With the name of my Travel Blog being ‘Travel the globe with
Rosina’, it’s only apt to travel the globe and talk about the experiences I
have. I’m now in Abu Dhabi for the Easter holiday and wow, what a wonderful
time I’m having.
With the World’s Energy Future Summit just being held in Abu
Dhabi, capital of the UAE, it seemed appropriate to step into another world …
Step into the future … Step into Masdar City.
Masdar City, a project in Abu Dhabi, is a planned city being
built by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, a subsidiary of Mubadala
Development Company. Boasting that Masdar is ‘The Reality of Future Energy’,
which it sure enough is, it was just flabbergasting to visit Madinat Masdar,
its Arabic name meaning Source City.
Everything, including the architecture, transportation and
reasons behind structures, blew us away as it is a city which shows what green
urban development can be. I couldn’t believe how everything relies entirely on
solar energy and other renewable energy sources.
We are at the dawn of a global energy revolution that will
transform the way we think about power generation, distribution and
consumption. Companies must have the agility, the expertise and the long-term
vision to respond to this new and uncertain landscape, and so, being well ahead
of its time, Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City is the very vision of what is being
described here.
As a hub for cleantech companies, it was amazing to see how
Masdar City operates with its solar panels and how certain technologies like
the cooling tower, create an atmosphere of coolness running through your hair
as you stroll around the city which is unlike any other you have ever been to.
It’s one of a kind and can’t be compared to anywhere on Earth. Just imagining
what life would be like if the world was as environmentally clean as Masdar
showed itself to be, got me thinking about how there would be hope for
conserving energy sources for the future.
Operating across the full spectrum of renewable energy and
sustainable technologies, it was just amazing to see Masdar helping develop the
greenprint for how we will live in the future.
Utterly flabbergasted at the design of the city and its
layout, we stepped into the future and had a ride in our very own Personal
Rapid Transit (PRT), which was mind-boggling as it moved by itself and wasn’t
even on a track … What a superb mode of transport for the future. To be honest
with you, this was a story in itself. The way I couldn't fathom how the PRTs
were operating, as there was no driver, no wheels, but only a vehicle, a
somewhat futuristic automobile which transported us from point A to B. A
woman’s voice talked to us, gave us a brief introduction to Masdar City’s
purpose and where we’d be going in the astonishingly alien like vehicle we sat
inside. We found out that a public transport system of electric buses, electric
cars and other clean-energy vehicles will provide transport within the city,
while Abu Dhabi’s light rail and Metro lines will pass through the centre.
In answering one of the priorities, Masdar City’s master plan
of being a pedestrian-focused community, a rich network of public and personal
transportation options will ensure ease to move across the city.
In doing so, Masdar City is piloting a PRT and Freight Rapid
Transit system of electric-powered, automated, single-cabin vehicles that offer
privacy, comfort and non-stop travel.
We felt like aliens of some sort, stepping into this city of
the future, and imagining how Abu Dhabi would implement the same systems into
its city depending on Masdar’s success.
As the capital of the United Arab Emirates as well as being
home to 8% of proven global crude oil reserves, Abu Dhabi is spending billions
of dollars in the development of Masdar and the establishing of the capital as
a global centre of excellence in renewable energy and clean technologies.
Masdar Institute, an independent, research-driven graduate
institute with the ongoing support of Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT), is focussed on being at the heart of the home-grown research and
development of Masdar City.
Masdar City is somewhere you should surely take the time to
visit, and you might just feel like an alien in your own PRT. Think of the
future, think Masdar City.
It’s worth a look! http://masdarcity.ae/en/
No comments:
Post a Comment