UAE jumps at 'golden' chance to pioneer green technology

The third session of the Clean Energy Ministerial will be held in London next year, where delegates will hear more about Masdar City.

ABU DHABI //Masdar City is to be showcased to ministers from more than 20 countries in future high-level meetings of energy decision makers.

The second session of the Clean Energy Ministerial, an annual gathering of energy ministers and officials from the world's major developed and emerging economies, concluded in Abu Dhabi yesterday. The meetingaims to boost co-operation in 11 areas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote a green economy.

The third ministerial will be held in London next year, where delegates will hear more about Abu Dhabi's experience with what will be the world's largest carbon neutral development.

Participation at such meetings allows nations to learn from each other's projects. Countries including Sweden, Denmark and China are building similar developments to Masdar, and will showcase their initiatives at coming gatherings.

"It is a golden and vital opportunity for the UAE to lead the world in this sector," said Dr Sultan al Jaber, UAE Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change and CEO of Masdar, when he addressed media and delegates yesterday.

Masdar City consists of the 43,000 sq metre campus of the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. It is now enlarged to include another 82,000 sq metres of student lodgings, seven open laboratories, a conference facility and a swimming pool and gym, to be completed in 2012.

Dr al Jaber was one of the high-level representatives and energy ministers present. Altogether, the countries represented, which include the US, UK, Germany, Australia, Brazil, China, India and South Korea, account for about 80 per cent of the global emissions.

Besides sustainable cities, ministers discussedsmart grids, electric vehicles, energy-efficient appliances, solar and wind energy and the sustainable development of hydropower.

Among the panel addressing journalists yesterday was the US energy secretary Steven Chu, who was one among several panellists to speak of the need to deploy carbon capture and storage. The technology is still under development but proponents hope it will allow power plants to capture and bury carbon dioxide underground, rather than emit it into the atmosphere.

The UAE and other oil producers are supporters of the technology as are countries that rely on coal such as the US, UK, Australia and China. Of all fossil fuels, coal has been the most heavily criticised by environmentalists as burning it produces more greenhouse gases per unit of energy than any other fossil fuel. Yesterday, however, the use of coal was defended by Mr Chu.

"We recognise that coal will be part of the energy mix of the world. As we develop these technologies, the demand for coal will still be there," he said. "It is a plentiful resource in the world but we are making sure we can use this resource in a clean way."

Tanzeed Alam, climate change and sustainability manager at the Emirates Wildlife Society-World Wide Fund for Nature, said while new technologies should be applied to make existing coal plants cleaner, governments should refrain from building new ones. "The main thing about coal is it is probably the most abundant fossil fuel there is," he said. "But if we look from the carbon reduction perspective, it's the worst thing you can do."

Carbon capture storage technologies make coal plants more climate-friendly, but the technology is yet to be demonstrated on a large scale within a power plant, he said.

"The emphasis should really be on renewable energy and demand-side measures. There is a huge potential for this, especially in the UAE where so much water and electricity is wasted."