Teamwork lies at the center of green city chief's energy vision

BEIJING - The future of energy requires an integrated approach and multilateral joint efforts, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of the energy-efficient Masdar city in the United Arab Emirates, said in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

Premier Wen Jiabao will visit Masdar in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to tour the $22 billion project, which will implement sustainable development and rely on wind and solar power.

With the majority of seed capital provided by Abu Dhabi, work began on Masdar in 2006, with construction commencing in 2008. The project is managed by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company and is expected to be completed in 2020.

"When Masdar was established, it was done so to help deliver on Abu Dhabi's vision of sustainable economic development and diversification, with a focus on knowledge-intensive industries," Al Jaber said.

A clear trend in the development and deployment of clean energy is that "no one innovation will lead the way," he said, adding that different technologies and power sources will be matched in different regions of the world.

The trend is apparent by the growing diversity of technologies that will be on display at the fifth World Future Energy Summit, ranging from solar power to demand-side management technologies.

"There is a strong focus on Asian participation at the summit this year, and that is an acknowledgment of the region's rise to prominence as a major player in renewable energy," he said.

Al Jaber lauded the "strong and growing" relationship between China and the UAE, as both nations engage in a serious drive to develop renewable and clean technologies. "We have obvious mutual interests," he added.

When it comes to the role governments are expected to play in advancing the marketplace for technical professionals and investors of clean energy, he said private and public sectors can usher forward commercially viable technologies with long-term societal benefits through cooperation.

Masdar has always maintained that the private sector is responsible for making key investments in strategic industries, innovating technologies and commercializing new services, he said.

"However, governments play a fundamental role in ensuring the private sector is empowered through long-term policies and supportive regulation," he said.

China Daily

(China Daily 01/17/2012 page3)