General description of my CAJ
The focus of my
Current Affairs Journal is the advanced infrastructure megaprojects that are
currently under development. Megaprojects are enormous and expensive business
projects that cost more than US$1 billion and have substantial impacts on
communities, environment and budgets. Megaprojects can be various, such as
bridges, tunnels, railways, power plants, Special Economic Zones, public
buildings, aerospace projects, etc. The scope of my research is the
infrastructure related projects, more exactly two projects related to the
environment and sustainability: Masdar City and Desertec.
The first section
of my CAJ has been mostly completed. It is centred on a city called Masdar,
which aims to be the world’s first zero-carbon, zero-waste city powered by
renewable energy. This clean technology cluster, also called an innovation
playground and a pioneer in smart urban design is in Abu Dhabi, in the United
Arab Emirates. The project started in 2006 and the city is supposed to be fully
built-out by 2020-2025.
In order to become
a model of sustainability, all fields of the development had to be controlled
thoroughly. First of all, planning and design plays a crucial role in the
profile of the city. The smart urban design combines elements of the traditional
Arabian architecture with cutting-edge technology in order to minimise energy
use and carbon footprint. The city’s orientation, building efficiency, the wind
towers built across the city and the tall buildings shading the streets and
each other all contribute to the cooling process, thus reducing energy
consumption.
Concerning energy
management, the production of onsite renewable energy (solar, biomass, wind and
geothermal energy) is supposed to be as high as 20%. To reduce energy use at
home, smart technologies are installed. Wastewater is 100% recycled, for
example for irrigation. The goal of waste management is to maximise the
resource potential of waste materials. Waste is either reused, recycled,
composted or used for recovery of energy. To reduce the carbon footprint and to
prevent air pollution, PRT (personal rapid transport) system is used, which
consists of pilotless, computer-driven electric cars.
In order to
operate the city sustainably, its ultimate goal is to invite companies to
Masdar. Siemens announced it will move its Middle East Headquarters Building to
Masdar by 2014. Many other companies, such as General Electrics, Mitsubishi and
Schneider Electrics are joining Siemens this year.
Although the
master plan could not be carried out without changes and compromises which had to be
made for financial reasons, Masdar is already one of the most sustainable communities
worldwide and is a model for future cities.
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