Welcome to suburbia

I've finally plucked up the courage to set-up an online blog. I'm going to endeavour to blog as often as possible to share my thoughts, to share some articles and news i find interesting, and also use it for my private reflections (you guys won't get to see that!). Also i hope people will read and comment on some of my posts.

The spur for deciding to set-up a blog has been my studies through the Open University. They encourage learning and reflection, and collaborating with others.

Friday, 29 April 2011

Masdar City – a glimpse of the future in the desert

Took me a while to shake off my post MBA lethargy, but i got there in the end. I don't want to have Twitter dominate my blog feed etc, they should be in balance like ying and yang

This is a great article about Masdar city, a mere glimmer in the eye when i departed the UAE. It honestly didn't get a lot of media attention, i believe, mainly because it was a pretty hairbrained scheme! Containing technology not yet conceived and more ambitious than your average green construction project.

Fact of the matter is that the UAE desalinates ALL of its water, this is incredibly resource intensive, and uses up energy (in the form of oil) that outweighs the benefits of clean water. No matter how much i despise nuclear power, i have to embrace the courage the UAE authorities have shown in backing Masdar, but also the tough decisions that need to be made to provide for the immediate power needs.

That's why i'm saddened but not surprised by the lowering of ambitions laid out in the article below. The point is; at least they're trying something.... Germany has no plan to achieve nuclear independence, 24% of UK power comes from French nuclear power plants, Jon Huntsman (prospective Republican nominee for president) has just declared his platform to make America energy independant. No specifics! Get Green People.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/26/masdar-city-desert-future


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