact.”
Indeed, all companies that sign up to take part — a list that so far includes British Petroleum (Charts), Fiat, General Electric (Charts, Fortune 500), and Mitsubishi — will get hefty carbon-credit bonuses, redeemable on the world’s two major carbon exchanges.
Tags: carbon free city, Go Green, green planet, zero emission