While the United States Congress hems and haws over extending relatively modest tax incentives to encourage renewable energy development, Abu Dhabi is spending $15 billion in a drive to make the oil-rich emirate an epicenter of green technology. Called the Masdar Initiative, it’s best known for plans to build Masdar City, a “zero-carbon, zero-waste” urban center.
But Abu Dhabi’s ambitions extend far beyond making Masdar City a showcase for sustainable development, as Masdar Initiative CEO Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber made clear when Green Wombat sat down with him on Tuesday when he was in San Francisco to accept the “Cleantech Leader of the Year” award at the annual Cleantech Forum. “We have decided to establish the Silicon Valley of renewables in Abu Dhabi,” says Al Jaber. “We want to cover the whole value chain – from research to labs to manufacturing to the deployment of technologies.”
To that end, Masdar is collaborating with European and U.S. universities – including MIT and Columbia – to develop a research institute. The Masdar Clean Tech Fund has invested $250 million in renewable energy ventures and Al Jaber, who will be speaking at Fortune’s Brainstorm: Green conference in April, says a second fund is in the works. “We’ll invest wherever the opportunity goes,” he says. “We’re keen on developing renewable energy infrastructure in California; we’re just looking for the right opportunity.”
Masdar City will be a tax-free zone in a bid to lure makers of photovoltaic equipment and other green energy manufacturers. When Al Jaber says Abu Dhabi wants to own the whole supply chain, he means that literally, beginning with polysilicon, the basic building block of solar cells. “We’re looking at manufacturing polysilicon, thin-film for photovoltaics, wind energy components,” he says. “We’re no longer interested in only being a consumer of technology or an off-taker of specific equipment. We want to transform ourselves into a more knowledge-based economy. ”
He expects the renewable energy and waste-reduction technologies developed to build Masdar City – its expected population is 50,000 – to be exported to help retrofit existing cities. “A city of this size would require 820 megawatts of power, but we will reduce energy requirements to 220 megawatts from integrating new designs from day one.”
“This city is going to literally re-engineer urban planning,” he claims.
Abu Dhabi’s ambitions will create opportunities for U.S., European and Asian green tech firms and Al Jaber acknowledges that forming the right partnerships will be the biggest challenge in fulfilling the emirate’s green dreams.
But he says he sees no irony in one of the world’s biggest oil-exporting nations going green. The bottom line: it’s all about power and markets.
“Abu Dhabi recognizes that the global energy markets are evolving and are evolving with substantial growth in alternative energy,” Al Jaber says. “It’s only going to go up. Does that make it a threat or an opportunity? It’s a great opportunity if we invest in it now.”
Green Wombat 
Why isn’t the USA spending more money on research like this? As soon as the Arabs sell us all their oil, they can sell us alternate energy too… Wake up America!!!!
Masdar Initiative CEO Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber and all of Abu Dhabi should be commended for taking on this initiative,having foresight to preserve our planet and encouraging renewable energy development worldwide. We need to encourage both local and national initiatives that will make these renewable energy sources more mainstream and affordable. When will we build a city here in the US based on these principles??This is not a political issue,
This is a commendable project being unfolded in Adu Dhabi.Masdar Initiative CEO Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber and all of the citizens of Abu Dhabi providing a zero carbon, zero waste city should be congratulated for providing this technological oasis as a source of development.We need national,state and local initiatives to do the same here in the good old USA.We need not only renewable, but also affordable sources of energy.Then freedom will ring loud and clear.
It’s about time! Whoever researches and wherever this research is conducted is irrelevant. The bottom line is we need this now! The sooner we realize this the better. It’s great that Abu Dhabi has taken the initiative and has the serious funds to make a benevolent impact on our planet. The future is in our hands and it’s our responsibility to provide a future for generations to come. Big “cheers” for them for something that has been long overdue.