The Middle East’s economies and initiatives are now putting all of their efforts into sustainability projects, because of CO2 emissions and climate change, although the Middle East’s CO2 emissions are way smaller when we compare them to other regions. Researches show that the MENA region (Middle Eastern countries and Northern Africa) produces 25,3 million tons for every individual compared to 66,1 in Central Asia and Europe, 55,6 in North America, and 148,1 in East Asia and the Pacific region, however, every country in the six countries of the GCC is one of the world’s top 20 emitters. As a result, there is high pressure on countries that produce oil and gas to reduce their emissions, and although the difference in progress between every country, each one of them is making a lot of effort to convert to clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, one of these efforts was in 2021, when the MENA region awarded $2.8bn of renewable energy projects to give it to contractors. And people expect that this number is going to be higher and higher because of many reasons.
Making green deserts in the Middle East
Saudi Arabia and UAE are known for their huge deserts, solar heat, and low land prices. They are leading Middle Eastern countries to discover new ways and become carbon-free. UAE declared that by the year 2050, it’s going to be the first Arabian country to reach net zero.
Desert Sustainability Middle East Examples
It seems like the project of creating an Eco-friendly city has come true in the world’s harshest area ever! It’s Masdar City which is located in Abu Dhabi’s desert, we are talking about a city with renewable energy, a green oasis, and surrounded by clean technologies.
Imagine a city where public places are cooled by nature, its buildings consume more than 40% less water and energy, and more than 200 meters away from public transportation since there are no inhabitants.
Masdar City was created for a major purpose which is to be home for about 45,000 and 50,000 people, the city covers an area of six square kilometers in the UAE, despite that the city is located in the desert, it has a perfect location, you are 20 minutes away from downtown Abu Dhabi, 5 minutes away from the International Airport in Abu Dhabi and and 40 minutes away from Dubai.
The city is designed to host 1,500 companies and 60,000 employees and they are going to commute to Masdar city every day.
The project has been announced in 2006 and it was designed by the reputable architectural firm Foster and Partners, it also has been financed by WWF (the World Wildlife Fund) and Masdar, which is a famous renewable energy company in Abu Dhabi.
The construction of the city began in 2008, and it’s not completed yet. Since 2008, the city has attracted more than 400 foreign companies, for example, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Schneider Electric, Siemens, and General Electric.
The latter company (its headquarters) has built one of the smartest and most creative buildings in the whole world, the design of the city is amazing! It’s designed as a box inside another box, The inner part has a sealed front which is designed to decrease thermal conductivity, The external part is Aluminum-coated which helps in reducing the bad effects of the sun and blades with a special system that is designed to rise and fall to adapt to the direction of the solar rays.
The building saves an average of 63% in energy consumption and reduces about 52% in water consumption if we compare it to any standard office building. Masdar City is a place with one of the largest oil reserves, it is intended not to depend on oil and use only renewable energy such as solar.
