A Scottish expedition set about finding a way to bridge the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through Central America as early as 1698. The project was ravaged by malaria and an attacking Spanish fleet before it could get off the ground. The French were the next to attempt the feat two centuries later, but they put it to rest after more than 22,000 died trying. Of course, it was the Americans who completed the Panama Canal in 1914. Yes, they had the money, manpower and will, but they also benefited from the lessons of those who tried before them.
Revolutions in efficiency, whether by shortening shipping routes or through the development of new technology, require trial and error. Abu Dhabi�s Masdar initiative, one of the boldest attempts yet to revolutionise how we use energy, will confront a host of unforeseen challenges. And as we report today, Masdar has pushed back deadlines for when its zero-carbon city will be completed. While the first phase of the project, construction of the headquarters for the International Renewable Energy Agency, the Masdar Institute and their immediate neighbourhood, remains on course for completion by 2013, deadlines for other plans have been reconsidered.
In part, these delays reflect what Masdar has learnt since its inception in 2006. Concentrated solar power (CSP), a system by which mirrors reflect sunshine on to a central area to collect energy, has been less efficient in Abu Dhabi than Masdar first thought. While the UAE has plenty of sun, humidity and sand in the air can make its rays less intense than they must be to create an efficient source of CSP. To make use of geothermal power, another source of clean energy that Masdar hopes to tap, they must drill several kilometres under the desert, much further and more costly than reaching this power source in many other parts of the world. It also bears remembering that Masdar depends in part on selling properties in the city it is creating. No property project has remained unscathed in the financial downturn of the past two years.
It is far better that Masdar confront these realities than push forward with the same plans in spite of them. Masdar, after all, is a venture into the unknown. The project will undoubtedly face a changing set of challenges. There can be no doubt, however, that Masdar must deliver. Its cause is critical for both Abu Dhabi and the world.
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