Plans for an energy self-sufficient city in the UAE were very ambitious

Abu Dhabi - The creators of the ambitious project to build the energy self-sufficient city of Masdar, which is developing in the United Arab Emirates, have had to scale back their original plans. They have postponed the completion date for the city, intended for more than 40,000 residents, and also revised the technical plans for energy self-sufficiency. This was reported by the Qatari television network Al Jazeera.
    Initially, it was expected that Masdar would produce all the energy it needed, that regular cars would not operate in it, but rather public transport vehicles, and that waste and water would be recycled. Masdar is being developed over six square kilometers near Abu Dhabi, and construction began in 2008. According to the original plan, it was supposed to be completed by 2016, but the construction company has now extended the deadline by at least four years, with work potentially lasting until 2025.
    The Abu Dhabi-based Future Energy Company has also abandoned the original plan that all the energy needed for the operation of Masdar was to be produced on-site. They now consider this too ambitious and state that energy will have to be sourced from other supplies as well, but the condition remains that these must be renewable sources.
    Project head Sultan Jaber claims that this is not a retreat from the original intentions, but rather an adaptation to new technologies that are gradually developing.
    It was anticipated that the only mode of transport in Masdar would be capsule vehicles that would travel on tracks. Now the creators say that electric vehicles will also be allowed in addition to this.
    Energy expert Robert Bryniak from Abu Dhabi agrees with the reassessment of the original plans, as he believes they were "extraordinarily ambitious." "Trying to build with the goal of utilizing all energy on-site and leaving no carbon footprint is very difficult. Similarly, it is very ambitious to try to produce all the necessary energy on-site," he said.
    Part of the city is already completed and is being utilized. This includes six buildings of the Masdar Institute, where students and professors began moving in as early as September. Although the creators admit that it is not an energy-neutral complex, they emphasize that the institute, thanks to solar panels on the roof, uses half the water and electricity compared to other buildings in the United Arab Emirates.
    Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE, which, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), has the highest environmental impact per capita in the world. Therefore, the Emirates are making great efforts in renewable energy research and are investing in solar and nuclear energy sources.