Abu Dhabi set to invest $15 billion, to go green.

As part of an ongoing massive development investment, Abu Dhabi plans to spend $15 billion, just on the first phase of a plan, to build the world’s largest hydrogen power plant, and develop green energy, the government announced on Monday.

This investment will be a part of the so called “Masdar initiative,” planned to develop clean, sustainable energy.

The World Future Energy Summit in the emirate was informed by Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan that: “I would like to underscore the government of Abu Dhabi’s commitment to the Masdar initiative by announcing an initial investment of $15 billion,” he said. “Next month ground will be broken on Masdar city, the world’s first carbon-neutral city.”

Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, known as Masdar, said: “The money will go into infrastructure, renewable energy projects such as solar power, and manufacturing, to position Abu Dhabi as a leader in the global clean energy market,”

Included in the project’s plans are to begin the construction, of a zero waste, zero carbon city, with a population of around 15,000 residents, in the desert, in the first quarter of this year. He added; “Achieving a zero carbon city is doable,”

Abu Dhabi, will also be building a 500 megawatt power plant, the world’s largest hydrogen power based, plant.

A Masdar official said: “we will have a sixty percent share in the multi-billion-dollar joint venture,” and added, “the rest would be equally held by British Petroleum and Rio Tinto,” and: “the project’s engineering and design would be concluded by the end of 2008,”

Masdar has also stated that, it plans to develop a network of, carbon capture/ carbon storage projects, (CCS) that are designed to pump greenhouse gases into oilfields, in so doing, reducing carbon emissions, and boosting oil output.

One problem is that CCS is yet to be proven on a commercial scale, but if it does prove viable, it would release supplies of natural gas that are at present used to push oil out of oilfields. .
Sheikh Mohammed has also announced the establishment of pool of $2.2 million, annually, to be awarded as a prize, for achievements in energy innovation; it will be known as the Zayed Future Energy Prize.