Swiss and German private equity funds Terra Nex and Middle East Best Select announced plans to build 400 megawatts (MW) of solar power generating capacity in the southeastern Arabian peninsula country of Oman, according to recent news announcements. The $2-billion project calls for construction of solar power installations, as well as facilities to manufacture solar photovoltaic (PV) panels for use in Oman and for export.
From the 16th to the 19th of January, twenty renewable energy and cleantech developers from across Egypt, Ghana, India, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, UAE and USA will showcase cutting-edge projects and conduct full business presentations at the Project Village at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) 2012 in Abu Dhabi.
With 1 GW worth of of renewable projects being showased at the Project Village, the presentations represent a gigantic amount of local Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) region renewable energy.
Developing countries have overtaken developed ones in the growth of renewable projects, and the MENA region is key for the development of renewables.
Once the world’s largest landfill, Freshkills Park will soon be transformed into New York City’s biggest new green space in a century.
But the park is also poised to become a pioneer in what have been dubbed “aesthetic power plants.” These visually striking pieces of public art create utility-scale renewable energy from wind, solar, or wave power.
After their tryst with blatantly ambitiously sustainable projects, such as the Masdar City and Al-Raha green city, Dubai officials are now looking forth to scale down their focus on more public-oriented services. The general maintenance department of Dubai has envisioned a conscientious plan of installing solar powered toilets all over the grand city. According to them, it will have a two pronged beneficial effect of firstly increasing environmental awareness and, secondly, save the tax payer’s money on utilities in the long run.
Residents of Dubai may one day experience a unique and constantly changing skyline thanks to Dynamic Architecture’s wind powered rotating skyscraper. The main idea behind their concept involves a central concrete core surrounded by 59 independently rotating levels. The skyscraper would generate its own electricity from the massive horizontal wind turbines that would be stacked in between each floor. This idea may seem outlandish or impossibly expensive, but the oil price boom in Dubai has already funded many other similarly massive and complex architectural projects. If oil prices continue to increase these rotating wonders may be seen on Dubai’s horizon within the next few years.
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