"We were running on Oil for the last 100 years - what will be the next Energy basis for our survival? If we account all expenses for Oil and military protection of its supply Oil price is already well above 100 USD/barrel. Now BP Oil Spill national disaster will add billions to this price. Will Obama use this chance and move his Energy Security Agenda forward now, when time is running out with every barrel of Oil burnt in our engines? We are talking not only about our life styles and poor birds dying in the Gulf: we are talking about West as a society based on Oil addiction. It is not sustainable any more. There is no Cheap Oil any more left:"
Masdar has its own part of financial troubles with Abu Dhabi bailing out Dubai real estate meltdown, but technology for Personal Rapid Transit is very interesting. It is powered by lithium and addresses personal transportation in the cities where mass transit failing to deliver necessary personalisation. "Death of suburbs" with Oil above 150 usd per barrel will be pronounced too early: we have technology to address congestion and Peak Oil scenario. You can drive your EV to the mass transit parking lot on the outskirts of the city and than use mass transit or PRT for commuting insider of the city. How many cars are waiting on the parking lots during the office time and than traffic get jammed at the peak hours? Narrow streets in the cities are less likely to be prepared to accommodate the peak hours traffic than major transport systems outside the city border. It is futuristic and it will not come tomorrow, but here is another way to address personal transportation and congestion on the streets with EV based on unique ability of advanced lithium batteries to store energy on board of the vehicle produced somewhere else with economy of scale and environmentally friendly.
Masdar's Evolving EV System
By EV World
Report on current state-of-the-art Personal Rapid Transit system.
The United Arab Emirates sits atop some of the Persian Gulf's richest oil and gas fields. It is the fifth largest OPEC producer. In 2008 it pumped just over 3 million barrels of oil per day, exporting 2.7 million. It's total estimated reserves as of 2009 stand at 97.8 billion barrels. Natural gas reserves are estimated at just over six trillion cubic meters. Its chief exports are, naturally, oil and gas, as well as dried fish and dates.
Obviously, the real money is in energy, rather than agriculture or fishing.
Abu Dhabi's 2009 GDP was just over $200 billion, making it the 52nd more wealthy country in the world. It's per capita income at $42,000 is the 17th highest, while 85% of it workforce is made up of expatriates, 78% of whom working the service sector. Despite an official unemployment rate of 2.4% (2001), nearly 20% of the population live below the poverty line.
At the current rate of oil extraction, the country theoretically has enough reserves to last it over 90 years. But rather than rely on just its fossil fuel inheritance alone, Abu Dhabi, the Emirates capital, is determined to transform itself into one of the leading centers for sustainable energy research and development. The focal point of that very 21st century initiative is Masdar, described on the company website as, "Abu Dhabi’s multi-faceted initiative advancing the development, commercialization and deployment of renewable and alternative energy technologies and solutions…"
And the centerpiece of this effort is Masdar City, a planned community launched in 2006 and intended to run on renewable energy alone with a zero carbon footprint. Designed by London-based architects Foster & Partners Ltd., the six-square kilometer (2.3 sq-mile) combination city/industrial park and research institute was originally envisioned to be walkable with motorized transport provided by up to 3,000 personal transit pods -- all electrically-propelled by lithium batteries -- as depicted in the above video. Conventional cars were to be parked outside the perimeter of the city, which is located adjacent to Abu Dhabi's international airport.
Now, along with revisions in the overall master plan due to the economic downturn that saw hotel reservations in Abu Dhabi, for example, plummet 54%, the developers are now reconsidering the pod-only transport system, allowing for the possible inclusion of either some form of light rail and/or conventional electric cars into community.
The revised -- and scaled back -- plan is due out by mid-Summer.
Additional resources:"
By EV World
Report on current state-of-the-art Personal Rapid Transit system.
The United Arab Emirates sits atop some of the Persian Gulf's richest oil and gas fields. It is the fifth largest OPEC producer. In 2008 it pumped just over 3 million barrels of oil per day, exporting 2.7 million. It's total estimated reserves as of 2009 stand at 97.8 billion barrels. Natural gas reserves are estimated at just over six trillion cubic meters. Its chief exports are, naturally, oil and gas, as well as dried fish and dates.
Obviously, the real money is in energy, rather than agriculture or fishing.
Abu Dhabi's 2009 GDP was just over $200 billion, making it the 52nd more wealthy country in the world. It's per capita income at $42,000 is the 17th highest, while 85% of it workforce is made up of expatriates, 78% of whom working the service sector. Despite an official unemployment rate of 2.4% (2001), nearly 20% of the population live below the poverty line.
At the current rate of oil extraction, the country theoretically has enough reserves to last it over 90 years. But rather than rely on just its fossil fuel inheritance alone, Abu Dhabi, the Emirates capital, is determined to transform itself into one of the leading centers for sustainable energy research and development. The focal point of that very 21st century initiative is Masdar, described on the company website as, "Abu Dhabi’s multi-faceted initiative advancing the development, commercialization and deployment of renewable and alternative energy technologies and solutions…"
And the centerpiece of this effort is Masdar City, a planned community launched in 2006 and intended to run on renewable energy alone with a zero carbon footprint. Designed by London-based architects Foster & Partners Ltd., the six-square kilometer (2.3 sq-mile) combination city/industrial park and research institute was originally envisioned to be walkable with motorized transport provided by up to 3,000 personal transit pods -- all electrically-propelled by lithium batteries -- as depicted in the above video. Conventional cars were to be parked outside the perimeter of the city, which is located adjacent to Abu Dhabi's international airport.
Now, along with revisions in the overall master plan due to the economic downturn that saw hotel reservations in Abu Dhabi, for example, plummet 54%, the developers are now reconsidering the pod-only transport system, allowing for the possible inclusion of either some form of light rail and/or conventional electric cars into community.
The revised -- and scaled back -- plan is due out by mid-Summer.
Additional resources:"
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