News about Solar, Wind and alternative green power technologies

There is a new eco-city that is being constructed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which will be known as the Masdar City. The city will be the very first clean technology city in the world that will completely rely on renewable energy sources and which will be free from skyscrapers, cars and waste.

The Masdar city is being constructed as a walled “clean technology cluster” on the periphery of Abu Dhabi, the capital of UAE, which is close to the airport of Abu Dhabi, by Abu Dhabi’s Energy, Global Energy Company UAE. In fact the land in the region consists of unwelcoming desert; however the six square kilometre city is designed to sustain a population of 50,000 persons by making use of the blazing desert sun as its principal source of energy. The solar farm that will be used to power the city has already been built. It is the largest one that is found in the Middle East. The Masdar city will moreover be home to a university and more than a thousand businesses.

The boundary walls are such that they prevent any outward sprawl and keep the city compact. Moreover, there will not be any skyscrapers. The narrow roads will be lined with buildings at such a distance that the building can provide shade to each other, with the vertical faces fixed with screens to shut out the sun but allowing the winds to flow through. The design of the streets have been made keeping in mind the pedestrian as conventional cars will not be permitted through the gates of the city.

The mode of transport that will be allowed within the city walls will consist of electric vehicles as well as other types of transport including a Personal Rapid Transit system or driverless podcars that are powered by electricity generated from the sun. Magnetic sensors will guide the podcars and will go wherever a person tells them to. They will however halt immediately if there is an obstacle on its path. With the lack of conventional vehicles the quality of the air will be excellent in the city. Furthermore, Kaled Awad, the director of the project states that the quality of the air alone will provide the individuals with health, safety and happiness.

There are various other ideas that are being tested in the developing city, namely a circular array of mirrors that will be placed on the ground and which will focus light on a tower found in the centre. The one-meter wide concentrated beam of light will be redirected by the tower down to a system that gathers the heat to then drive generators. One more idea consists of using thin foil coverings in order to keep out the heat. In accordance to the chief architect, Gerard Evenden, this idea was in fact originated in a proposal for a moon base. In terms of innovation there is a wind tower, 45 m wide, which will draw wind through the roads without making use of energy. In addition, the tower will bear a beacon in order to show the city’s use of energy; blue for good and red for excessive.

In terms of carbon, the city will be neutral, making use of electricity solely for its desalination plant, a few air conditionings and for gadgets. The designers of the city claim that the city’s mantra in regards to power is to use energy only when one have exhausted design.

British architects Foster and Partners are the ones responsible for the design of the city. The city is being mainly funded by Abu Dhabi’s ruler, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. According to the estimations, it will cost around £10-20bn ($15-30bn). The Masdar city is expected to be completed within 5-10 years and promises to turn out to be the Silicon Valley in terms of renewable energy, thus offering a global hub for further research and development of sustainable technologies.

Source: Physorg and Masdarcity