Being a partner in One Planet Living means the Masdar City project has agreed to apply ecological footprinting and these ten sustainability principles:
Zero Carbon: Net CO2 emissions of zero. Energy efficient buildings and infrastructure; energy from on- and off-site renewables.
Zero Waste: Eliminate waste flows to landfills and incineration. Reduce waste generation through improved design; encourage re-use, recycling and composting; generate clean energy from waste; make no-waste part of the definition of resource efficiency.
Sustainable Transport: Reduce reliance on private vehicles; achieve major reductions of CO2 emissions from transportation. Provide transport systems and infrastructure that reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Offset carbon emissions from air travel and perhaps car travel. Local and Sustainable Materials: Transform materials supply to the point of net positive impact on the environment and local economy. Where possible, use local, reclaimed, renewable and recycled materials in construction and products. Local and Sustainable Food: Transform food supply to the point of net positive impact on the environment, local economy and human well-being. Local and low impact food production that provides healthy, quality food boosting the local economy in an environmentally beneficial manner; low-impact packaging, processing and disposal; highlight benefits of a low-impact diet.
Sustainable Water: Achieve a positive impact on local water resources and supply. Implement water use efficiency measures, re-use and recycling; minimize water extraction and pollution; foster sustainable water and sewage management in the landscape; restore natural water cycles.
Natural Habitats and Wildlife: Regenerate degraded environments and halt biodiversity loss. Protect or regenerate existing natural environments and fauna and flora habitats; create new habitats.
Culture and Heritage: Protect and build on local cultural heritage and diversity. Celebrate and revive cultural heritage and the sense of local and regional identity; new structures and systems that build on this heritage; foster a new culture of sustainability.
Equity and Fair Trade: Ensure that the community's impact on other communities is positive. Promote equity and fair trading relationships to ensure beneficial impacts both locally and globally, notably disadvantaged communities.
Health and Happiness: Increase health and quality of life of community members and others. Promote healthy lifestyles and physical, mental & spiritual well-being through well-designed structures and community engagement, as well as delivering on social and environmental targets.
Zero Waste: Eliminate waste flows to landfills and incineration. Reduce waste generation through improved design; encourage re-use, recycling and composting; generate clean energy from waste; make no-waste part of the definition of resource efficiency.
Sustainable Transport: Reduce reliance on private vehicles; achieve major reductions of CO2 emissions from transportation. Provide transport systems and infrastructure that reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Offset carbon emissions from air travel and perhaps car travel. Local and Sustainable Materials: Transform materials supply to the point of net positive impact on the environment and local economy. Where possible, use local, reclaimed, renewable and recycled materials in construction and products. Local and Sustainable Food: Transform food supply to the point of net positive impact on the environment, local economy and human well-being. Local and low impact food production that provides healthy, quality food boosting the local economy in an environmentally beneficial manner; low-impact packaging, processing and disposal; highlight benefits of a low-impact diet.
Sustainable Water: Achieve a positive impact on local water resources and supply. Implement water use efficiency measures, re-use and recycling; minimize water extraction and pollution; foster sustainable water and sewage management in the landscape; restore natural water cycles.
Natural Habitats and Wildlife: Regenerate degraded environments and halt biodiversity loss. Protect or regenerate existing natural environments and fauna and flora habitats; create new habitats.
Culture and Heritage: Protect and build on local cultural heritage and diversity. Celebrate and revive cultural heritage and the sense of local and regional identity; new structures and systems that build on this heritage; foster a new culture of sustainability.
Equity and Fair Trade: Ensure that the community's impact on other communities is positive. Promote equity and fair trading relationships to ensure beneficial impacts both locally and globally, notably disadvantaged communities.
Health and Happiness: Increase health and quality of life of community members and others. Promote healthy lifestyles and physical, mental & spiritual well-being through well-designed structures and community engagement, as well as delivering on social and environmental targets.
Masdar is acting to follow these principles by doing several things at once: Pure innovation (e.g. carbon capture, personal rapid transit); expanding existing but less-used technologies (e.g. waste-to-energy, thin film solar); applying proven technology (e.g. wind power, intercity Light Rail Transit); basic research and development (e.g. Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, partnership with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, commercial tenants).
No country is perfect, and Abu Dhabi is one of them. Diplomatic and political engagement are two fronts that will help bring the Emirates toward democracy. Instead of hoping they fail, Masdar should be seen as an example of international economic and environmental engagement, a step in the right direction.
It is a $22 billion investment in moving Abu Dhabi away from an oil based economy and is nothing to be sneered at. Especially if it proves and produces technologies that can benefit the entire planet.
Addenda:
Debunking claim at MN2020 that PRT blocked 1970s rail projects
Masdar PRT 13-vehicle order is only the initial phase
Debunking Frog/Rotterdam bankruptcy claim
Morgantown PRT: original Daily Kos comment thread
How opponents of innovation use Conspiracy claims against projects like the Masdar PRT
"Torture Sheik": original Daily Kos comment thread
Masdar photos at Flickr
good
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