Leaders of the United Arab Emirates said on Sunday they were plunging into the field of renewable energy, announcing a joint research venture into green energy with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The announcement comes a few months after the World Wildlife Fund labeled the Emirates the world's biggest per-capita producer of globe-warming greenhouse gases, mainly due to its profligate energy consumption.
The Emirates' early entry into the renewable energy arena comes amid squabbling over whether similar reforms should be embraced in the world's largest energy consumer, the US.
The agreement, signed on Sunday between MIT and the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (ADFEC) created the Masdar Institute of Technology in Abu Dhabi. Masdar will pursue Abu Dhabi's plan to use its oil income to develop a more sustainable renewable energy sector and an economy based on green energy expertise.
We want "talent and innovative technologies to enhance economic development and promote new industries using renewable energy," said Sultan al-Jaber, ADFEC's chief executive.
Solar power in the sun-drenched country is one chief research area. The government of Abu Dhabi emirate has already dedicated US$350 million to a giant solar power initiative.
MIT chancellor Phillip Clay said in a prepared release the MIT faculty and staff will provide "advice, scholarly assessment and assistance."
High energy demand in the Emirates is caused by a reliance on air conditioning, chilled swimming pools and a penchant for gas-guzzling four-wheel-drives. A cavernous mall in neighboring Dubai contains an indoor ski slope.
In the US, renewable energy policy seems far from settled. President George W. Bush said last month that he wants to require the use of 133 billion liters a year of ethanol and other alternative fuels by 2017, a fivefold increase over current requirements.
At a Houston fundraiser on Thursday night Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama stated the importance of the energy issue in his plans for the White House. Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney said on Friday he is developing his own plan for energy independence.
The Emirates was ranked fourth among Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in 2005 in terms of crude oil production after Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kuwait. As of May last year, it was producing 2.5 million barrels per day, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
But the supplies are expected to gradually run out over the next century or so. The institute's mandate is to fill the gap in the budget that reduced oil sales will leave behind.
Abu Dhabi is the largest of the seven emirates that form the United Arab Emirates.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique