Built on the profits of oil, should Masdar hold the mantle of energy leadership for the world?
Yosef asks. According to the Masdar City website, the undertaking is intended to be Abu Dhabi’s “multi-faceted response to the challenges facing a sustainable future.” The city, intended to house 50,000 residents in a kind of technosphere designed to invoke a time-venerated Arab city. The enterprise is aimed at making Abu Dhabi “a global leader and hub for the research of renewable energy and sustainable technology.” While initiatives aimed at advancing a sustainable future are to be applauded, there is something disturbingly off about the context in which the Abu Dhabi oil state seeks to claim the mantle of energy leadership and sustainable practice. As a key and continuing link in the system that actively led to the causes of climate change — carbon-based greenhouse gases — one questions the validity of the initiative. There is little doubt that the Masdar company, which owns the development can buy the best clean technology that money affords. However, to view the $22 billion projec
