One of the seven states that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE) along the Persian Gulf, Abu Dhabi has grown prosperous through oil and gas production. While not as well known as Dubai, UAE’s headline-grabbing desert boomtown building palm shaped islands visible from space, Abu Dhabi has shown that it can think big. In a bold and strikingly far-sighted strategy, Abu Dhabi is positioning itself for life after the oil wells and revenue have dried up. The Masdar Initiative Masdar Initiative (masdar means “the source” in Arabic) is a $22 billion project to build to world’s first zero-carbon, zero-waste city. Construction began last winter on is what is expected to be, by 2016, a city powered mostly by the desert’s plentiful sun. With partners such as MIT, which is developing a green-tech research institute, the looks to provide jobs and industry for post-oil Abu Dhabi while becoming a global hub for green tech. More can be read about the emirates’ bid to go from energy exporter to energy innovator in Fortune.
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