Zero-Emissions City

Some say it will be “the city of the future” – a desert oasis of 50,000 people, 1,500 businesses, and zero emissions. Buildings will be wrapped in solar panels. Battery-powered, driverless transports will replace cars. Researchers will constantly devise and deploy cutting-edge technology.

And construction began last week.

The United Arab Emirates broke ground on this $22 billion city as a push to use its oil profits to launch an age of post-petrol innovation. The ambitious project, which sits outside Abu Dhabi, will both train scientists to study renewable energy and act as a test-bed for their designs.

Technology Review – whose publisher, MIT, is backing the initiative – posted a fascinating feature on the upcoming city. Here’s the link.