Madsar City and Al Falah co-develop clean concrete

Masdar City said today it's working with Abu Dhabi-based Al Falah Holding to develop a low-carbon concrete for the world's first zero-carbon, zero-waste, car-free city.

Madsar City is being built by the property development arm of the Masdar Initiative, which the Abu Dhabi government created to be its cleantech investment group (see Abu Dhabi, the next cleantech hub?). Abu Dhabi is the largest of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, which is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

Under the deal announced today, Al Falah's ready mix unit and Masdar plan to develop a concrete mixture that uses less cement.

Cement powder is formed using the energy-intensive calcine process, which accounts for a significant portion of concrete's environmental footprint. By reducing the amount of cement powder used in concrete, the joint developers hope to decrease the embodied carbon by 30 percent. The pair says they plan to develop a way to offset the remaining carbon footprint.

Masdar City will need 2 million cubic meters of concrete in its initial phases.

Al Falah and Masdar also plan to establish a global research and development program for low carbon concrete.

Developers of Masdar City have already addressed the energy, water, and food production behind the project, expected to have 1,500 businesses and 50,000 residents when completed in 2016.

The city's electricity is expected to be generated by photovoltaic panels, with plans to get cooling from concentrated solar power. Water would come from a planned solar-powered desalination plant, and landscaping within the city and crops grown outside the city would be irrigated with gray water and treated waste water produced by an expected water treatment plant.

Check out a rendering of Masdar City >>