OCT 14

The amazing, self-contained, carbon-neutral, car-less project called Masdar City has recently undergone some revisions.  The project is still ongoing and will still be pretty amazing, but the deadline for completion has been pushed back from five to ten years and some plans have been scaled back.

The green oasis being built in the desert outside of Abu Dhabi was originally set for completion in 2016.  Now developers are saying it could be anywhere between 2020 and 2025.  Another major revision is to the plans for the city to produce all of its own renewable energy - mainly from solar PV arrays.  That has now been tweaked with the developer saying that they are also looking at other energy sources like geothermal and solar thermal cooling, as well as buying renewable energy from other sites.

The other major change is that the "personal rapid transit" podcars that were going to shuttle residents around in place of cars are now being classified as an "ongoing pilot project" and other electric vehicles will now be allowed in the city, reversing the car-free rule and putting one of the more futuristic aspects of the project on the back-burner.

Masdar City began construction in 2008 and already six buildings that make up the Masdar Institute are being occupied by students and faculty.

via AP

Comments (7)

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written by Jean, October 14, 2010

This looks like a fascinating tourist spot,if they can make it successfully. Hopefully they will succeed to create an example of modern eco-friendly city

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Better
written by karthik, October 15, 2010

Geothermal is more easy and cheaper to retrieve than solar,so it makes sense.

Also if the city wants to be truly carbon neutral not only should it have zero carbon emissions but also the making stuff for the city should be zero carbon.

Making electric vehicles also produces carbon, so in order to compensate for that,transport within the city along with EVs should also include vehicles like bicycles,segways,etc.

Also masdar should try out the tiatro del aqua/agua instead of carbon burning desalination plants.

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building a modern eco-friendly city contains many aspects
written by Kingsun, October 16, 2010

Energy saving is mentioned as a strategy in builing the Masdar City.Zero carbon and renewable energy are mentioned, but I think there is still one important thing they haven't paid attention to, that the lighting of the city. I think LED lighting is the perfect choice,especially Solar LED street light.

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Bravo
written by Greg, October 16, 2010

I can see only one trouble with this 'city'. It is being built in the desert where nobody currently lives.

What is wrong with taking an existing city, passing legislation and forcefully converting it entirely to green power.

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written by TipThePlanet, October 16, 2010

I like how they're being perfectionists in this endeavor. I don't mind waiting a few more years as long as they do it right. They could be paving the way for similar cities so it's important that they do it right.

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yyuuuppp
written by Lisa, November 04, 2010

Agreed, Greg. I hope that the next step after Masdar is to learn how to take existing cities and make them carbon neutral and more efficient. The only problem is that all the building and changing is emitting a disgusting amount of carbon, and who knows if we will be able to neutralize that to begin with.

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written by S R Morb, November 05, 2010

This all looks good. However, Isn't there a saying
about building a house on sand?

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